Road Trips

The Coyote and the Cougar

The road is getting long, rainy and tired , as much beauty it is for all living things, the road collects the recent road kill, and once in a while a winged thing will get close to capture a bug and push away from the bike while the motorcyclist gets a little jolt from the hunt. There is also nothing more beautiful than seeing a coyote and nothing more curious when one of them suddenly crosses’ your path in the road—there has to be some story, omen or totem.

When coyote crosses your path, be prepared for a long hard belly laugh at your expense was my research from Native American medicine/ totems, a memory from last years coyote path crossing and the crossing and the results are almost immediate , I expected the same.

By the time the end of the day drew it’s last breath, was the same time I realized that my money was not available to me, not only that, my cash pointed me to a motel a little east of Memphis, Tennessee and to a room that had 40 years of cigarette smoking just eager to possess it’s odor on me. I unload my bike and listen to the drunk neighbor, two doors down. I laughed at my own expense for not understanding debit cards while I listened to the rain and the drunken neighbor as she now called for her dog, loudly and slurred, while her dog barked and growled outside.

In the morning, the sun is still hiding behind clouds and I’m loading the bike to turn back home, I finally get first to meet the little dog and later, “Gi Gi”. She’s still a little drunk and we talk for a minute, she calls me “sir”, I correct her with “mam”. She apologizes for checking out my jeans. And to my terror, she considers me for a morning romp. It’s been over 20 years since I’ve been “cougared.” And I laughed again.