At Least You Didn't Hit a Monkey on your way to Work: STORY TELLING SUNDAY POST

Random Photo from Sept. 2009 showing the end of our driveway and our road. Somebody had stopped to ask if I had seen their dog. I was taking photos with the small people as someone had to make a photo montage for school. I am assuming Lexi was standing in the road taking the photo as she would have been the oldest. You see how much traffic goes by in the middle of nowhere! Plus it's taken from a very short perspective....

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Was browsing Facebook shortly before showering this morning. Ran across a post from my friend
Helen in South Africa. She was very upset over running over a monkey. It was too early to come up with anything consoling to say, so opted to think it over under the hot water.

Living on a dirt road in the Wilds of Campbell, NY I have hit many things going to work and coming home.

Long stretches of wilderness, twisty windy road not to mention spring mud always made the drive interesting.

At one point someone let a flock of chickens loose at the end of our driveway. Since they weren't there in the morning and appeared there in the evening, hitting one was inevitable due to the surprise factor. We ate it.

Random attack chicken hanging out...met her on a recent walk we took. 

She ran across the road in a huge hurry prompting to me to say, 

HEY...WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD

 to which I got pushed in the ditch by THE MAN

We hit some one's dog once. It was dark and rainy and the owner let him out just as we drove by. He barreled across the road and in front of our truck. The dog was also black. Thankfully he just dislocated his hip and was right as rain after a $500 vet bill and overnight stay.

Then there was the time I hit a deer with the new company vehicle. I had just called my Mom on her cell where she was on death bed watch with my Grandma. I had woken her up and she was telling me that Grandma had passed away in the night. Interestingly enough, I only bent the license plate frame and the deer got away with just a little less hair....Mom claims it was Grandma's spirit saying good by.

The most embarrassing thing I hit was a grouse.

If you are not expecting one to be hanging out in the middle of the road since they are the same color of the road, it's not something you can really miss. In fact, I saw a cloud of feathers for five seconds and no body. I was of the mindset the dang bird got away. Kept going on my merry way coffee in hand.

It was not until half way through the day when an image of my car with a bird body stuck in the grill enhanced with photoshopped blood and guts made it's way around the office.

I got dirty looks from the girls in the office for the rest of the day. I suppose it was my lack of remorse that stunned everyone. I was only worried we'd have to eat it for dinner. We have a rule here at Pratt Inc. that we eat anything we kill. (That basically means THE MAN does not trophy hunt deer but since he rarely even leaves our back deck, I think we are not in danger of any serious motivation.)

It was pulled back through the grill that evening with much swearing by THE MAN. Thankfully it was not on the menu!

And as far as running over a monkey? I still don't have anything decent to help console Helen. THE MAN however did. He said:  A monkey is sure to do a lot less damage than a 180 lb deer.

He would know. That is how he got his first deer. A $500 insurance deductible and $40 for butchering. Yes we ate it. Was pretty pricey per pound!

And Helen, sorry about your mishap this morning. You bought back lots of good memories. Including this one of Frank (my white dog).

Linking up with Story Telling Sunday. Thanks as always Sian for having us over!