Road Kill Report

Since I started riding again a couple years ago I began noticing the volume and variety of dead animals lying in state, as it were, by, or in, the road. I've seen blogs that specialize in posting photos of these poor little fellows. The photography was usually pedestrian and lurid. Fortunately for all y'all, I'm not planning on doing anything like that here. It's too time consuming, and dangerous, and I'm not a photographer. However, on my ride today, in 59 miles I saw the physical remains of the following ex-organisms: Green Tree Snake, Box Turtle, Orange Tabby Cat, Juvenile Black Snake, 2 Garter Snakes, Snapping Turtle (extra large), Mud Turtle, Young Skunk, Young Woodchuck, 2 Opossums, Bluebird, German Shepard Dog (as big as a deer), several dragonflies and butterflies, Robin, Little Brown Bird, Totally Flattened Small Snake, Totally Flattened Small Snake Or Lizard, Undifferentiated Bat, and too many piles of bones and fur to remember and too far gone to identify.

Other than that, it was a pretty good ride. 2o mph wind, gusting to 30, and no matter what direction I was going it was a head- or cross-wind. Until I turned onto Walnut Grove Church Road. Fifteen miles of tailwind, no stopsigns, little traffic, and rolling countryside. Steady 25 mph, no sound but the tires on the road. Kinda like flying. Or falling. Until I crest a little ridge and see the black clouds piled on the treetops. But the wind is blowing toward them, right? So why are they getting closer? The road ends and I turn 300 degrees to the right, into the wind, toward home, about 25 miles away if I go as straight as I can. I keep turning back to see that the storm is gaining on me, and get the feeling that I'm on a train track running away from a train. But it's a very, very, wide train. Twice I got hit with those huge drops that sometimes signal the start of truly egregious rain, and both times I thought I was about to be miserable, but it held off until I was back in the barn. And through it all I kept the running tally of Carnage (Get it. Car-nage?) seen above.

You're welcome.