Jumping in the Escape to go for a drive on the farm roads.
Sage brush and fields of hay cover the floor of the
valley in between the incredible
red rock mountains of
Southern Utah, that can be seen
on all sides.
Dust rising; burnt orange dirt coating the silver exterior.
Headlights showing the way, music blaring, teenage girls chattering.
Then…

SCREAMING!
Headlights coming.
Straight. At. Us.
Not headlights.
EYES!
In the road.
A cow. Charging the Escape.
More screaming, brakes
screeching, as thoughts jet through my mind…
What is that suicidal cow thinking?
This is not a bull fight.
This is not even Spain.
This is a little farm town.
Of course we expect to see a cow
In the road
Every now and again.
We do not
Expect to see it charge us.
Where did this cow learn such behaviors?

The taste of fear slowly escapes the Escape as
The cow veers off the road
nanoseconds before that
devilish heifer
would have destroyed the flawless SUV,
and likely, its own bone
structure.
Silence.
“Did we just play chicken with a cow?” I ask.

Waves of calm drench us
washing away the tension. Hysterical
laughter overwhelms the car as we all contemplate…
Did that just happen?
We just got charged by a cow.
Not a bull. A cow.
In a car.
The cow. Charged. The car?
Weird.
Only in Parowan.
Dirt roads. Red Rocks. Farm country.
Only.
In Parowan.