A Ration of Cheezies

I have recently started a job (a real job with a contract and everything) which requires me to drive 98km to and from everyday. When I tell friends and acquaintances and anyone who cares to listen about this they tend to shrink back in horror, "What a commute," they say.  "I quite enjoy it," I reply. And it's true, I do. 


When I got the job, one of the first things I did was download a bunch of Between the Covers podcasts from CBC. I listened spellbound to The Book of Negroes trying to mete out the episodes, allowing only three per day; trying to make it last like a really good cup of coffee. Still it was finished too quickly. Since then I have listened to multiple books including: Howard Engels, Memory Book (I would definitely recommend also reading his nonfiction The Man who Forgot How to Read in addition), Open Arms, Gently Down the Stream, and currently Nikolski the 2010 Canada Reads winner.


I see quite a lot of wildlife as I drive, and domestic life too. I love this time of year when I get to see all the calves in the fields with their mums. Every morning I look for the small figures, usually black, sometimes the colour of the foam on a latte, in the field beside the highway. Yesterday I saw a cow looking a bit distressed, kicking out and it appeared to be bawling. I wondered if perhaps she was going into labour.


Every morning for about a week I saw a Golden Eagle feasting on fresh road kill with a colony of turkey vultures nearby. I wasn't sure if it was a Golden Eagle until I saw it fly. I think it probably could have picked up my small, economical-yet-sporty, car and carried it away.


This morning  a coyote ran full on towards my car. I made eye contact with him as I hit the brakes and he wheeled around and headed for the other side of the road. That was the second coyote in a week. Later this morning a small brown and white jack rabbit high-tailed it across the road without so much as a glance to either side. I'm thinking there wasn't a tortoise involved today.


As I drive home in the afternoon I eat an apple and a ration of Cheezies; Hawkins Cheezies, the only cheese snack worth eating. They are my weakness so, like listening to the books, I limit myself to a small handful each day. I munch thoughtfully listening to the quiet, expressive voice of who ever is reading that particular book. I drink my water and enjoy my drive, I really do.