Hit & Run

 

March 23, 2023

After rehearsal, driving to the after-event at Juicy Lucy’s, I saw a car stopped in the turning lane. No traffic came toward us, and I didn’t see any street or drive to turn into, so I figured they were just stopped, getting their bearings, though oddly in the middle of the road. As I passed, they decided they weren’t going to turn after all, moved into my lane and sideswiped me. I pulled into a strip mall and waited, but they fled. Called 911. The dispatcher was unhelpful, and finally told me that if I wasn’t hurt and the damage didn’t look to be over $1000 I didn’t have to report it. By night it seemed just a crease and a scrape on my driver’s side. Haven’t yet looked by day. Probably more than $1000, but the driver was not there to be dealt with. Moral: No measure of caution or skill can fully prevent mishaps. I recall that every accident I’ve had in Asheville has been on Rte 25, Merrimon or Biltmore or, now, Hendersonville Road. Beware: these things never happen singly. 

Wrote beside the river, at first too cold, then plenty warm enough. A pileated haunted the nearby trees. Geese cried. Part of the time I was attended by a black German shepherd-looking dog with beautiful brown eyes. He sat and stared at me as I wrote. I read him a few passages and he listened attentively.