Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Oh Deer!

Last week as I traveled home from yoga, I came up the hill on 8th North in Orem at a moderate speed, when out of the corner of my eye what appeared to be a really large dog darted out in front of my car. As I slowed down and swerved, I realized that it was actually a very brave and tame deer. He looked at me like a scared little kid, questioning my right to be on the road. I was just grateful that I didn't actually hit the deer, damage my car, slide on ice, and potentially cause other accidents. You know at Christmastime, I thought it was cute to see Donner and Blitzen prancing around our neighborhood, but now I realize the potential hazards of sharing the space with wildlife.

Which reminds me of a hillarious story. In December, I traveled up the Utah County side of the mountain going up to the Suncrest development in Draper to visit Hylan and bring he and his business partner some dinner (homemade philly cheesesteaks). On the way up, I noticed several deer along the hill on the side of the road. I thought to myself, how cute. So, after about an hour visiting Hylan, I made my way back down the mountain on a four lane multi-directional road. I was well-aware that there were no other cars on the road either in front or behind me on either side of the road, so when I happened upon that same family of deer (five of them) on the left side of the road where opposite traffic travels, I thought to my self, self you must do something to protect the deer and the people driving up the mountain. So, what did I do? I stopped my car, rolled down my window, looked right at the deer and yelled, "deer, get off the road!" And just like that, they scurried off.

A re-creation of the sight I saw that cold December night in Draper.


The funniest part is when I called Hylan to tell him what I did and he just starts laughing and says, "you speak deer? Hey Zach, my wife has a talent I didn't know about; she speaks deer."

In hindsight, I suppose I could have just honked my horn, but how then would I have known that I am actually a deer whisperer? What a cool talent!

1 comment:

Marissa Marie said...

I enjoyed your deer story...