October 25, 2021

Rain has soaked our world the last month as if mother nature is trying to even things out for the intense heat of this past summer. 

I drove along the wet pavement and headed to the store for some supplies for our cats, Gabby and Snowbee.

In an instant he was there, running in front of my car.

I didn’t have time to brake. It was a sickening sound I heard when my tire hit his little body. In all my years I didn’t think squirrels would make so much noise being run over. My stomach sank and I glanced in the mirror. My victim lay in the middle of the road. Its body pulsing. I knew he didn’t have a chance.

My stomach churned and sank into itself.

I felt terrible, I took the life of that poor animal just by pure accident. One second sooner and he would have lived to scrounge another day. Poor squirrel, he should have looked both ways before he crossed the road.

Sometimes, tragically, life is very harsh. For the poor creature who crossed my path his life was shortened. 

At least it was only a squirrel. 

I know every life matters right?

What about those poor cows on the road to big white? There were four cows hit on the Big White road in the same night. Black cows, a dark night, and then bam! My friend wrote his truck off and the farmer was down a cow. The mystery is who hit the other cows and why not report it.

Driving Big White road is a bit like the wild west in the summertime. Odds are the cows will be fine – till they’re dumb enough to meander onto the road. My friend told me it was impossible to see the black animal as he rounded the bend. Putting reflective tags on them was one suggestion. Traffic is increasing so that might be a good idea. 

It is just the hands of fate that stepped in. 

We do everything we can to mitigate risk in our world. But you never know when something will cross your path. Sometimes it is good luck that you run into. Sometimes it is bad.

For my friend, it was bad luck for him and the cow. At least he was ok, the cow and his truck – not so much. In my case, the little squirrel ran into the worst kind of luck. And I get to have the sad memory of a crunching noise under my wheel. 

If that is the worst thing that happens this week, I think I will be ok…