"We had a deal!"

Last week I had a Seinfeld flashback from the Merv Griffin episode where George swerved to avoid hitting a pigeon and instead hit a squirrel. Angry at the pigeon for not getting out of the way, George yelled, "We had a deal!"

On our way to gymnastics class last Friday there was a bird flying over the road, heading the same direction as we were. Instead of swerving off to the left or right (or going higher) as we approached, he continued to fly straight ahead. My speed was greater than his and, well, we "overtook" him. I must admit I closed my eyes for a brief second when I realized he was going to break his end of the deal. I heard a horrible THUNK & quickly opened my eyes, expecting to see a crack in the glass or something. I didn't see anything, including a body in the road behind me. We definitely made contact, though. We ALL heard it. When we got to gymnastics class, we examined the car and found the point of impact. The bird hit my hood. He hit with so much force that he removed the paint all the way down to the metal in a dime size spot! On my way home that night I flinched every time a bird flew by us.

With an event that unlikely, you would think that would be the end of the story. Not so. Today we were headed to Danielle's ballet class at the same gym, traveling the same road. We were driving along, minding our own business, when yet another bird decided to break the deal! A bird swooped across the road from the right and pounded into my windshield with a mighty THUNK! I looked in my mirror and saw the bird flop onto the road behind us. There weren't any feathers on the windshield, but there was other "evidence" of an encounter. Fortunately it wasn't anything a little (actually, a lot of) windshield wiper fluid and wipers couldn't handle. I tried to get it off quickly before the kids were traumatized. It was nasty.

I have gone all my driving years without hitting anything (other than a trash can, maybe, I'm not admitting anything) and in less than a week I managed to hit two birds. It really wasn't my fault, though ...We had a deal!