This morning I was driving to work, and found myself behind a slower than usual school bus, driving with its four-way hazard flashing lights on.  We were on a heavily wooded narrow winding country road, and I figured that we were following a farmer on a slow moving tractor or similar piece of farming equipment.  There was no clear chance to pass, and I resigned myself to the thought that I was going to be late for work.

After a few minutes of following the bus, I watched it pull into the left lane (no, it was NOT a passing lane) to pass whatever it had been following.  I was quite surprised to observe that what it had been following was a jogging cow!  This cow had somehow broken free from its pasture and was running down the middle of the road.  It was running in the same direction that the bus and I were driving, and after the bus passed the cow I was left wondering “OK, now what do I do about this cow?  If I start to pass it, will it charge at me and damage the car?”  Fortunately within a few moments the woods ended and the road was going through open country, and the cow ran off of the road and towards someones house.  As I passed the cow (it was still running in the same general direction) I looked at the poor animal and I thought that it looked perfectly terrified.  I hope it found its way home eventually!