One of the things I love about living in a rural small town is how comfortable wildlife is with the town. Last night, as we returned from a walk, five young deer (not quite fawns but not fully grown yet, either) strolled across the street to graze in an irrigated lawn. When we got home three blocks away, two of our “feral” cats, who get fed multiple times daily by us and our neighbors, jumped onto the hood of the car. We’ve seen fawns in the back yard, does across the street, and coyotes, raccoons, and possums on the front porch. Mississippi kites perch on the dead tree across the street, but have never bothered us. A beautiful brass-colored female grackle used to follow me mowing, eating the bugs the mower stirred up. Now all I’m waiting for is to hear the sandhill cranes flying north. That trill, so high up you can barely see them, means cooler weather is coming.