Local wildlife

Sunday, 12:54 am

By Kate

Jun

10

2007

The lad worked late tonight...another wedding reception. I headed out to pick him up around 10:30 so that I’d be at the country club before the gates closed at 11:00 PM.

About three miles into the journey, along Route 1, I came up on a police roadblock. Now, police roadblocks tend to make most people a little nervous, I think. At least they might make one reflect on all possible sins committed in the last few hours. I admit to two margaritas, but that was far enough back that I was perfectly legal, but still.

The police officer approached my car with his flashlight and I rolled down my window.

“Have you seen a cow?” he asked.

Wait, I thought. Is that a trick question? You know...purple cows and stuff?

“Uh, no,” I said. “I haven’t seen a cow.”

He wasn’t too terribly concerned with looking at me. He scanned the area around us. “There’s a cow on the loose,” he said. “It’s been crossing back and forth across the railroad tracks and the road. I don’t know how we’re supposed to catch a cow.”

“Well, they’re sort of like big dogs,” I said. “They like their ears scratched. You’re not going to shoot it, are you?”

“Good God no,” he said. “I just want the damned thing to go back home. Be careful out there. It might run across the road again.”

And on I went. Don’t know whether they caught the cow or not. When we came back home, the police and the roadblock were gone.

Instead of a cow, though, I had a close encounter with a doe. She was a big girl and decided at the last second to turn around and get out of the road. It was my night for big animals, I guess.