Today’s Run:  7.70 miles

Boy, my legs were like lead today after yesterday’s run.  That did not stop me from running though!  I ran a rural route today, one that took me past a spot where I had an unusual encounter last week.  An encounter with a coyote.

First things first:  Having lived in Colorado for forever (before having moving to Mississippi), we need to learn how to pronounce this word.  It is pronouced,  Keye-oat~NOT Keye -oat -ee.  There is a distinct difference.  Even though this word is spelled the same, in Colorado, you pronounce it two different ways.

Keye-oat:  Definition~That mangy animal that looks like a dog but is most decidedly NOT a dog.  This animal will, without giving it another thought, eat poor little Fido’s and Fluffy’s. Not a nice animal.

Keye-oat-ee:  Definition~A drug smuggler.

Big difference.  The pronunciation of this word makes a huge amount of difference as to what you are referring to in your conversation!

In Mississippi, however, the word is pronounced, Keye-oat-ee.  End of discussion.  In Mississippi, they do not refer to drug smugglers as Keye-oat-ee’s.

But that is not what we are here to discuss.  We were going to discuss my encounter with a Keye-oat.

I was running down Limerock Road.  This is about as rural Mississippi as you can get.  All of a sudden from the underbrush along the side of the road, out pops a Coyote!  It was a little ahead of me.

I scuffed my feet, just to make sure it knew I was there.  It stopped, turned and looked at me and slowed down (it had been moving along at a pretty good clip).

“Oh-uh.”,I though.  “This is making me nervous!”

The Coyote stopped completely and turned and looked at me.  I did not know what else to do so I fluttered my hands at it and said, “Shoo!”

It did not shoo.

Rats.

“Shoo-shoo!!!”  I said.

It looked unsure.  Almost as unsure as I was.

I was still running along at this point but there was not a lot of space left between the two of us.  I started to slow down.

“Shoo-shoo-shoo-shoo-shoo!!!!!”  This time I yelled.  The coyote was unimpressed with my efforts but did start to trot along the road again.

We ran this way for about a quarter of a mile.  I had a major case of the heebie jeebies.  I think neither one of us knew what to do.

Finally, the coyote had had enough of my company and darted off across the cotton field.  Whew!

Today, I retraced my steps where the coyote and I had met last week.  I was a “nervous Nellie” and kept my eyes open for any unforeseen visitor.  Happily, I ran solo!