Animals. Two stories. Yesterday, my drive to listen to music took me down country roads. At one point, I spotted a calf through the trees in a pasture, running. I knew not why. Then, a split second later, I spotted a heifer running in the other direction. I connected dots. A mother and child, running to be together. It seemed reasonable. I wondered about the emotion of the moment. What were they thinking, because it seemed reasonable, they were thinking about something as they ran toward one another? Were they happy? Relieved? Joyous?

Also, yesterday, in the morning, while I was picking up a wine club delivery, I engaged the man behind the counter in conversation. He was limping. It seems he had a bad encounter while on a motorized tricycle with a deer. He described the encounter. He was coming around a curve. The big buck was running low and intersecting his path. At the moment of collision, the big buck lowered his head and dove into the front wheel of the motorized tricycle. It happened in a instant, at high speed. The buck died. The bike was destroyed. So, nearly, was the man.

Again, I wondered about the emotion of the moment. What was the deer thinking as it engaged the big machine that so suddenly entered its life, then so unceremoniously ended it? Instinct likely, but surely there was a thought of some kind as it turned to answer the sudden challenge. Then it made me wonder about the food I consumed, because I’ve eaten both deer and steer, and what does it mean for one conscious being to eat another? And I wondered how far empathy should or could be taken. I made no decision, because maybe not all questions need to be answered. Maybe it’s simply enough to ask them. To see something, and wonder why. But it’s certainly food for thought. And I’ll think about it.

John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver’s Tale