ISO 100 | 17mm | f 8.0 | 1/200 sec

Cruisin’ down the road, gazing at the landscape as it whizzes by, humming along to the music on the radio.  The sun is shining, the sky is mostly clear, temps in the 60’s.  What a perfect day for a scenic afternoon drive around the Palouse; just me, my car, and the open road.  How could anything possibly get better than this?

Reaching over to change the station, I looked up just in time to see a porcupine meandering its way across the highway, taking up two-thirds of my lane.  Realizing that I didn’t have enough time to stop, I quickly maneuvered my car into the on-coming lane.  Under normal circumstances and with a clear line of sight, this would have been fine.  Unfortunately I was coming up on a blind corner and had no way of knowing that a 60,000 lb. semi was barreling around the corner at 55 mph.

Too late I realized the fault of my hasty decision and did the only logical thing that was left for me to do: drive off the road.  Now this would have been easy had there been anything to drive off onto.  As it was, I suddenly found myself busting through a wooden fence and plummeting down a steep embankment into the ravine down below.  By the time I hit bottom, my heart with literally in my throat, and the subsequent jolts from impact only served to embed the steering wheel deeper into my sweat-soaked palms.  When I finally came to a halt, I just sat there dumbfounded, barely able to breathe.

I don’t know how long I sat there before help arrived to pull me out and get me safely on my way.  Fortunately my car was still in operable condition.  My suspension had taken a serious beating, and I needed an alignment, but it was still in one piece.  Now any time I go out for a drive, I’m always on the lookout for rogue porcupines.  Those sneaky creatures will have you in the ditch before you can count to two-and-a-three-quarters.  Better to get a grill full of quills though than to end up at the bottom of a 200 foot ditch.  That’s one ride I never want to take again…