The Middle of the Road

A cool brisk breeze sent me shivering under the covers where the girls and I snuggled for as long as we could before shuffling downstairs to begin the feeding chores. Before drifting off to sleep last night I decided that this morning I would brave up once again and allow the girls off leash--just for a little while.

I'm sure it's quite exhilarating to run as fast as you can unbridled, untethered, unaware of any potential harm that may cross your path. I was very happy to see the girls happy. They both settled quickly into their routine, which to my surprise didn't hold their interest very long. Within minutes both dogs were back at the house sitting by my side enjoying the cool brisk air and the warm rising sun while I enjoyed the smile on their faces and my second cup of coffee.

Once dressed and ready for the day, I remembered there were a few pieces of outgoing mail by the door. Since it was a gorgeous morning, I thought that the three of us would walk the mile round-trip to the mailbox. Staying in the middle of the road, we quickly found our pace. Oh what a gorgeous morning! On the last stretch about 50 feet from the mailbox, watching the gravel road stretch out before us, glancing occasionally into the ditch on either side, my eyes fixed on a long thin shape that broke the random pattern of gravel right in the middle of the road about 20 feet ahead.

Giving a quick pull on the leashes and a stern, "whoa" all three of us came to a dead stop. Sure enough of what lie ahead, I wasn't sure if it was dead or alive. We share this lower portion of the drive with two neighbors, so it was possible someone had struck it earlier this morning, although from my vantage point it didn't look smooshed. I bent down, picked up a few pieces of gravel and began tossing stones hoping that if it was alive I would annoy it enough to move off. Not so much as a flinch! These snakes are really starting to tick me off.

Not wishing to tempt fate, the three of us turn tail and head home. Within a few moments our neighbor, Jason, turns onto the drive, spots the snake, turns the wheel just a bit, hits the snake, backs up, hits it again, gets out of his truck picks up the snake and flings it into the tall grass, returns to his truck, drives up to us, stops and says, "watch out for snakes; stay in the middle of the road".

Once again we headed down the middle of the road, dropped our mail, then headed home. I think it was Helen Keller who said, "Life is one daring adventure, or nothing at all."

Well said, Helen.