Deerslayer

Quote of the Day: It's those unpredictable moments in life that make it so interesting. - myself

Got in a fight with a deer. She punched my lights out, but I won. Poor Magoo. We had an early morning departure for the boys' section swim meet in Superior, WI, about a two hour drive away. We left home at 5:45 am, killed a deer and had the attention of three local police officers by 6:00 am.

We, in the north say, "Uff-da!" That's one of those words that covers pretty much everything.

The kids were fine. Seat belts work! The banana, on the other hand, took a beating. I ate it anyway once it got light out and my stomach settled a bit.

I live in the heart of the lakes country in Minnesota with lots of beautiful wooded area. Yes, I killed a deer right in town! Of course, my town doesn't look like a typical town with pavement and row houses. My last house had a lake in the backyard. My current house has woods in the backyard, and I'm within city limits -city sewer and water -thank you very much.

If you live in my neck of the woods, the question isn't IF you'll hit a deer, the question is WHEN? I say it goes back to deer parenting. Why don't they teach their young to look BOTH WAYS before crossing the street!?!

Or, maybe deer have poor vision. Hence, the name I gave my deer victim, Magoo. (I'd name it Mr. Magoo the near-sighted cartoon character, but I think it was a female - no antlers). Deer get scared and run INTO cars, or people. True story - a woman was running a mini-marathon in our area last spring at the arboretum, and the deer came bounding out of the woods and ran into her! She received a few bruises and quite a scare.

The first police officer to stop asked, "Do you want the deer?" I gave him a confused look, "No." What would I do with a deer carcass? I'm not a hunter. I don't know how to prepare venison. It's not bad if killed by a real hunter who has a good recipe. Who needs a gun to kill a deer when you've got a mini-van?

Despite the rough start to the day, we made it to the swim meet before it started. I'd asked the lady police officer if she thought the van looked okay to take me there. She said to pay attention to how the tires were responding. If we had missed the meet, Zach (12-year-old) wouldn't have taken first in the 50-yard breast stroke, qualified for state AND regions, and all three of them would have been the missing members of relays, which would have disappointed other swimmers. My twins were put on the same relay - they were half the team! Most of the relay teams make it to state.

It could have been worse. Hitting deer is a common occurrence here, that's why we pay all that money into our insurance. And, really, despite that mishap, it was one of the best section swim meets ever, I had an interesting story to tell (the boys did, too). They swam great. I relaxed by the end of the day and ate a nice meal with another swim family before heading home (they followed me for support), and, hey, another blog topic!

I once read about a woman who brought her terrified cat to the vet. The cat climbed on her head while she drove her there. She wrote, "The only good thing about driving around with a psychotic cat on your head is that later you get to go home and write about it." Oh, the blessings of a writer.

Drive safely, wear your seat belts, and God bless the boring days of life, as well as the exciting ones!!

Journaling Prompt: Tell your story. Write about an accident.