Montana n: A state of the northwest United States bordering on Canada. Admitted as the 41st state in 1889. The fourth largest state in the union, it includes vast prairies and numerous majestic mountain ranges.
Syn: Treasure State, Big Sky Country, Last Best Place.
Jones n: slang. An addiction or very deep craving.
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Dogs Darwin
By the time I had screamed out "Holy fuckin' shit!" the dog had already been crushed under my wheels with a gut churning double bump. I eased my foot off the brake pedal and looked into the rearview but the animal was already lost in the darkness. I didn't bother to stop.
"Stupid fucking dog" I said out loud to myself. I gripped the steering wheel and gritted my teeth in anger. It pissed me off more than anything else. I know animals don't know better than to stand out on the highway on dark rainy nights, but Christ it is hard to feel sorry for some damn dumb dog that walks out onto the highway on a dark rainy night. It is extra hard to feel sorry for the dog owner that can't keep their pet under control. It's a survival of the fittest sort of world and dogs on the highway at night just get darwined. That's all there is to it. It wasn't smart enough to survive.
By the time my wits were about me enough to think about clearing the carcass off the road so other motorists wouldn't have to deal with it, it was a half mile behind me. Perhaps I should have at least checked to be sure that it was dead. Perhaps it was a cynical bastard move on my part but I didn't do anything about it. I drove home. For the rest of the night I kept hearing an ex-girlfriends voice in my head. 'Animals deserve respect just like people do.' How the hell do you respect an animal that just shows up in your headlights on a rainy night and you can't swerve or break or even yell "Fuck" before it thumps under your wheels. How do you respect something so stupid that it can't get out of the way of something bigger and heavier barreling down at 40 miles per hour?
In the daylight the next morning I could see that my front bumper took some damage. A fog light got smashed in. Dog hair on the license plate. It made me sick. It made me angry. I was mad at all the stupid dogs in the world and all the stupid dog owners in Montana. I was mad at myself because I didn't do anything about it. I didn't know how to respect a dead dog.
There is more Jones in the archives: February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 December 2009 January 2010 May 2014
