Roadkill

Speaking of Minnesota nostalgia....

Have you ever been so long in a very different environment that you don't remember what you're missing until you finally see it again? Remember how that reacquaintance slaps you in the face?

For me this time, it was roadkill. Funny to realize there just isn't much of it in our part of Arizona. There are all kinds of reasons, from fauna to metropolitan speed levels, but it just hadn't been noticed. Not until heading north again.

The first noticible sighting was near Kansas City. My Minnesota-bound mind misidentified the shelled creature as a snapping turtle. Rich pointed out there were no lakes visible for habitat, adding he'd thought it to be an armadillo. Neither of us thought they roamed that far north, but he stuck by his guns. I stuck by mine contrary to the evidence until just a few miles further was an unmistakable flat armadillo. Migration happens.

Reaching Minnesota, squirrels began to appear, mostly fresh enough to be neither bloated nor flat. Further along was a coon, identified by its fluffy ringed tail attached to a wide swath of flattened nothing. Scattered feathers were identified by the colors of various songbirds. Deer left long, ugly trails behind their carcasses.

Who knew I missed these?

Or did I?