Oh Deer!

Oh deer! They’re driving me nuts! Do you have any in your neighborhood? I’m used to deer scavenging my hostas at the Michigan cottage; it’s where they live. They were there first, and I have to get used to it. I’m replacing the big, lush, leafy hostas with boxwood, which don’t appeal to the deer’s palate.

But in southern Illinois, what could be eating my hostas, zinnias, and poinsettias? There’s a lumbering groundhog and its family living under the hill where my compost pile is out back. I’ve thought of capturing him/her and relocating the troublemaker to a spot out in the country. I can’t be sure to catch the entire family, though, so I just let them dig holes into the back hill and resent them for it. But this week I was getting “chuffed,” as my daughter-in-law would say, because I assumed these guys were the ones eating my greens for their salad.

Then my husband suggested it might be deer. No way, I said, not this time of year with so much traffic and so many people. We’re in a southern Illinois neighborhood for Pete’s sake -- and in a subdivision, no less -- near a big mall that recently went up and major highways. When he told me a friend of his saw a huge buck one street over, I started thinking, maybe he’s right; it could be deer. This morning on the way to church, there she was, a deer chomping down on one of my big hostas right in the front yard. The nerve! I clapped and she ran off. But she and her deer friends will come back and party tonight, I’m sure.

You know what it reminds me of in real life? People. Those people who come right in uninvited, through your boundaries, munch away at your pocketbook, mental and emotional health, and sense of fair play. They’re called “difficult people”… or just plain annoying! They’re dangerous for many reasons, including that you cannot stop them easily, if at all. That’s why I recommend the July 11 Woman to Woman® show, “Fool-Proofing Your Life.” Its concepts have helped me tremendously to cope with my “fools.” There are ways to take care of yourself, when you know them. So be sure to listen in and learn lifesaving, mind changing tips from Jan Silvious. Go to womantowomanradio.com. Click on over to the site, pull down the show right now, and get back in control of your relationship with your “difficult person.” You’ll be amazed at the difference it makes in freeing up your life!

As for the deer eating my plants, there’s probably nothing I can do to solve this problem. Jan’s concepts may work beautifully with people, but deer are another story. They are going to keep eating me out of house and garden. If you have ideas about how to keep them away, please be a “dear” and leave a comment to let me know!