Life in the Sticks, Episode 4238....

So Mojo was late for an appointment (not REALLY late, but Mojo Late, which means she might get there only TEN MINUTES EARLY instead of her usual fifteen or so) so she jumps in the car and heads down the mountain to civilization.

One of the many things about living far, far away from other people is, if you are late to go ANYWHERE, you have the added burden of an additional half hour tacked onto your time, which can work FOR or AGAINST you. If the roads are clear of other pesky drivers you can make up the odd five minutes or so by screeching around the mountain passes like Mario Andretti. But if you get behind a school bus or a turtle, it will easily add another fifteen or twenty minutes to your commute. There is NO PLACE TO PASS, even if the other driver is aware of you and trying to pull over to be nice.

So anyway, I have this appointment to get my Favorite Husband's car serviced, and running just a hair late, so I jump in said car and screech out of the driveway. And a quarter of a mile into the trip I come to a screeching halt as a family of woodcocks are occupying the street, perhaps in protest of Mojo's screeching around in her car. (Note to Mojo's Favorite Mother: No, she is NOT actually screeching. She is Exaggerating for Comic Effect.)

So there's no getting around it; for fear that the wee ones might run into a driver even MORE stupid than Mojo, I have to stop, get out of the car, and encourage the World's Stupidest Birds to NOT ATTEMPT TO HIDE in the middle of the ROAD. Because your highly effective camouflage does not work against PAVEMENT. But tell that to THEM.

So they're all hunkered down, pretending to be invisible. Mojo gets out of the car and Mom wises up and runs to the side of the road, where she paces back and forth hurling insults at me while telling her less-than-intellectual brood that the hiding ruse is somehow not working and it's time to hoof it. But the babies stick with what they know.

They wouldn't budge until Mojo became more obnoxious and started poking them with a finger. Then I regret not having the phone camera on the video setting, because them running for their mother with their little nub wings flapping was rather gosh-darned cute, even for a flinty, cold-hearted cynic such as Mojo.

I posted these picts up on Facebook, but since Mojo has no friends I thought I'd share them here, as well. Along with my closeup of the first pict. They were all taken with my new iPhone, and I must say I am rather pleased with it, as far as crappy camera phones go.

So watch where you're driving. At least when you're out in Mojo's neck of the woods.

Mojo