Most everyone remembers the Road Runner cartoon in which Wile E. Coyote suffers mishap after mishap as he tries to trap the ever-annoying Road Runner. Famous for his “Beep! Beep!” as he jumps and takes off in a cloud of dust, the Road Runner may have earned the title spot light, but I always admired the coyote’s creativity and the imaginative methods he invented, with the help of ACME delivery, to capture his antithesis – but that’s just me. I always thought it a mystery as to even why the coyote spent so much time and energy in what was always a fruitless cause.
One bright, sunny morning while having my breakfast in the City of Rocks, New Mexico, a road runner, a real road runner, scurried into my camp and did
a curious dance around the campsite. He, or she, came so close I expected her/him to snatch my meal and run. This curious little bird, about the size of a small chicken but larger than a Ginny hen, showed no fear as s/he examined the site and possibly sized up the meal potential it offered.
After parading around the campsite and scurrying around Manna without finding a morsel, s/he took off into the desert, almost as fast as its cartoon persona, but minus the “Beep! Beep!” Maybe Wile E. was just tired of having his lunch stolen!
Ah – another of life’s mysteries solved.
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