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The Drive
Copyright 2006, 2012 Christina M. Guerrero
I was driving north on Highway 29 in Napa Valley, late at night in the mid-1990s, glad to be returning home after a trip out of town.
I passed Napa -- a brief stretch of bright city blocks. Then I was in the countryside again, heading for the long northwest curve between Napa and Yountville.
That curve always thrilled me. In my opinion it marked the true opening into the valley. Beyond it were long rural stretches of the highway with few streetlights, and spectacular views of the surrounding vineyards, even in the dark.
I steered my car past the halfway mark of the massive curve, which formed the base of a huge hill. Just as my thoughts turned once again to the pleasures of the drive, I abruptly realized I was not alone.
To the right of my car, about ten to fifteen feet away, a white animal galloped along the shoulder of the highway.
It galloped, and it was big, but it was not a horse.
I caught up with the animal, which turned its head. Its left eye, black as the night, seemed to be the size of a billiard ball. I could have sworn it winked.
I zoomed past. I watched the animal in my rear-view mirror as it crossed the highway and ran onto the meadow to my left.
It continued to gallop ... under the full moon, in the dark, across the meadow ... still quite huge. I had a good long look before I had to focus on the road again.
It was a beautiful yet mysterious sight.
The images stayed with me, locked inside, until I finally identified the animal several years later.
The discovery was just as unexpected as the vision. One evening, as I browsed among magazines and books at Barnes and Noble, I noticed something familiar.
Yes, there are strange-looking animals that appear to be the size of small horses, although they are usually a bit smaller. Their eyes are not the size of billiard balls, but could be the size of golf balls, I suppose.
These animals are abnormally large, however, and might distort your sense of reality when you see them for the first time.
What I saw that night -- for the first time in my life -- was a huge dog ... an Irish Wolfhound.
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