Most of the things I see when I am running make me happy. On one of my regular loops I pass by a mailbox that is in the shape of a small green farm tractor. Another person has had trouble with kids shooting their mailbox so after repeatedly replacing it they finally just painted a red and white bulls-eye on it (still in it's pellet ridden condition), it has not been destroyed since. We often underestimate the power of humor. I also pass many friendly cows who always look up at me hoping I have brought hay. When it rained on one of my long runs recently I turned off my IPod so I could listen to the rain falling on the bright green corn field. It was loud enough that I had noticed the pattering sound above the music. These things make me smile.
However, these are dark times on the road. As the temperatures rises drivers are less friendly and they seem to be in a hurry. And there is much more road kill. On one lonely stretch of road I encountered a small dead frog. He was on his back, his white tummy belly-up. He wasn't flat and so as I ran along for the next few minutes I tried to discern the cause of his demise. My best guess is that he was picked up by a bird of prey, maybe a waterbird of some kind, and dropped onto the road. The little snake I saw the next day was completely flat. I have also recently seen smashed, crunched and flattened bunnies and tortoises. And there have been a few unfortunate birds that have flown too low and not fast enough.
One early, dreary, overcast morning, I ran down a long, straight stretch of Coit Road. As I began to approach the area where the subdivisions begin I was overtaken by a large black shadow. It was the shadow of a large bird. As I ran further I saw that the bird joined several other birds on the road ahead. They were turkey vultures. As I approached I could see that they were gathered around a dead rabbit. I think I "knew" this rabbit because I pass a rabbit there very often eating grass on the side of the road. I was sad. A van was approaching the vultures from the other way. As he neared the vultures they reluctantly hopped, walked, or flew into the field on the other side of the road but only about 10-15 feet away from the center of the road. The van went on its way but the vultures were watching me so they did not return to breakfast. Instead they creepily watched me as I ran by. I was also watching them. There were 6 of them and they had a solemn, sinister determination to return to their meal. I also felt as if I was being evaluated, "Can we take her, she's still alive but she's running so slow, she could drop at any moment?". I sensed they all came to some kind of psychic agreement, "we can wait", "we can always reconsider after we finish the rabbit". I was running a 4 mile loop and unfortunately I saw a few more dead things along the way. On my way home I had to pass the turkey vultures again. As I approached, again they retreated to their farmland spot on the roadside. Again they watched me, heads turning as I ran by. And again I had that creepy feeling. I wanted to shout, "I'm not dead yet!".
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| picture from Oregon Natural Living web site. |
I hated to look over at the remains of the rabbit but not unlike people driving by an accident I could not avert my eyes. Amazingly there was nothing to see. Not even a bone remained. There was just a small stain on the road where the innocent victim had been squashed. This again gave me something to ponder as I ran onward, glancing back to make sure I wasn't followed! What happened to the bones? Vultures don't eat bones.
Back at my computer this was confirmed - see Turkey Vulture Facts here. As always with a google search one thing leads to another and I was fascinated by a question posted on the site. Why do turkey vultures urinate on their legs? I know that you are curious about this as well, here is the answer:
The
turkey vulture often directs its urine right onto its legs. This
process, known as urohydrosis, serves two very important purposes. On
warm days, wetting the legs cools the vulture as the urine evaporates.
(The vulture cannot sweat like us). In addition, this urine contains
strong acids from the vulture's digestive system, which may kill any
bacteria that remain on the bird's legs from stepping in its meal.
It's possible some aggressive vulture flew off with the bones but then why were the others still there? Oh and I forgot to mention there were no longer 6 of them, now there were 8 vultures watching me run by.
So even on creepy vulture road kill days, there is something worthwhile to take away: some things to contemplate, a respect for the order of things with regard to life and death, and the sobering reminder that life is fragile, we are not in control. There are usually only a few "states" that I run in: the zoned out, contemplative state where I either pray or just think, the endorphin state where I get ideas and I am very happy, and the state of pain, fatigue, and misery.
Very rarely another state overtakes me, it is a creepy, sad, and wary state. It only occurs when I am alone and away from houses and people and also it mostly occurs when it is gloomy weather. This last state may be a result of living as a woman in the world knowing that I am most vulnerable alone. When I have those feelings or when I encounter dead animals on the road that make me sad I think to myself: "yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me, Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me". And here again is another reason why I run. Overcoming the creepiness of vultures, the visual reality of death, the fear of being vulnerable in these small ways prepares me to confront these same issues in larger ways when needed.
Here is this week's running streak:
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Sunday
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Monday
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Tuesday
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Wednesday
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Thursday
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Friday
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Saturday
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Total
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3.06
33:11
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1.70
17:58
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4.06
43:21
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1.08
9:57
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3.05
33:51
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3.04
34:19
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4.52
49.08
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20:52
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June 3-9
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3.34 38:33
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1.04 11:47
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4.33 47:01
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2.29
26:09
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6.06 1:07
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2.01 22:23
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4.22 46:29
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23.30
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June 10-16
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2.14
25:27
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1.56
16:57
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2.60
29:33
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7 miles
1:18:20
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4.06
46:30
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1.05
12:04
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4.06
45:22
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22.46
miles
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Happy Running!
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