Anyway, morning and afternoon commuter traffic hours fill up our roads earlier and earlier, as a normal 20-30 minute commute to or from the city can take as long as 1 and 1/2 hours if you don't get started early enough.
However, my commute to work is in the opposite direction, which is fine by me...through the towns, not the highways, is how I like it! It can cause for some snowy, unplowed terrain in an early morning snowstorm in the winter. Or, sometimes the road hazard of an occasional family of deer gracefully leaping across the road in front of me as I skid on the morning ice to avoid them. And, sometimes a traffic tie-up as we all try to navigate water at mid-hubcaps as the spring rivers overflow and turn some low-lying roads into small ponds.
Recent mornings
however, I've run into another seasonal delay that I tend to forget about from season to season. The local farm tractors head out to the fields in the early morning to get them turned in time for some spring planting. I'm often still sort of "asleep at the wheel" in my early morning commute, so it took awhile the other morning to realize that this tractor was not going to turn off the road anytime soon. I resigned myself that my morning ride was going at a bit slower pace than normal...and eventually enjoyed the sights at the pace that probably was meant to be.
however, I've run into another seasonal delay that I tend to forget about from season to season. The local farm tractors head out to the fields in the early morning to get them turned in time for some spring planting. I'm often still sort of "asleep at the wheel" in my early morning commute, so it took awhile the other morning to realize that this tractor was not going to turn off the road anytime soon. I resigned myself that my morning ride was going at a bit slower pace than normal...and eventually enjoyed the sights at the pace that probably was meant to be.Finally, Mr. Farmer found his field and everyone in the line of slow-moving traffic behind him stepped on their gas pedals to make up for lost time.
So, there I was zipping on a curvy, woodsy part of my drive when the car in front of me swerved to avoid something. I couldn't tell just what - until I saw exactly what the problem was...a wild turkey nervously trying to dodge cars as it attempted to run across the street and the guy in the car in front of me swerving to miss it.
In the split second that I realized what we were dealing with, I slammed onto my brakes in time to look down from my driver's side window and see Mr. Turkey's red head right below me...not quite eye-level, but it was definitely the closest eye-to-eye that I'd ever had with a wild turkey! He was looking to me like - "Hey! I'm coming through here!" Though, my thoughts were more like, "I'm so sorry...for sure you're a goner and in short time you will be "one" with my tire tracks."
yuck...
But, just as quickly, I saw in my rear-view mirror that, (fortunately no one was behind me), Mr. Turkey somehow miraculously trotted behind my car untouched, and made it to his destination on the other side of the road!
And, so was my morning commute ... no safari rhino-guard needed...though a close call with some big local wildlife!!
Eastern Wild Turkey
1 comment:
loved two things about this post...first, I think the over-sized vehicles with the safari/paramilitary gear are ludicrous! Second, I love close encounters with wildlife, however, this one would have been too close for my comfort, also.
On the way to my Dad's funeral last month, we were swooped by an amazing bald eagle close to Framingham on the Pike. It was breathtaking!
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