(image from here)
This week's show's theme is "meteors." I always thought it would be romantic to take someone out to see a meteor shower. I hadn't actually witnessed one, always living in an urban area where the light pollution made it impossible. In fact, it wasn't until I was on a road in the middle of Nevada in 1995 that I even saw the actual Milky Way - & in fact saw a number of meteors as well. It was lovely & thrilling.
A few years later, wanting to hang out with a woman I liked, I had a rental car from a recent visit to Dallas to see family, & I had checked some astronomical website & I found a place far enough from Austin where I thought we might be able to see some summer meteor shower - possibly the Perseids. She agreed & off we went, driving west from town on some small highway.
Not very far outside of the city, probably near Cedar Valley, I caught a sudden sight out of the corner of my eye & very quickly felt the impact of something striking the car on the driver's side, right at the corner where the windshield met the body of the vehicle. I don't recall if the car spun but I do know I got it as quickly as possible to the side of the road. I haven't been in many car accidents in my time. I hope I reacted well.
The driver's side mirror was gone, & there was a large dent in front of the door (which opened with difficulty). More horrifying to me was tufts of coarse hair stuck in place where there were cracks or folds. We were not alone on the highway, though other cars were few & far between, & a kindly driver stopped & asked if we needed help. They had a cell phone (something that was a rarity in the 1990s) & called the Highway Patrol. I looked around & the creature that struck the vehicle was nowhere to be found.
A few years later, wanting to hang out with a woman I liked, I had a rental car from a recent visit to Dallas to see family, & I had checked some astronomical website & I found a place far enough from Austin where I thought we might be able to see some summer meteor shower - possibly the Perseids. She agreed & off we went, driving west from town on some small highway.
Not very far outside of the city, probably near Cedar Valley, I caught a sudden sight out of the corner of my eye & very quickly felt the impact of something striking the car on the driver's side, right at the corner where the windshield met the body of the vehicle. I don't recall if the car spun but I do know I got it as quickly as possible to the side of the road. I haven't been in many car accidents in my time. I hope I reacted well.
The driver's side mirror was gone, & there was a large dent in front of the door (which opened with difficulty). More horrifying to me was tufts of coarse hair stuck in place where there were cracks or folds. We were not alone on the highway, though other cars were few & far between, & a kindly driver stopped & asked if we needed help. They had a cell phone (something that was a rarity in the 1990s) & called the Highway Patrol. I looked around & the creature that struck the vehicle was nowhere to be found.
When the law showed up, they escorted us off the highway to a closed shopping mall & got all the information. They opined about the deer - whether it would live, how big its antlers must have been to scratch up the car, how sad if it died & "all that venison went to waste." I wasn't comforted by their conversation but needed their report so I wouldn't be charged for the damage at the rental car place.
The experience was draining & I just took the woman home. It occurred to me as we rode in silence that in the blackness of the highway, waiting for the cops, I never once looked up at the sky. & I had bad dreams that night about the deer, hoping against hope it survived its head-on experience with the car.
& wishing I had seen my first meteor shower instead.
The experience was draining & I just took the woman home. It occurred to me as we rode in silence that in the blackness of the highway, waiting for the cops, I never once looked up at the sky. & I had bad dreams that night about the deer, hoping against hope it survived its head-on experience with the car.
& wishing I had seen my first meteor shower instead.
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