the congressional medal of ugly

yesterday, i had a short little break from work, and decided to drive down to the bicycle sport shop to pick up some new grips. as i drove down the hill at lamar and 3rd, i noticed a little bird on the street. there are all manner of birds living under the overpass here, and they are often in the street, so i didn't pay much attention to it until i got very close. it was then that i noticed that it had been hit by a car and was struggling to walk over to the curb. it was pathetic to see it in this disfigured state trying to get its body to perform a simple function. by the time my brain had registered what had happened, and that there was no chance it would recover, i had already passed. when i got up to barton springs and couldn't stand the thought of this little bird dying a slow death; i decided to drive back and run it over with my tire, so as to end its suffering quickly. by the time i got back to the place where i had seen the bird, it was already dead.

i never got my grips.

several years ago, charlotte and i were driving two cars from wimberley to san marcos. who knows why? too often, we are stuck with two vehicles because we have met somewhere. this is one of the downsides of being part of the long-distance commuting community. anyway, i was following her when we approached the city limits of san marcos. out of the woods on the left, came a deer bounding across ranch road 12. she didn't hit the deer as much as it ran into the side of her car. we both stopped, and she got out of the car crying. for receiving what i thought to be a glancing blow, this poor thing was really messed up. i told charlotte to drive to her parents house and i would take care of calling the sherrif's department. after she left -thankfully- the deer tried to get up and run off. it looked alot like the bird did yesterday. it would no more stand up before it fell. it was bleeding from every body opening. after watching it blow blood bubbles out of its mouth for a minute, i decided to put it out of its misery. it was one of the hardest things i had done, but i drove my car over the deer's neck. i assume it broke the neck, and killed it instantly, but i didn't looks back to see.

i don't know why a suffering animal disturbs me so much, but i can't stand it. i don't know whether my actions are humanitarian or cruel, but i left those settings feeling more at peace knowing that the injured animal was no longer in pain.

here's hoping i'm not around if you ever are the recipient of a grievous injury.