This was another day of running, running, running. I didn't do much writing at all today.
Billy had a karate class this morning. He said it was at 10:30. Normally his classes last an hour so I thought it would be nice to take the girls and then after the class, we could go to Sears. The kids still had their gift cards. TB couldn't join us because we were expecting a serviceman for our well.
Well, the first thing we realized was that the class was already in progress so it must've started earlier than 10:30! Sure enough, one of the class members who wasn't participating that day said the class began at 10.
We hung out awhile because Heidi had shown some interest in taking karate and we figured it would be good for her to watch and see if it's right for her. So all these guys are going through their routines and shouting and sweating and Heidi turned to me and said, "I don't think I'd be good at this."
I said, "Well, not at first but if you practiced ..."
And she gave me this look and said, "You know I don't follow orders very well."
I had nothing to say to that. ;-)
We figured the class would end at 11 but it didn't. We decided to go across the street to Wendy's for some soda.
When TB and I take Billy to karate, we drop him off and then hang at Wendy's until he comes across the street after class. We sat and talked, finished our sodas, wondered what time it was and got restless. I checked the time and realized it was about quarter to 12.
So we drove back across the street and Heidi went in to find out what was going on. It turns out that the Saturday class goes from 10 to 12. It figures. Nothing is ever easy.
We grabbed a bite to eat and went to the mall to shop at Sears. The kids picked up some gifts for Linda's baby, already nicknamed "Nick". It'll be confusing if the baby's name ends up being something other than Nicholas.
TB and I needed to go to BJ's for some food and stuff so I was home about 10 minutes.
It was almost dinner time when we finished and started on our way home. We were almost into our development when all of a sudden, two deer were in the street in front of us.
Where did they come from? I couldn't say. One minute they weren't there, the next minute they were in front of us. I screamed. TB breaked but it was too late, there was nothing he could do to avoid hitting them. I had a thought that these deer were going to fly up and crash into the windshield.
TB pulled over. I hadn't seen what happened. I must have closed my eyes when I screamed. One had gone running off into the woods but the other fell on the other side of the room. TB was upset cuz he likes animals and normally would not want to hurt them.
I looked out and saw that the deer was almost on the shoulder, struggling to get up. It was so little ... a baby. TB thought it might have broken its leg. He got out and went across the street, looking at the poor llittle animal. He patted it, pulled it clear of the road, patted it again and then used his cell phone to call the police.
Maybe they'd be able to help the poor thing? It was terrified and still trying to stand up. TB said that its leg was pretty badly broken.
Another car pulled over to see if we needed help. The other driver walked into the woods a ways to see if he could find the other deer. He saw some tracks but then they disappeared.
As we were standing there waiting for the police, the little deer died. I felt so sad for it and for the mother deer, who might be dying as well.
The police came and took an incident report. There wasn't any damage to TB's van, just a bent license plate.
We were very very lucky! We weren't hurt and the car wasn't damaged. I remembered that someone in Delaware hit two deer and she was killed. The car was totalled. The injured deer were thrown through her windshield.
So I'm upset about the baby deer but I'm also grateful to God. It could have been a lot worse.
I had an email in my inbox from the publisher of an online magazine called Seven Seas. One of my essays is in their January issue. It's the third essay and the link is:
Posted by Cassie at January 17, 2004 10:00 PM