Deer of Nara

My son was traveling around Japan after Christmas before heading to China for this semester's classes. Of all the stuff he saw-- Tokyo, ancient shrines, historic relics-- nothing impressed him nearly as much as the wild-tame-sacred deer of Nara, Japan. 

My son wasn't a large cap kind of guy, until Nara. 

According to Caleb, these deer are thought to be spirit gods. Takemikazuchi-no-mikoto, the Japanese Thunder god and first sumo wrestling match contender, visited the city of Nara riding a deer. Since that visit, the deer have been considered sacred. So sacred, in fact, up until the 1600's, killing one of them was a capital offense. 

Friendly and photogenic

Now, they are just considered a national treasure and have free reign over the entire town.

Best photo bomb ever

In researching this post, I read a lot of blogs that found these amazing deer to be a nuisance. Not for my son. He was in instant love. Maybe it's because he was raised in a home-zoo where critters always outnumbered humans. He was thrilled that a wild animal was as friendly as the most affectionate pet. He said they would come right up to you and would even bow-- which is a Japanese greeting and sign of respect and appreciation. 

Whether you consider them a pest or a spiritual being, they are undeniably something special. 

It must be love.

Time for my small things check-in. Thanks to our hosts Lexa, L  .G, and Tonja Drecker for this weekly reminder to look for the good things in life! 

Although my week wasn't half as exciting as my son's, I did get some things done, which is always something to celebrate. I have been decluttering. Cole, boy #2, saw my stack of stuff to donate to charity and said I was giving away their childhood. Then he narked me out to his brothers who all wanted to save their memories, AKA dusty stuff. 
I now know to never let them see what's headed out of the house. Same with their father-- he complains about the clutter, but then may have a use for every item in the get-rid-of pile. Decluttering is a job best done alone. 

I also managed to outline a new book. I usually just make a timeline, but this time, I broke the story down by chapter. I'm hoping writing it will be easy-- famous last words, I know. 

And don't miss this!

Don’t forget to mark your calendar for the next IWSG Twitter Pitch Party – Thursday, January 18!

With hundreds of agents and publishers, this one will be ten times bigger than our first event.