Incoming

It was Saturday morning.

My wife and I were in Idaho, headed east on Interstate 90.

I had just passed a semi. I think I was still in the passing lane. Ahead of us was a pickup with all sorts of stuff in the back. Junk, if I had to guess.

Suddenly an object about the size of a large dog dish was in mid-air in front of us. Maybe it was an auto part. I can’t swear it came from the back of the pickup. It might have been something the truck ran over and flipped up in the air.

I don’t know how fast I was going. But it was fast. And as a result the object and our car came together at high speed.

I just had time to grimace and start to turn my head.

The object hit our windshield with a loud metallic bang. And bounced off.

Though marked, the glass remained intact.

I don’t think we said anything for a moment. We were still processing what had happened.

There would be time later for what-ifs. But in the moment, gratitude and relief came to mind. And amazement.

The airborne object had been on a flight path coming straight for my head.

When we got to our destination, we told our friends about it. And I asked one, a motorcycle rider, if he had ever been hit by anything on the road. He remembered that a bird flew into his chest once.

How about you?