The cover of HCN caught my eye as
I sorted through the mail yesterday evening. I opened it and began
reading Eliza Murphy’s article, “The Asphalt Graveyard,”
while putting away groceries (HCN, 2/7/05: Caught in the
Headlights). I was so gripped by it that I didn’t make it to
the dining table but just spread the paper over the counter and
continued reading, my chores forgotten. It affected me the way the
deaths of these innocent creatures do: terrible to look at but
impossible to turn away from.
As a small child, every
spring I retrieved the flattened bodies of toads from the road in
front of my house and buried them, with flowers, in the backyard,
so I guess that makes me one of the “roadkill community,” as Ms.
Murphy terms it. Generally this subject is one that our culture
pretends not to see. I thank Ms. Murphy for listening to her inner
promptings and following this story, and I thank
HCN for bringing this difficult subject matter
to its readers’ attention.
Ramona
Gault Seattle, Washington
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline A member of the roadkill community.
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