Aug 18, 2020 3 min read

It was an interesting Sunday, animal-wise.

Around 6:30 in the morning, I went for a run. I take a quick run about three days a week and then, on the weekend, I do a longer route. My weekend runs have averaged about four miles in distance, as I’m training for a couple of virtual 5Ks this fall.

This Sunday, I decided to change my route a bit, feeling capable of going a bit farther than my usual four-miles. The weather was perfect for a jog; cool and damp, with very little humidity.

I saw very few cars, but almost immediately, I saw deer.

In fact, there were more deer out that day than in my previous dozen runs combined. A neighbor recently told me they hadn’t seen any deer in the area in several weeks – and they put feed out for them and the turkeys – so I was pleased with the numbers I saw. A handful of them were bucks with multiple points on their antlers, and several more were fawns still sporting spots.

I just listened to the sound of them crashing through the woods instead of my music.

Near the end of my run, I came to the field where our bottle-fed calves are living with a heifer who is too young to breed. Our cows are all very tame, but these ones are particularly spoiled. All I said to them was, “Hello there, moos!”

They began to follow me down the fence line and turned the corner with me. We were all headed downhill, so my pace increased. They kept in step with me, running several hundred feet of fence row alongside me. I couldn’t imagine what that had to look like to passing cars. A middle-aged lady running down the road being “chased” by three cows.

I finally finished the 5 ½ miles and hit the showers. My son and I dressed and went to church. Heads bowed and hands folded, we were praying for the joys and concerns of our church community, when my son elbowed me in the ribs.

I ignored him, but he elbowed again.

I lifted my head and opened one eye, planning to glare at him, but he looked so incredulous I immediately thought it may be important.

“What’s wrong?” I whispered.

“There’s a cat in here,” he whispered back, trying to hold in a giggle.

I looked where he pointed, and sure enough, there was a cat walking through the back of the sanctuary. White, with some tabby markings, it strolled along the back pews before turning around and walking back the way it came. Apparently, it came in a door that had been left ajar and returned outside when it didn’t find anything that captured its interest.

When the service was over, we went home. I walked inside and saw one of our barn cats sitting on the counter. No one claimed responsibility for him being inside. I gently put him back out and cleaned off the counter.

It was only noon and I’d had multiple unique encounters with animals. I can’t say whether it was actually odd, or if I’m just easily amused. Either way, I enjoyed it all.

Actually, I enjoyed it all far more than I enjoyed the run.