A Drop of Golden Sun...

Broad daylight

off the freeway

taking the long way around

down the winding mountain road

surrounded by green lace

sparkling light flashes
like mini fireworks

fragrant Pine, Redwood, Madrone

tickling my nose

bringing that rare sense

all is right with the world.

a smile

Others escape with me,
some ahead
leading the way,

some behind me
in the mirror

all of us
snaking down the mountain together
fresh air soothing
sunlight sprinkling like snow

we meet the climbers,
from the other direction
all pass one another
like ants on a trail

I can't watch them now
focusing on cars ahead
red lights braking
car behind me
too close

In a flickering blink
a tawny creature flies

It's Bambi's mother

crossing the road
I can't breathe

A split second of hope
In one graceful ballerina leap,
she makes it!
almost...

SUV barrels round the curve
everyone brakes
stops in horror

She's down
all fours tucked round her,
as if resting in a field
her regal head raised
a long gash on her throat

Red so bright
It's the only color in the world.

she'll be alright

she says
with her eyes,
just give me a minute.

The monster backs up,
peals out around her
as if alone
as if no one saw!
a hit and run
Is it legal?
a hit and run on a doe?

Bambi's mother bleeds
I cry
pull over
close as I dare
the edge of the steep abyss
How did she fly so high?

"911 What is your emergency?"

A large deer was hit, she's lying on the old Soquel highway near ...

"Is it on the road or off the road?"

It's on ...  middle of other lane

"If it's dead, pull it off the road."

If I had the strength... I... How much could she weigh?

"Ma'am???"

She's alive.
Can she be rescued?

I'm distracted
People are standing by my window.

"Are you alright?"

Yes.... No!

"Did you hit the deer?"

No, not me. It was a hit and run! I stopped to call 911

I wave my cellphone... 

Where did these people come from?

The woman looks at my front bumper
at the dent there

so many years
shakes her head
says something
to the man beside her

"Ma'am, you need to tell me... the animal, is it alive or dead?

Is it blocking the road?"

I turn to look
Bambi's mother leaps up
a breath of hope
she falls
half on the road
half in the ditch
struggling
lifting her head
chest rising rapidly
her eyes wild now

"Ma'am, Ma'am... you need to pay attention to me. Is the animal blocking traffic?

Yes,  It's a very large deer.

a little white lie.
cars are passing by,
carefully, slowly,

traffic has not stopped.

"Animal control will take care of the situation. Stay there until they arrive"

Yes, Yes, okay

But, I don't stay
the doe looks dead

fog crawls in
to catch the spirit
and welcome it home 

No more green lace
or sunbeams
too cold for open window

I drive down the forested road
breathing in
and breathing out

Please note: The scenic pictures were taken by me. The deer pictures were not.

I struggled with the conversational punctuation. How does one do that in poetry? He said, she said sounds so unpoetic. Maybe this isn't a poem?

Cries with Cop

I started to cry while driving on the freeway. I have no idea why. It wasn't simply that sense of tears starting to spring that you can hold back with a tightness in the throat. No, this came from somewhere deep. Like a volcano wanting to break loose. Tears unbidden. Tears with plans of their own.

I knew I had to get off the freeway as soon as possible to avoid being a danger to others. I can drive while crying. I've done it before. Haven't we all? It wasn't even a matter of understanding why I felt so sad.

There was an exit up ahead a couple miles, but I had to pull over right there and then.  I had the flashers on so that other drivers would at least notice I was on the side of the road. Not wanting to break down sobbing, I was looking around for some tissues, and thereby noticed from the rear view mirror, a vehicle coming up on me  from the rear. A police vehicle. Oh dear, oh yuck, oh %^*&! Can I get a traffic ticket for having pulled over on the freeway without having a flat tire of overheated engine? I would soon find out.

Officers in this area frequently come up to the passenger side of the car to talk to the driver, because the danger of a high speed vehicle clipping them while passing too closely. Therefore when the officer came to my door, I opened it so he could lean in. It was just beginning to sprinkle.

He took one look at me, and I noticed in his eyes a flicker of recognition. He knew instinctively that this wasn't a stalled car problem. Maybe he was thinking, a crying woman, Oh no, oh yuck, oh %^*&!". But he said with concern, "Are you all right, Ma'am?"

I didn't know what to say. (I just started crying for no reason, officer, over nothing?) No, I didn't say that. I lied. Okay, maybe not a full lie, a little white lie. I told him my mother died last year... and a bit of overwhelming grief struck me while driving... and I thought it would be safer for me to pull over to calm down. He said some comforting words, and to get me out of danger of the traffic, he followed me to the next exit.

Maybe it is true after all. Maybe I am missing my mother. She was 87 when she died a couple years ago. She was my best supporter, and loved to me read anything I might have written. A letter, a poem, a story, one of my opinionated pieces or a journal page about my cats. She would have liked this posting to know a caring cop had stopped to help her daughter. She would have understood how tears and sadness come from nowhere, with no known reason. She would have understood my white lie.

Please note:  I love to take pictures of vintage cars. The last picture is of my Mom in our 1955 Nash Rambler. 

We All Have a Story. What's Yours, Ducky?

I remember the time I was driving X and his new steady girlfriend, K, home from high school. It had been a long monotonous ride. I got off the main highway to get out of traffic, take a detour on a side road with two lanes. I told the kids, "We're taking the scenic route! Less nerve wracking!"

Suddenly the two lane traffic slowed to a grind. Not just on our side. It seemed the cars on the other side were slowing too. Some would suddenly zoom by with a little squeal of tires. It seemed so odd. I stuck my head out the window to catch a glimpse of what was holding up traffic.

Mother duck...

Her ducklings were located in the drainage ditch on our right. Their goal? The pond to our left across the road.

I quickly swung the car over to the side of the road. A little gasp from K. Was I making her nervous? Maybe she thought I was driving into the water?

I opened the door and got out, my son smiling and rolling his eyes as, K said, "Where ya goin'?

"I'll be right back."

I walked down the center of double yellow lines and stopped equal to the position of the ducks, put my arms out wide and waved them (like flapping wings, now that I think of it.)

There's something about being a mother, myself, seeing another mother and her little ones in danger, that brings out the protectiveness in me.

I began edging my way right and left. The cars slowed to a creep, one zipped pass me. I gave the driver behind him an I-dare-you look. He smiled and threw his hands in the air and remained in place.

Now that all traffic was stopped heard only mother duck encouraging her little ones to follow her between this canyon of metal, asphalt and funny odors. 

I could also hear K in the car... "Your mother is crazy!!!

X said. "You better get used to it."

The cars stopped.

They had no choice with Crazy Lady blocking their way

Momma and babies all made it safely across to the pond.

I have no doubt one of the pond ducklings who hadn't gone on adventure snickered to the newly crossed over, "Your mother is crazy!

It seems that ducks have us people well figured out, as there are other stories similar to mine. There was one in the news about a cab driver. Maybe you have a duck story? It does not have to include teenagers If you have a duck story. Please feel free to share it in a comment. 

On the Way to the Vet

I put my cat in her travel case to take her to the vet. It was nearly 100 degrees out.

Even though my car has air conditioning, I worried she would be stressed by my putting her in the hot car and waiting until it cooled down.

So I took some picnic ice packs I had in the freezer and laid some beneath the cage and laid some on top of them.

As I started to drive away, I noticed there was a large plume of smoke in the direction of the freeway. I knew the sign. Wildfire! I decided to not take the freeway and turned the car around to take the long way.

Very quickly the traffic on Freedom Blvd, increased and slowed. You can see in the picture on the left all the cars lined up one after the other. That's unusual.

Seemed like traffic might have been diverted and other drivers had the same plan as me. Then, I got another look at that plume of smoke. It had tripled in size!

By that time the leaves from the trees were being blown into town. No way was I going to take a chance and get caught in traffic near all that, even with the air conditioning on. What if the car overheated? What if I had to get out, carry my cat and walk.

I pulled over and stopped, took a couple pictures, then went home.