Flying Backwards

Wind! It blew across Elmgrove Avenue with such force I feared Baby would become airborne any minute. The tufts of air tugged at my car, rocking it, making me swerve like some drunken driver. I grasped the steering wheel with both hands, knuckles white with with the sheer force of gripping, trying to wrest control of the vehicle from the capriciousness of the windstorm. I have not experienced such strong winds in a long time.

Ahead of me debris skittered across the road, papers and empty cups and whatnot. Then, like something out of a weird movie, a large black crow, wings flapping furiously, slowly drifted backwards past my windshield. The poor bird was working as hard as it could, but simply made no progress in overcoming the effect of the wind. I started laughing. I have never seen a bird fly so laboriously just to be pushed backwards! It was the silliest thing.

The darn bird was apparently squawking judging by the frantic motions of its beak, but I could not hear it over the wind noise. I slowed down to watch. The bird hovered for long minutes, suspended in the lane where I was driving, finally able to at least hold its own. Then, moments before I would have hit it, the bird swooped down to just millimeters above the pavement, got out from the air stream, and took off like a shot in the direction it had been trying to go.

Yup - life is like that. Sometimes you work so hard to get somewhere when really you should drop down and recalculate, finding a less resistant path. Sweet.