ANIMAL FORTEANA


In the beginning of things men were animals and animals men. ~ Algonquin saying

"For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much — the wheel, New York, wars and so on — whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man — for precisely the same reasons." ~ The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Friday, September 21, 2012

Helicopter and Squirrel

Some episodes, otherwise small and on the surface, seemingly mundane, carry with them a vibe of oddness. Just something that is . . . off kilter, skewed a bit towards the weird. Two little things that aren't anything really but carried with them that type of vibe.

The other night, or early morning really, about 4:00 am, I was awakened by a helicopter. Not at all strange in many cities, but here in Eugene, Oregon, not a common occurance to hear a helicopter at night. And not one flying so damn low -- I thought it was going to land in our backyard! The windows were rattling for sure. The helicopter finally flew off, only to return at the same low altitude. I assume it was a police helicopter (I assume the local cops have a helicopter, I really don't know) and they were looking for someone. The whole thing, while not at all unusual on the face of it, just was odd.


Then next day, we were walking towards the sidewalk in front of our house when we noticed a squirrel standing stock still on the sidewalk in front of the house next door. We assumed he or she was staring at one of the cats, but when I walked towards the squirrel and looked in the direction he was looking, I didn't see anything. I couldn't figure out what he was looking at. He stayed there, frozen to the spot. Then he turned and walked away. He didn't run, or scamper, he walked down the street. As much as a squirrel can walk that is. It was just a little odd; he was walking down the side of the street, all the way to the corner. Lots of trees around, in order to run up the trunks. Lots of lawns and gardens and fences. But he was just going down the street, slowly, (again, as much as a squirrel can go slowly.)

The oddness of the squirrel was juxtaposed with the oddness of the late night/early morning helicopter.


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