The Quick Red Fox Ran Across the Road

Driving to work this morning. Decent day, cool air, a bit of sun, good-to-be-alive-in weather. I am tooling through the woods, looking for the new sign that just went up announcing, "scenic drive." About the same location where the deer cross the road, an animal runs in front of my car. I slow down. It's a red fox, looking neither right nor left but trotting across the street at a leisurely clip. I watch him run into the woods. Really cool. Look at the road ahead. See a black cat run across the road ahead of the driver in the Ford SUV ahead of me. Obviously a morning where critters will cross the road. Wonder if the Ford driver is superstitious. Cat ran in from of him, not me.

This person is a really poor driver, half the time on the other side of the road, signalling on the least important turns (by now we are both driving by the lake), and ignoring others. Erratic driving, still. I decide the Ford person is on the phone. That usually accounts for the weird weaving. Can't see if man or woman. Still wondering if freaked out by black cat. Hmmmm.

He or she leaps ahead when I have to wait for traffic. By now five cars separate me and the Ford. I'll never see the driver. Damn. Then we get into the congested part of Stoughton, and I close the distance. Other cars have turned or changed lanes by now. I zip by the Ford to cut thru the CVS parking lot to save three minutes (running late as usual). Ditzy-looking woman in the Ford. Decide she was spooked by the cat and immediately got on the phone to call everybody she knew for advice. The little stories I tell myself (and now you).

Really neat to see the fox, although I think he should run a lot faster. Hope the cat didn't make him a meal. I always have to change channels when the lion catches the wildebeest.

Minor success at work. Can't get thru an afternoon without chocolate, though. Comes from always eating a wimpy diet lunch. Bring on the burger and fries, she cried.

Tomorrow is my day to write. The story is out of the desert and back in Reno, getting ready for the 2nd murder. In the meantime, a really good idea for a short story, based on a true and tragic incident. Thinking about changing the part of the country, and lots of other stuff. Can't change everything. Kind of shameless, really, but that's how we writers are.

Aloha,

Grapeshot