I work at a rural vet clinic, but live about an hour away in the suburbs. A lot of people balk at the idea of my commute, but I actually enjoy it most of the time. It gives me time to think over the day, pray, come up with fun short stories to write down later, and just generally transition from work to home or vice versa.A good deal of my route is along windy country roads, and I often encounter wildlife unexpectedly. White-tail deer, opossums, a barred owl, crows, great blue herons, black and turkey vultures, raccoons, foxes red and gray, box turtles, and even bald eagles have made an appearance.One day in late summer, I'm headed home like usual, and I reach a point where to my left the thickly wooded landscape opens up into a field of wildflowers. At that very moment a big buck in velvet bursts from the tree line and comes straight at my car. But he sees me and veers to the side and makes for the woods on the opposite side of the field. And for a good quarter of a mile this deer is running right alongside my car. The setting sun turns his coat a fiery gold as he leaps over little tussocks and bounds across the grass, and everything feels like it's in slow motion.Then he disappears back into the trees and I continue on down the road, awed and speechless.