Yes, I Really Hit a Deer

So today was our dry run for the GOTV frenzy that will begin next weekend. It was fine.

The drive home? Yeah, not so great.

I was driving along a two lane road in the absolute pitch black when I saw a deer jump into the left lane a bit ahead of me, probably coming up out of the ditch. I've been hearing warnings on the radio all week about deer on the roads. It's mating season, the corn has been harvested so there aren't as many places for the deer to feel safe so I guess they're on the move a bit more, and it was early evening though already really dark, a time when they're out and about.

So, I knew not to swerve to avoid it, especially since I had no idea where it would decide to go. I braked just as it jumped toward me. The poor guy landed on the front of the hood of the car right on the spot where you pop the hood open, bounced up and off, and slammed into the passenger side of the car at the front bumper and passenger side mirror. At this point I was basically stopped, since luckily I hadn't been speeding, pulled over and parked, and immediately called my new friend Ken, my go-to guy for all questions rural, to see if there was some Iowan protocol about these things. A number to report deer collisions? 911? I'd checked and didn't see or hear the deer, so he said as long as the car was drivable I should figure out exactly where I was for insurance purposes and then just drive back to my hotel.

Just then a really nice woman stopped her pickup to see if I was okay. I told her that I'd hit a really big deer, with huge antlers. Then, on reflection, I added that I was from Chicago so I wasn't positive about the actual objective hugeness of the deer, but it seemed really big. She laughed. At me, I suspect, but in a nice, Iowan sort of way. I was next to her farm, and she assured me that just a few days before she herself had hit a deer.

So, in hopes that Bambi was either (preferably) completely fine, or totally dead and had died instantly, I went on my way.

Then Ken, in an overflow of snark, had the nerve to text me: "Are there any lengths you wouldn't go to, to have something to blog about?"  Am I that transparent?

And how do I know where the deer hit? The crushed latch on the hood, the deer hair in the space where the hood closes, the place where the bumper is slightly separated from the frame, and the smashed passenger side mirror.

The other parts of my day? I knocked 81 doors, registered a new (Obama!) voter, got 8 people to agree to let me put out lawn signs, and only talked to one person who really sucked. A young guy. I am pleased to report that I did not give him my opinion of him and his pompous, non-fact-based, mean-spirited excuse for rational thought. I went to Logan and met the woman who is the staging manager for the GOTV there. Grady is working out of Logan and introduced us. She is 93 years old. What is it with these Iowans and their complete sets of marbles at advanced ages??

And, Marlene taught me to enter data for the campaign, so I have my own ID for the Obama campaign data-base and helped enter data until about midnight. Plus, I have a new title, with  button to match - Organizing for America Neighborhood Team Leader! I am ridiculously pleased. I am also my own team. The queen of multi-tasking - team leader AND team! Possibly I will acquire minions. I await developments.