I suppose most people have had cute, funny or bizarre encounters with domestic pets or even wild animals. I’ve certainly had my share … from my small daughters hoisting a basket full of kittens from the ground to the second floor of our home hoping their mother and I wouldn’t notice, to some interesting sights as I walked the State Line Road close to where I used to live, west of West Terre Haute.
I had a regular route I walked that took in about five miles. One quiet morning I was relaxed and walking at my usual pace when, suddenly, a covey of quail took off from a nearby field and the noise and subsequent sight of these birds startled me so much I thought I was going to have a heart attack. It was a beautiful sight but it took a minute or so for my blood pressure to return to normal.
Another story makes me laugh every time I think about it. It was a Saturday morning and I was walking near Sugar Creek. I came over a little rise in the road and trotting across the road was a mother fox and three or four kits. When she saw me, she hurried the babies off the road into the bushes. One little one, a little braver and more curious than the others, stuck his head out of the bushes to get a better look at me. No sooner than he had popped his head out his mother grabbed him by the nape of the neck and pulled him in out of harm’s way. For me, it was a sight straight out of a Disney movie. Just too cute.
Again, during that five-year period of time living in that area, I was sitting on my deck, which overlooked a lake, watching various birds and other critters. All of a sudden a hawk was sitting on the railing watching me watch him. He was a beautiful young hawk. He sat there for awhile exchanging looks with me and then flew off. I often wondered what he was thinking as he decided to visit me on my deck. A few days later, a much larger critter came running down the bank of the lake. It was a cougar. It didn’t stay long, but it startled me. At that time, I didn’t know there were any cougars, mountain lions or panthers, around here. (They are all the same cat.)
The last story I want to share with you is a bit bizarre. Once again, I was walking on State Line Road going south a few feet from the railroad tracks at the bottom of a small hill. I was south of the Old Paris Road. Out of nowhere a dog ran up beside me, circled me, and then ran behind me. I quickly turned around and standing there by the railroad track was a small boy. He obviously wasn’t dressed for playing outdoors. He was wearing slacks, a polo shirt, and leather shoes. The dog was sitting down beside him.
I took a few more steps up the road and turned to speak to the boy, but he was gone. The length of time I had walked with my back to the boy and the dog was just a few seconds, and bleep, they had disappeared. I thought it was strange because there was really no place to go in that short period of time.
For whatever reason, the dog didn’t bark, the boy didn’t speak, and I did not speak to him. If I had seen a ghost, it was my very first. After this incident, people I told about it asked me what I had been smoking out there in the country. Nada, not even one of my favorite cigars.
A lady I knew said I always talk to anyone I meet, and for some reason that remains unexplained, I didn’t say a word. Maybe the strangest thing was the dog, which I had never seen and haven’t seen since, didn’t bark as he circled me. I’m not into anything that would make me hallucinate, but this has to stack up as one of the strangest experiences I have ever had while walking in the country.
Winter weather and a sore knee has kept me from walking, but now that spring is about to be sprung upon us, I’ll be walking around my favorite park. Who knows what I’ll see next!
Ronn Mott, a longtime radio personality in Terre Haute, writes commentaries for the Tribune-Star. His pieces are published online Tuesday and Thursday on Tribstar.com, and in the print and online editions on Saturday.
Opinion
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Ronn Mott
Discussion
RONN MOTT: Cute and bizarre
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RONN MOTT: Ernie Pyle
I stepped back in time last week when I visited the Ernie Pyle World War II Museum in Dana.
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RONN MOTT: Pyle museum in Dana good way to study WWII
I stepped back in time last week when I visited the Ernie Pyle World War II Museum in Dana.
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FLASHPOINT: Legislative session reflected Hoosier priorities
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The celebration season
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RONN MOTT: Frustration
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news: MVC tourney an event worth having
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EDITORIAL: Cleaning up voter rolls
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READERS' FORUM: May 22, 2013
Rich history all along the river
Great work by Duke employees
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RONN MOTT: Rabid Republicans
The so-called news people at Fox News can hardly sit still long enough to report on the latest gossip or untruth about our sitting President. They can hardly contain themselves.
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READERS’ FORUM: May 21, 2013
• Great response to annual golf outing
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LIZ CIANCONE: Smell of fresh air gave way to dryers
Remember when clean clothes smelled like fresh air and sunshine rather than fabric softener and dryer sheets?
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READERS' FORUM: May 20, 2013
The dangers of a little knowledge
Students enjoyed Rose study trip
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Mark Bennett: High-profile mural connects historical dots from city to river
At 96 feet wide and 2 stories tall, the power, impact and value of the Wabash will be evident.
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READERS' FORUM: May 19, 2013
• Flawed reasoning on gun checks
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• Fantasizing on the ‘Apocalypse’
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FLASHPOINT: A legislative session of missed opportunities
Given the nature of politicians, grand claims of accomplishments and overblown rhetoric about “historic” efforts are to be expected at the close of any legislative session.
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RONN MOTT: Mushrooms = Hoosier happiness
Someone wrote or said a few years ago a statement that would define the word “Hoosier.” According to this urban legend, a Hoosier is somebody dribbling a basketball around the Indy 500 while eating a fried, morel mushroom. It did not define me, at the time.
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Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
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READERS' FORUM: May 17, 2013
Hinduism doesn’t deserve ridicule — Shefali Purohit, Terre Haute
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RONN MOTT: Israel’s Air Force
Recently the Israeli Air Force bombed and rocketed a convoy leaving Syria going to Lebanon with rockets that were going to be used to attack Israel. It did not get there. It was destroyed.
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EDITORIAL: Noteworthy in the news: Dashing finish for the Sycamores
It’s always thrilling to see Indiana State University’s athletic teams do well in high-level competition, and two specific teams rose to impressive heights last weekend in the Missouri Valley Conference outdoor track and field championships.
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Readers' Forum: May 16, 2013
Moving Deming folks sounds ‘nuts’
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Readers' Forum: May 15, 2013
Participants rise to the challenge: I would like to write a letter congratulating all the Wabash Valley Roadrunners that competed in the One America Indianapolis Mini Marathon.
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RONN MOTT: Media merry-go-round
Round and round it goes, where it stops nobody knows. That isn’t a unique phrase to this writer or to this era in time. But, when it comes to the musical chairs of broadcasting, it certainly applies.
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LIZ CIANCONE: Courts see a different appearance than cops
Have you ever noticed the transformation between the arrest of an accused lawbreaker and the first appearance in court?
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READERS' FORUM: May 14, 2013
ISTEP failure exposes flaws
Community hasn’t changed its spirit
Egregious threat to nation’s defense
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READERS' FORUM: May 13, 2013
• Women’s group criticizes Bucshon
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MARK BENNETT: Life at face value: Mom’s simple advice still presents a valuable daily challenge
Most moms don’t base their advice on scientific research.
(Unless, of course, your mother is a scientific researcher. If so, carry a No. 2 pencil and take good notes.) -
EDITORIAL: Better monitoring needed to prevent local environmental messes
The nasty, hazardous messes lurking in the community raise a bottom-line, red-flag question. Could these environmental problems have been monitored and, thus, prevented?
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RONN MOTT: Ernie Pyle
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