I pulled out of my driveway this afternoon in hope of scoring some wooden hangers at the local Home Sense. (Joan Crawford and I have that in common). A block from my house I saw this cute Morning Dove in the middle of the road. I thought it was odd that he didn't move as I drove slowly by. I did a U-Turn in the middle of the street and stopped to the side of him. I hung out the window to look at him, and he looked up at me and coo'd. He was a baby...he still had the light "Goober feathers" on his chest. Such a cute little fella and in a dangerous spot. Lots of cars whizzing past him. Fortunately, he was in the middle of the street.
I pulled into a side street and put on my flashers. I figured I'd go get him to a safe spot.
Twenty (20) seconds later, I walked to the middle of the street and found the little guy smashed. He had been hit by a car. The only thing left of him was a pile of his downy "goober feathers". Seriously...it was only 20 seconds after I saw him.
It was bound to happen. I knew that I would eventually crack in one way or another. After all the dead and dying cats due to Distemper, it had to happen that I would fall apart. I just stood in the middle of the road and sobbed.
I cried for the little dove, I cried for the kittens that we lost, and I cried for every damn cruel thing that ever happened to any animal anywhere. I stood there and cursed the people that didn't give a shit about a sweet little baby dove in the road. The grief came pouring out of me as I got back into my car and cried.
It felt good to let go and release what I had been feeling for the past 4 days or so. With the tears, something in me grew stronger. I can't quite describe it.
I got out of my car with an old hand towel I keep in my trunk. The least I could do is get the little guy off the road. When I approached the area where he had been hit, the body was gone. In fact, there was nothing in that spot. No feathers. No blood. It was like it hadn't happened. I know what I had seen - a mangled little Dove - blood and feathers.
I don't know what happened. I scratched my head and got back in my car and drove away. I felt oddly at peace. I felt more at peace than I had felt in a long time.
Peace and a Dove......I don't believe in coincidences. :)
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2 comments:
Exhaustion makes you hallucinate, and it certainly makes you cry. No one can be trying any harder than you do. Pace yourself... you deserve a little peace, a dove in the road that isn't crushed under the car wheels.
Just a little thought from aboriginal beliefs and totems, and I think it may have a message...
Doves
"Feminine, Peace, Maternity, Prophecy
The dove is the embodiment of maternal instinct.
She is connected to Mother Earth
and her creative energies.
Her mournful call speaks to our deepest self and
stirs our emotions.
The voice of the dove is a rain song and brings us hope of a new beginning.
The dove is the totem of "Between Times" and shows us the time of the thinning
of the veils between the physical and the spiritual world.
Listen for her call with your soul."
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