Oh Deer!

I got off Mommy-watch yesterday at around 1:30 PM and headed back "home" to St. Joe. So it's deer season, and being from the midwest, of course i'm looking for deer. But not a whole lot at first, because it's still daylight, and you don't often see the little buggers until dusk. I had just passed Macon, MO, about the halfway point, when I spotted a doe prancing around the median. "Oh shit." I thought. I knew that she was going to dart across the minute she saw me. And she did.

My Guardian Angel was looking out for me yet again. Because I saw her, I slowed down right away. I was able to steer away (no, not swerving, you shouldn't ever do that.) And she saw she was going to get hit so she turned around too. So I hit her, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. My driver's side door is smashed up and I can't open it. The body above the wheel is smashed up, but not enough to touch the tire. The side mirror is dangling. I have pictures I'll post tomorrow, I forgot, they are on my office computer.

There was a guy following me who saw the whole thing and pulled off behind me. He happened to be a truck driver who drives the run between Macon and St. Joe twice a day. No kidding! So he knows the route and he has the sheriff's department on speed dial. This was also a blessing moment, because my first call was to my Mom because I didn't know who else to call! I have thought to myself almost every time I make the trip home that I should get the highway patrol number. Never did it. So I'm trying to unfold this map of Missouri I have, hoping it has a phone number on it. But my friend Rob the truck driver made the call for me!

It was pretty cold (turns out it was 34 degrees out), so I was all shivery. We had to wait about 15 minutes for the deputy to get there to dispatch the deer. Of course, I was more worried about the poor deer than anything. She didn't die right away. But by the time the deputy got there she had gone. But she was still kind of in the road so my friend Rob the truck driver pulled her away. Turns out though that the deputy doesn't do accident reports on the highway, so he called the State Trooper to come out. I waited another 10 minutes or so for him. All the while, it's getting darker, which of course makes me think I'm going to keep hitting deer all the way home.

He told me I was OK to drive with my mirror dangling like that and sent me on my way with my accident report number. I had to pee by that point but I made it to Brookfield. I got a milkshake at McDonald's that was supposed to be chocolate but tasted like strawberry, so that made me sad. But other than that I was in pretty good spirits about it because I knew I dodged a bullet. Thanks again to my Guardian Angel! I'm not sure why the Lord looks out for me the way He does, but I am sure glad He does!