When I went to the cafeteria this afternoon to grab some lunch, I spotted one of the fawns hiding under a bush in the courtyard. I peaked out on it twice between then and the end of my work day and planned to go out and photograph it after work. Finally, my work day ended and as I was walking out to my car to go to where the fawn was, the dark storm clouds started to roll in. As soon as I parked the car in the courtyard and got out, the rain started to fall and forced me back into the car. I was so bummed as the fawn was laying out in the open on the lawn.

As soon as I got in and put the windows up, the rain began to fall very hard. The fawn was scared and jumped to his feet very quickly. Then out of nowhere was a very loud boom of thunder and the poor fawn jumped a mile in the air and began to run, confused as to which direction to head in. I lost it out of site and sat for a bit. It didn't seem like the storm was going to last long, so I figured I would sit tight and make sure the fawn was ok after it was over. As the rain started to die down, I saw it peek around a bush and then run back behind it.

Eventually the rain stopped and I went out with my camera. The temperature had dropped roughly 10 degrees from what it was before the storm, but the humidity increased significantly. It was absolutely disgusting out, so I sucked it up and got myself into a good position to wait for the fawn to come out of the bushes. It came out within two minutes and was soaked and so scared. I felt so bad for the little one. I took a few shots before it ran off and hid back into some bushes and so I took that as my cue to leave. As I was driving away, I spotted mom who was nearby to check on her fawn and so I very slowly drove by and told her that her baby was safe, I watched it through the storm. She just stood there, looking at me and listening to what I was saying. It was such a precious moment.

Before leaving, I took a ride around the complex to see if I could find the other fawn, but I had no luck. I'm assuming it was scared and hiding under some bushes somewhere. I finally left the site and as I drove home I couldn't believe how badly the storm had hit the Poughkeepsie area. It was really sad to see how bad the damage was as I went down Wilbur Blvd, Hooker Avenue, then past the Vassar College Campus. Huge trees were down and so many of them, it looked like a tornado must have gone through. I felt so sad as I witnessed people standing around outside, looking around, with expressions on their faces that looked like they weren't thinking... what the hell just happened here. At the same time, I felt very blessed that I decided to stay at work and keep an eye on the fawn during the storm instead of rushing out to head home.

It is sometimes hard to believe how life and nature can be so beautiful one minute and so scary the next. 

Here is my adorable fawn, all wet and scared (with his tail between his legs). I wanted nothing more than to go over and comfort the poor lil guy!