It was a quiet afternoon, driving home from church last Sunday. The roads were clear and very little traffic was around. It seemed as everyone was enjoying a quiet Sunday afternoon at home.
As I neared the corner of the road, traveling at the usual pace, I spotted a squirrel lying on the ground with a great huge black bird trying its best to pick it up in its beak. Trying as much as it could, the black bird was not able to pick it up and it was not about to leave the squirrel behind for me to run over it.
Usually, the birds can fly rather quickly as a vehicle approaches, but not this bird. It was clear this bird wasn’t about to leave the prey for me, and I was sure it would fly away before I got to it. A battle of the wits.
WRONG! The great huge black bird tried and tried to pick up the squirrel to no avail and I kept coming at it. You can actually see it trying against natural gravity to lift up in flight but could not do it.
The rest of the story goes like this: I didn’t have time to stop, and I hit both of them at 55 mph; they flew out of the way to possibly lay on the side of the road, and I continued on my way home. I was delighted the critters did not hit my windshield but felt bad they were in the way when I hit them.
A few days later, while at the grocery store, I happened to glance at the glass door where the front of the truck was reflected, and discovered in horror the front grill of the truck was nothing but a gaping hole. I guess the bird and its prey were a little bigger than I originally thought. It looked as if a gorilla had used a tree log to punch a hole in the front of the truck and it was not a pleasant sight.
How do I tell Grumpy I had another accident with the truck? He’s not going to be happy to hear the truck needs yet another part replaced; after all, we just bought new tires and had a few minor parts replaced after all the accidents I had last year.
I think this truck came with a black cloud over it! If I count the miles I have driven as a sales rep around the country, they add up to about 2M miles without an accident, a ticket or a major repair. I don’t think anyone can change driving modes in just two years, it must be the black cloud over this truck.
After all, it wasn’t my fault the bird was enjoying its meal on the side of the road as I was on my way home. So there, you can tell Grumpy.