A Lesson for the Season: Do All the Good You Can

Elizabeth Buzzelli, an author who lives in Northern Michigan, was driving in a thick fog one morning when she came upon a motionless loon in the middle of the opposite lane.

She drove past the loon — that alluring bird that everyone who vacations across the northern U.S. loves to listen to in the twilight. She had places to go and people to see.

But, alas, she turned around, hoping to return before another vehicle came along in the fog and drove over the bird. She writes:

“The beautiful creature didn’t move when I pulled up next to where he squatted. As I got out of my car, he turned his majestic head, looked directly at me and didn’t, or couldn’t, move his body. Black and white feathers — all perfect. Long neck, long black beak.

“No obvious injury. As I approached, he watched. He was hurt or stunned because he didn’t try to fly away, didn’t flap his wings, only looked directly at me. My job, obviously, was to get him out of the road. I had a comforter in the back of my car that I used to cover him completely and then lift him — the size of a big goose, strong, solid — to the side of the road. But leave him there? Unable to move?”

Elizabeth stood there and began to cry. Then, a car stopped and a woman got out to ask if she could help. She suggested calling the department of natural resources, but there was no cell phone signal due to the fog.