People who know me and love me anyway know how much I love birds. I gather their nests, their feathers, their photos, their broken shells, their songs. I have painted them on the walls of my home and have buried their little lifeless leftovers in my yard. I have been called the bird lady, a bird brain, a bird freak and a freaky bird brain (to name a few). I am fascinated by birds and sometimes feel as though I were one at one time.
They kept darting in front of me flying across the road low in my lights and very excited. It was as if they suddenly realized all the good bugs were across the street and they would just have to take a chance at being hit to eat one. They were making me gasp at how close they were coming to my car grill eating them so I slowed down even more. Then I could make out the breeds.There were all kinds, not just the finches, although I think they were the "pilot" birds and the rest were following their lead. That is when I believe they told me. 'You should only drive as fast as the birds can easily get out of the way'. It was as clear a direction as I have ever been given.
I glanced in my rear view and saw the truck I had passed coming into my view now. I looked at my speedometer and it registered 50. For the next mile or two the birds kept flitting by but none to close and I felt safe to set my cruise for the straightaway. I sighed, it was not much further to Winton where I would get gas, eat my snack and take my meds, I was ready to get off the road for a while.
As the road began to incline into a slight curve I realized where I was. I was approaching the first small bridge over the Wiccacon River. I gently pumped my brake to release my cruise, felt the car gear down and loose some of it's momentum. Calmly my whole body said to me, do not touch the brake, and I did not. As my wheels hit the edge of that different plain I felt a slight slide. Barely noticible yet evident. My mind and car seemed to ease into slow motion. We gracefully and successfully reached the other side. Then I looked up in my rearview and watched in horror as the truck took to the bridge....