Rite of passage

OK, after driving for 28 years, I've finally completed my rite of passage to be on the road in Wisconsin.

I hit a deer. Or to be more accurate, a deer ran into me.

I was on my way home from new student orientation the other night. The highway I was traveling is one we drive on all the time, and it's pretty normal to see a dead deer on the side of the road at least every month or so. So I know several places where it pays to be extra cautious. Unfortunately, the road is mostly two lanes and pretty heavily traveled, so you can only briefly use your brights to illuminate the patches of woods and fields that line the road.

So I'm driving along, concentrating on the fact that the road narrows from four lanes to two, and thinking about my book purchases, when I see a movement on the left side of where my headlights penetrate and realize it's a doe. Seriously, all I had time to do was gasp. I didn't have time for any other physical movement, not braking or swerving or anything.

She was running, but she must have paused because she didn't hit the front of my car. I heard a thunk on the rear driver-side of my car and that was it. I kept going, because it didn't sound like too much of a contact, but she definitely hit me. Then I braked, but I didn't see any other deer (there were almost certainly other deer around too), so I drove home to see what I could see on the car.

The light in our garage isn't the best in that corner, but I didn't see any damage. Yesterday, I took another look before the car got covered with the snow that was falling and I didn't see any damage at all, nor hair or anything else.

I've seen deer in fields and on the side of the road and crossing the road in front and behind me more times than I can count over the years, but I must say--boy, did I luck out.