Phew. This concept is a tough one, but I love how you challenge the reader to the inverted reality as well...
I was driving down the road on my way from work--it may have been yesterday--moldering all the heavy things I needed to moulder right before an the attention and cuteness and demands of supper with the kids, debating whether or not to use the last moments to call a grieving friend or the one who just lost his job. The sun is setting, everything hard contrast and either purple and black or orange. And a flock of geese--perfect V formation--edges over the field to the right of the road, about the height of the trees--all silhouette--and I instinctively lower my window to catch the sounds of their honking-- and the timing is perfect, and they pass over the road as my car passes under them, and I think I whooped. I know I did.
I thought of this when finishing your piece. Thank you.
A thought-provoking post, Shawn. Beauty and pain DO come into our lives randomly. Sometimes I find myself fretting about the unfairness of the latter while hardly noticing the former. God forgive me!
Love this and I totally relate as a fellow rule follower to the feeling that things should generally proceed well and in an orderly manner when we follow the rules. Yet there's so many things we can't predict. Can't control. Maybe that's what it comes down to - control... hmmm....🤔
Ah, the joys of colliding with deer. I've had that experience twice. The first time was in pre-cellphone days, on a dark wind-y southern Indiana two-lane. Tore up my new car and killed the deer. A hill fellow pulled up in his pick-up truck, surveyed the scene, as inquired, "Hit a deer?" After my answer in the affirmative, he asked, "Can I have it?" I thought that was odd, but he explained that in Indiana that the driver who kills a deer has first claim to it. I had no desire to try to strap it to the roof of my car and had no idea what I'd do with it if I did get it the 60 miles back home. I traded it for a ride to a phone so I could call home. He then took me back to my car and I meandered my way home in autumn dark by way of one headlight pointing askew, flashers cycling on and off, and the light of a full moon. The car and I were never the same after that. I became (and still am) a bit more watchful, especially during deer season. And the car was prepared for when my 17 year old son ran it under the back end of a jacked-up pickup truck whilst changing the radio, sustaining approximately the same damage as it had received upon hitting the deer.
Right here with you. Still reeling. Still wondering. Okay and not at all okay. Watching my kids laugh in delight because they're making three armed snowmen with foam stickers.
Yes, the deer feel the loss. There is a documentary called "touching the wild" about a man who was close to a herd of mule deer. It has a scene that shows deer behavior when a member of the herd dies.
Phew. This concept is a tough one, but I love how you challenge the reader to the inverted reality as well...
I was driving down the road on my way from work--it may have been yesterday--moldering all the heavy things I needed to moulder right before an the attention and cuteness and demands of supper with the kids, debating whether or not to use the last moments to call a grieving friend or the one who just lost his job. The sun is setting, everything hard contrast and either purple and black or orange. And a flock of geese--perfect V formation--edges over the field to the right of the road, about the height of the trees--all silhouette--and I instinctively lower my window to catch the sounds of their honking-- and the timing is perfect, and they pass over the road as my car passes under them, and I think I whooped. I know I did.
I thought of this when finishing your piece. Thank you.
Thanks for sharing that, Luke. Beautiful.
A thought-provoking post, Shawn. Beauty and pain DO come into our lives randomly. Sometimes I find myself fretting about the unfairness of the latter while hardly noticing the former. God forgive me!
It's a lesson in seeing. At least, partially.
Love this and I totally relate as a fellow rule follower to the feeling that things should generally proceed well and in an orderly manner when we follow the rules. Yet there's so many things we can't predict. Can't control. Maybe that's what it comes down to - control... hmmm....🤔
I think you're right, Amy. Control plays a big part.
Ah, the joys of colliding with deer. I've had that experience twice. The first time was in pre-cellphone days, on a dark wind-y southern Indiana two-lane. Tore up my new car and killed the deer. A hill fellow pulled up in his pick-up truck, surveyed the scene, as inquired, "Hit a deer?" After my answer in the affirmative, he asked, "Can I have it?" I thought that was odd, but he explained that in Indiana that the driver who kills a deer has first claim to it. I had no desire to try to strap it to the roof of my car and had no idea what I'd do with it if I did get it the 60 miles back home. I traded it for a ride to a phone so I could call home. He then took me back to my car and I meandered my way home in autumn dark by way of one headlight pointing askew, flashers cycling on and off, and the light of a full moon. The car and I were never the same after that. I became (and still am) a bit more watchful, especially during deer season. And the car was prepared for when my 17 year old son ran it under the back end of a jacked-up pickup truck whilst changing the radio, sustaining approximately the same damage as it had received upon hitting the deer.
Well, that's a story. A deer bartered for a ride home. You never cease to amaze, Brent.
Right here with you. Still reeling. Still wondering. Okay and not at all okay. Watching my kids laugh in delight because they're making three armed snowmen with foam stickers.
Ah, the famous three-armed snowman. Yes, indeed.
Yes, the deer feel the loss. There is a documentary called "touching the wild" about a man who was close to a herd of mule deer. It has a scene that shows deer behavior when a member of the herd dies.
Thanks, Jo. I’ll have to check it out.