Month: September 2016

I recently visited my original car dealership to replace my airbag because of a recall. I wanted to avoid the gruesome scenario of shrapnel launching into one of my neck arteries and causing me to bleed out on the spot after a minor collision, which actually happened to people.

The estimate was a three hour wait. The technician offered to have someone drive me to the nearby mall or library to hang out, but I said I’d walk, thinking a walk in an unfamiliar area is always pleasant, right? Wrong.

This dealership was on the south side of interstate 494. I trudged through six-lane intersections, impossible construction sites, over turf and through giant parking lots to get to a Starbucks for a drink and then to the library on York Avenue where I passed the time.

The overall feeling of the walk was of rawness and exposure and danger. I inhaled a lot of exhaust fumes and got grit in my eyes kicked up by the high traffic speeds. The drab and sparse sights included a Fuddrucker’s and several gas stations and a highway.

I made a game of counting the drivers in the stalled traffic on France Avenue who were looking down at their phones. Three in a row was a frequent tally.

I also noticed something funny: a light turns from green to red. The first driver does not move because she is looking down at her phone. The person behind her does not honk because he, too, is looking down at his phone. And the person behind them does not honk because she, too, is looking down at her phone. So overall, everyone was too distracted to even get road rage. Maybe that’s a good thing..?

Walkscore.com bore out my impression: that area of Bloomington and Edina has a score of 34, car dependent. My own neighborhood: 70, very walkable! (Plus a bike score of 81)

My personal lesson is to be grateful for what I have: sidewalks, shops, the river, trails, a regional park and reasonable traffic speeds. Recent pedestrian deaths in Saint Paul show that we have to do better, but what we have is a good start. It is a worthy basis to build upon, it is something to be thankful for.

I visited Hawk Ridge again. We are now a week or two away from the peak migration numbers. This weekend, under favorable conditions, tens of thousands of broad-winged hawks may pass overhead in giant kettles.

I was there on a quiet day, but I saw a banded hawk up close and a northern harrier and we got an excellent view of a peregrine falcon coming in to swoop at the fake owl near the observatory. That falcon alone was the sighting of the trip. You only get glimpses of such a bird elsewhere as it dashes between buildings or trees. A flock of about 60 American white pelicans was also a new sight for me.

I always learn something new from the naturalists. And I went on an intense hike in the attached nature reserve through many downed aspens and flooded ravines.

In retrospect I realized it was a very frugal trip:

$2.10 for coffee for the road

$1.50 for the Sunday paper for reading and starting a campfire

$2 for a jug of water

$5 for a raffle ticket to support Hawk Ridge and win a jacket

$6 for firewood

$2.50 for a sugary Starbucks canned drink (turned out to be delicious)

$1.75 for parking at Canal Park

$2 for another coffee in downtown Duluth

$20 for a night camping at the excellent Snowflake Nordic Ski Center (if you go, choose site 10 or 11)

$23 for gas to get there and back

Total: $66

I chose a tent this time instead of the hammock. I am developing a clearer sense of the advantages and disadvantages of each shelter/sleep system.

Of all the recent brainless killings in the region, this one was personal for me because I identified with the victim, a Minnesota state park lover. As I visit state, city and regional parks this is a recurring fear of mine:

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/08/25/national-guard-accused-state-park-death

http://www.twincities.com/2016/09/02/man-allegedly-shot-to-death-by-guardsman-in-state-park-is-idd/

http://bringmethenews.com/2016/09/01/police-identify-man-shot-twice-in-head-at-mn-state-park/

The victim, 23 year-old Spencer Daniel Brown, was shot twice in the head by National Guard veteran David Michael Easter through the rolled-up window of a locked car door. His foot was on the brake and the car was in reverse when he was killed.

The wife of the suspect said her husband confronted the victim but that she didn’t know why. She heard the victim tell Easter to stop shining his light in his eyes. Then the young man was executed.

The details gave me chills because I’ve been in this situation before. When birding or camping solo on public land someone sees me and wants to let me know that they don’t like the look of me and that I’m not welcome there. They begin predictably at the base of the continuum of aggression, by staring. When I ignore this baboon-like hostility display, they escalate by snarling something half-intelligible such as, “The fuck’r you doin’ there, fucker?”

Recognizing this mix of aggression, suicidality and conceal-and-carry, I withdraw at this time to preserve my own life.

But it looks like the victim was doing exactly that. He was trying to escape. After killing him, David Michael Easter returned to his (you guessed it) pickup truck and called the police, claiming he shot in self-defense.

If he hadn’t killed this young park-goer, he would have eventually used the .45 caliber pistol to kill another driver in some mundane road rage incident. Or, give him 20 to 30 years and he would have shot himself in the head at some point in middle age.

It’s regrettable that because of all the armed people out there ready to explode with anger, you must withdraw at the first sign of aggression. There is no point in trying to “win” an encounter with an armed moron. Even if you have every right to be there, just disengage. Preserve your life and leave so that you can hike and camp and go birding another day.

Included: I bought an LED grow light based on the claim that it can keep my houseplants perky throughout the winter. I am skeptical of this but am willing to try.