Squirrel!

It was a beautiful day for riding to work. The air was cool and the sun was shining. I was zipping along on the Centennial Trail when a startled deer jumped out from my right and startled me. It first crossed the path in front of me but then it cut back. I hit the brakes because I didn't want to run into it nor did I want to get kicked. After it's initial freakout the deer jumped up onto a retaining wall and then ran around the building. You may think that running across a deer is not all that strange while on the Centennial Trail and for the most part you would be correct. But this happened a couple of hundred feet away from the Division Street bridge in downtown Spokane.

I continued on to work passing through Riverfront Park. Suddenly something coming from my right and moving fast caught my eye. It was a squirrel sprinting like he was ahead of every other squirrel in a race for the last acorn in the world. And we were on a collision course. I veered left hoping to avoid it. It stopped and did this weird vertical jump about three feet high with all four legs sticking out to the sides. I wasn't sure what that was about but if it intended to send a "don't mess with me" message, it worked. I think it bared large canine teeth at me, too, but I can't be sure. The mind plays tricks in stressful situations.

And I thought vehicle drivers could be scary.