Field note 05 · Bone
What the deer leaves behind
An antler is bone grown outside the body. It arrives quickly, hardens, is carried through a season, and then falls away.
On the forest floor it becomes something else. Rodents gnaw it for minerals. Moss crowds the edges. Dirt collects in the grooves. Beetles walk across it without knowing it was once part of an animal.
The shape stays dramatic long after its original purpose is gone.
A shed antler is not a death object. It is a discarded season.