mother nature and me (or mother nature and i?).

mother nature and i have a love/hate relationship. i love to bask in the sun that she provides. i hike in her woods. i swim in her lakes. i bike down her country paths dusted with wildflowers.

but mother nature charges a hefty fee in return for the use of her playground.

(replace this guy with me)

let me explain. mother nature throws her beasts at me. literally, she chucks them. the first time this happened was a couple of summers ago. i was riding my bike west toward the lake. the bike path jogs into the woods a bit and when i went to round the corner, a deer ran smack dab into me. i believe in football, the move would be called a stiff arm. i fell off my bike, screamed and sat in the middle of the bike path for a few minutes thinking 'did that really just happen?' the deer was stunned, too, but shook it off quickly and continued on its merry way.

mother nature: 1 sarah: 0

(not my car or turkey, but you get the idea)

last year i was driving back to holland from allegan. mother nature gifted me with a gorgeous, sunny day. in fact, i was contemplating how wonderful it would be to spend some time sun bathing in the back yard when i got home. no sooner had the thought crossed my mind when i spied a big fluffy orb hurtling toward my windshield. a split second later, said orb was stuck in my windshield. after i pulled over and made sure i didn't have any glass stuck in my eyeballs, i realized that i had hit a turkey. in reality, the turkey hit me. it flew right into my windshield. i sat there as the turkey was stuck halfway in the car and halfway out of the car. wings flapping, blood and feathers flying in my face. i am an animal lover, but i refused to help that turkey out. i was pissed that it broke my car. eventually it wiggled its way free from my windshield where it proceeded to fly into the woods. i hope it was eaten by a coyote. effing turkey.

mother nature: 2 sarah: 0

and of course mother nature gave me a 'happy summer vacation' present today in the form of a four-legged foe. i was on the same bike path in the same location as deerapalooza 2009 when a feisty black squirrel darted into the path. it saw me coming and ran back to the woods, but then it decided to be brave and go for it. a split second later i rode right over that little mofo. that's right, madre nature, fool me once, shame on you. fool me twice, shame on me. fool me three times, and i'ma squish your squirrels.

mother nature: 2 sarah: 1

they say bad things happen in threes, so i'm hoping today's squirrel incident marks the end of a long battle between mother nature and me. quite frankly, i can't take much more of it. i'm not sure what i did to piss her off. i recycle, for crying out loud! what more could she want from me?