Fall is here with Winter just around the corner. The harvest festival in Boulder was calling so we headed east on highway 12 to enjoy the day with friends and food.
Leaving the city a coyote leaped out in front of my truck from the sagebrush next to the road. There was nothing I could do to avoid her and instantly it was dead with the thump, thump of the tires over her helpless body.
I have been driving most of my life and in that time I have never had that kind of experience with a coyote. Sure I’ve hit rabbits, they play a kind of game where they try to run across the road just as you get close to them, especially around the full moon. I will try and avoid them if possible, but my credo is maneuver if possible but never swerve out of control and cause an accident.
Some years ago when I moved back to Escalante I was cresting the Blues and heading down through the Upper Valley when I hit a small hawk, I stopped and picked up the bird and brought it back with me. I placed it under a new bush that I was planting to honor it for its life force.
When ever I have an unfortunate encounter with an animal or fowl I look around me to try and see a connection between me and the animal. Sometimes I get an immediate connection because of something that is going on in my life and sometimes I get nothing. I have a book called Animal Speaks that can give me clues from a traditional Native American view. I know from past reading that a coyote is compared to a trickster, but after reviewing the reference again I found that magic is associated with the coyote, much like the raven they both connect with creator, teacher, hidden wisdom and keeper of magic. Both remind us not to become too serious and that anything is possible. If nothing seems to resonate with me I set it on a shelf and wait for more to come at a later time.
I thought about the coyote and wondered if I was part of the coyote path, had this animal being wanted to pass on over the great veil? Was I participating in a greater scene that was unfolding? Or am I taking life too serious?
The past few years have impacted all of us in ways that are still unfolding. I did get caught up in the politics of life and spent too much time worrying about things that I could do nothing about. I am resolving to focus on things that are closer to home, on things that I can do something about, staying positive and being happy.
In my meditation this morning I am connecting with you Coyote and all of life … I am sorry, please forgive me, I love you, thank you.
