City folks who haven’t had the opportunity to spend much time in rural America are understandably puzzled by unfamiliar sights, and in such situations even highway signs provide the potential for some fun stories.
A good example was sent to me by Linda Kennedy from Belgrade Lakes, Maine. Linda and an acquaintance were headed to a rural area of northern Maine for a weekend retreat. Their drive took them down a two-lane highway through a remote area, and as they were riding along, Linda’s passenger noticed a sign that read “Moose crossing next 15 miles.”
An adult moose is a very large animal, and hitting one with a vehicle can be a serious situation. As a result, the Appropriate Authorities had posted signs to warn motorists to be especially alert along that particular stretch of highway. To draw extra attention to the notice, this particular sign was even fitted with blinking lights.
Linda’s city-dwelling passenger was quite curious about the sign and couldn’t figure out how the lights would blink if a moose was about to cross the highway. Linda describes herself as something of a comedian, so she mentioned in a matter-of-fact tone that the moose had all gone to road-crossing school, and had learned to push a button to activate the warning lights, just like people do for pedestrian crosswalks in the city.
The scary part of the story is that the lady actually believed this tale, and talked about it during the whole weekend. Linda says she finally had to come clean on the ride home, thereby saving her guest from a potentially embarrassing situation in the future.
Oh, just for the record – even if several of these animals were crossing the road at the same time, they would still be moose – not meese or mooses!
Jim Burnett
Life – it’s an adventure…. Find something to smile about today!
This story is excerpted from the book Hey Ranger 2 © Jim Burnett and Taylor Trade Publishing, used by permission.