Story of the Day 8/ 9/ 2012

I was driving home from Herron.
I go to Herron on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Herron is the art school of a local university. On Tuesday and Thursday evening they have " alumni" open drawing. That means that alumni, current students , and people like me who just happen to live in Indianapolis go , draw from the model for 3 hours, and chip in a few dollars. Well, the art students don't have to chip in, and the few dollars is usually $5, but those are just details.

Sometime I carpool, sometimes I don't, and I almost always have a cup of coffee at 5 PM. That is so I am not too tired to drive home at 10:30 or 11 PM , but also not so revved up that i can't sleep when I do get home.

The coffee is especially useful on evenings when I do not have stimulating company to converse with on the drive and on evenings like tonight when it is very dark.

My family lives in Indianpolis, in the city, but only because in the 1990's Indianapolsi decided to incorporate all of it's suburbs. well, all of the ones that were in the same county.
As a result, we live in the city in a neighborhood where the houses sit lots that are at least half an acre in size and there are no sidewalks and almost no street lights. Oh, and the city doesn't' plow our streets , in the winter.

The dearth of street lights is an issue, late at night, especially , tonight when it has been storming. Rain, thunder, lightning, and more rain.
While at Herron, the radio's "emergency weather alert" went off numerous times. Heavy winds, possible tornados. We were in the path of the storm, but, at least, not the worst part of it - which was south of us.

So, I was driving home with low visibility, but still with a bit of caffeine propping me up.

I made a full stop at the 3 way stop at 64th street and Spring mill. It is sort of a 4 way stop. The park is on the right/east of me as I head north, and they also have a stop sign for people coming out of their parking area, but the park is closed, this late, so it is just the two directions on Springmill, and 64th on the left that have signs. There are no other cars, but I am one of those annoying people who drive the speed limit. Yes, I am the person you honk at and flash your middle finger at because I am driving 25 or maybe even 26 in the school zone. It has something to do with my vocabulary. You see, I seem to think that the word 'limit" means " limit". Obviously, I have a learning disability.

I also happen to think that the word "stop" on the red and white sign actually means "stop", so I do. Even when I am the only car there at 10:37 PM.

So, I stop, I start up slowly and turn left , headed east on 64th.
About 50 feet after I turn, I see a shape lying in the other lane- the westbound lane/. There is no street light to illuminate it, but there is a slight glint- from two spots and I think it may be a deer- whose eyes are reflecting some light back to me.

I pass it , and think, from what I see out of the side of my vision, that it is a person who is lying there.
I must be wrong.
Maybe it is a bag of trash. But I think it might not be.

I make a left at the nearest street and turn around in a driveway. This street is completely unlit. I drive back, slowly, towards the deer or person or trash.

At a little less than 20 feet, I can see that it is a person. And he is pulling himself up, the part of him that is not under his bike..He has his head and shoulders raised a bit.
I stop my car and put on my flashers.

I get out and start to walk towards him. I realize that he has no helmet. He is wearing dark shorts and a dark t-shirt and is black, and the reflections I saw were two small reflectors on his bike's wheels- that reflected poorly since they were down at a bad angle and in an unlit spot. I am surprised I saw him , at all.

I ask him, as I walk towards him, "Are you all right?"

" I wiped out. The road is wet and a I wiped out."

Maybe he thinks I thought a car had hit him and left him there- actually, I hadn't thought anything - other than "Where is your helmet?"
Oh, and that I am glad I came past him from the other lane. I think I would have spotted him in time and stopped, but I can't be 100% sure- he is barely visible, even if you know what to look for.

I am even more sure of that because a moment later, an SUV comes by in the other lane. he stops because he sees my flashers and me standing there- and asks if I am okay before he realizes there is a cyclist down in the other lane.

Then he asks if the young man is all right. He says he is and gets to his feet.

Then he asks where Guion Road is.........

And, after getting directions from the driver of the SUV, takes off- on the unlit roads.
He was also going the wrong direction when he wiped out.

My house is less than a mile away. I drive very slowly.
I will probably have two cups of coffee, next week.