Before my days as a licensed driver, there were those babysitting jobs where [usually] the dad would pick me up at a pre-designated time, scheduled to allow [usually] the mom a few extra minutes to beautify for the rare evening out. At the end of the night, I’d get back in the car and ride home to be deposited at my doorstep. Sometimes I wondered if it didn’t kill the mood of a busy parents’ once in a blue moon dating opportunity to have to drive the babysitter home after dinner or a movie.
Once, I decided there might not be so much mood to kill between a certain couple.
At the end of the evening, Mr. Dad pulled up fast on a pair of deer crossing the road on the way back to my house. He jerked to a halt and the deer leapt a stone wall into the woods, but as he eased back on to the gas and continued down the dark road he muttered, “Sometimes I just want to hit ’em,” which didn’t seem like the kind of thought that crosses one’s mind after a romantic evening.
I had dinner at a jet-lagged Jess’ house tonight and Jon offered to let me follow him home, since I made two wrong turns just getting there and I didn’t want to overestimate my ability to find my way home (Ridgebury is a foreign ground to me even when I haven’t been out of the country for five months). I followed his tail lights, glad for the constant reminder about which lane we use in this country, and slowed down when I saw brake lights on his jeep. A deer was crossing 116 and he slowed down to let it pass. Nice to know there are some good guys on the road.
Quote of the day: “She’s a cat of a creature, she don’t care, she’s velvety” – Frank Black and the Catholics
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