"Look at that!"

Last time, I wrote about the strange fact that closing your car windows magically insures that it won't rain overnight.

That, of course, is one of the many corollaries of Murphy's Law. Tonight and earlier in the week I ran into other ones. Well, not literally.

To explain: Tonight I opted to surprise my wife and take her out for a fish fry for dinner, just across the river in Wisconsin. She enjoys the buffet they have, and we had a nice meal of salad, chicken and, of course, fish. Yum!

Back in the car and on our way home, about a mile from the fish fry place and a mile from the bridge, we saw a jaywalker on the road ahead of us. It was fairly small, all black, on all fours and looked slightly confused. Yes, a bear cub was making his way across the road.

All I could say was "Look at that!" and slow down the car. All we could do was watch as the bear cub (the most dangerous animal in the North Woods, if you didn't know [explanation later]) ambled his way off the road and into the weeds on the other side.

Murphy's Law proven again, because my camera was back home, safe and sound, far from me and Nature's critters.

A couple days earlier (Wednesday, I think), I was driving out to get pictures at a golf outing nearby. On my way out there, I saw a doe (white-tailed deer) crossing the road. Yes, it was Bambi's mother! And right behind her was Bambi himself. I don't remember seeing country roads in the movie, but, hey, you got to adapt to your surroundings.

In this case, my camera was in the back seat--but I wasn't expecting the unexpected, and I would have needed 30 seconds--bare minimum--to get the camera out and switched on and pointed in the right direction. Bambi and his mom walked into the brush in less than 10 seconds.

Last year, in early June, I was driving my mom across Wisconsin to visit her sister-in-law, who lives north of the Twin Cities in Minnesota. For many, many years, she lived in a farming area, but urban sprawl has struck that area but good!

Anyway--it was about 10 a.m. on a sunny day, maybe 30 minutes after I picked her up. We were approaching Goodman, Wis., on U.S. 8 when I saw a big dog on the other side of the road, sitting on the road's gravel shoulder. I quickly realized this was no dog, and I slowed the car to a stop. "Look at that!" It was the size and build of a large German shepherd, only its colors were lighter, mostly cream and brown. Very intent, intelligent eyes and sharp-pointed ears.

I don't see how it could have been anything but a wolf! An amazing picture--if I could get it. Even by the time my car came to a stop, I was feeling under my legs for my camera bag, where I had put it. I found it, but it hit my leg and rolled away toward the door. It took a second or two to find it again. Then another second or two to get the Velcro flap and the plastic latch open. Meanwhile, the wolf started trotting towards me, on my side of the car. He had just passed the driver's side door when I finally got the camera free and switched on. By that time, my subject had reached the rear of the car, passed behind it and disappeared into the woods, on the other side. Maybe 15 or 20 seconds had passed.

Oh, I was mad at myself at the golden opportunity lost!

But about a half hour earlier, I was a lot luckier. We were on a county road at that time--we hadn't reached U.S. 8 yet. I was talking with my mom while driving along when I saw a black shape on the road ahead of me. A bear. (Where we live, they're all black bears.) "Look at that!"

My camera was right where I put it--in a paper bag on the back seat of the car. So I scrambled. And as I did that, the bear, which was halfway across the road, turned around and went back the way he came. I swore--under my breath because my mom was there.

But then you could see the lightbulb flash over the bear's head: "Duhhhh. Oh yeah! I wanted to cross the road!" So he turned around again and started crossing the road. And I got him!

[g-269775]

I got another woodland critter this April, when I took my wife for a ride to a quilt show near Marquette. To cut off a lot of miles (and a lot of time), I drove along some back roads, including gravel roads. We had a good time. On the way home, I made a turn and discovered this critter on the roadway. He apparently was so intent with what he was doing that he didn't notice the car that had come to a stop nearby and the camera that was pointing at him. Say cheese!

[g-269811]
While I have no photographic evidence to prove it, I've seen moose crossing the road twice. The first time was when I was driving my wife to Marquette (this time along the state highway) to see the doctor. He was about 300 yards ahead of me. This huge, dark brown shape clumsily crossing the road. "That's a moose!" I said cleverly to my wife, who has seen enough Bullwinkle cartoons to know a moose when she sees one.

The other time was two years ago, when I was driving down to Rhinelander with my younger son as part of my courtship of the used Mazda that would become my trusty steed (back about 40,000 miles ago). Anyway, we were driving home, a little east of Eagle River, when this big gangly critter starts crossing the road ahead of me. "Look at that!" I told my son. (I had, by that time, switched to a more generic exclamation.) He saw.

The lesson, I guess, is to keep that camera close whenever I'm in the car. Because you never know.

Of course, there is still another corollary of Murphy's law: "The closer you keep your camera in hopes of getting pictures of woodland critters, the fewer will dare reveal their presence to you."

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By the way, why is a bear cub the most dangerous creature in the North Woods? Because Mama Bear is always nearby, and if she hears her kid bawling, she won't be very polite.