frogger?

Yesterday I was driving around doing this, that, and the other thing when I spotted a squirrel in the middle of the road in my way. It was a baby squirrel and I guess doesn't quite have the rules of the road down...being that I am dominant, and he is roadkill. You all know how I feel about squirrels, but my kind heart had to stop and wait for him to cross the road. I pulled up to him...and he didn't budge, so I pulled up a little more...still nothing. I started yelling at him from my car...excuse me, squirrel, but I am big and scary and it's time for you to move because technically your life is in my hands...or the will of my right foot. He didn't seem to understand English, and I didn't feel like whipping out my Rodent, I'm a little rusty. I also kind of liked the power trip I was getting from this exchange. So I waited...in the middle of a street, putting my own life at risk for a squirrel's. Aren't they supposed to have an instinct for this exact occasion? And where would that instinct come from? I mean, I'm sure squirrels were around for a long time before cars. Acquired instinct? Since he was a baby maybe he hadn't acquired it yet. Isn't it crazy that for as often as we all drive, it's extremely rare to actually hit something?? Birds fly right in front of cars all the time but it's like we're all sychronized in a ballet of life so that we whiz by each other in a dance way too close to be coincidence. I did hit a butterfly yesterday, though. I saw it floating happily toward me in slow motion and before I could make a terrible decision to swerve, it splatted against my windshield...it was heartbreaking. But I am digressing...

The point is, the squirrels have an instinct for danger..a little signal that says, you better get out of the way or that loud moving object will flatten you. Sometimes I wish life were as easy as that...and the signs were as clear as a truck barreling toward you at 60 mph. All you have to do is run to the side and continue your fruitless search for acorns you hid a year ago. Our dangers are much more cleverly disguised, making it that much easier to get hit...and the aftermath often feels the same as a truck to the body. But there's a special place in my heart for that little squirrel I met yesterday, despite his worthless and terrifying species, because I relate. I too am oblivious to the bad, and am too preoccupied with my acorns to notice.