rain of terror (haiku)
Wednesday, September 12th, 2007A few weeks ago, I’m walking down this odd half street. I’m not sure how else to describe them but it’s these narrow mini streets often made of dirt and grass that run between rows of houses around here. There aren’t many but when I see one I turn down it because it feels like you are transported to another time when things were less of a concrete jungle. Anyway, I’m in this shady oak tree lined path and suddenly a shower of feathers is floating around me. The sun is setting, it’s very quiet and the feathers appear to be moving in slow motion. It was rather dream-like. I searched for the source in the trees overhead but saw nothing. While it was surreal and pretty to see these white feathers dancing around me, something about it felt wrong and I soon found myself dodging them with repulsion.
Fast forward about a week and I’m talking to my mom who says she walked out her front door into a feather storm. Looking up she saw a hawk plucking the feathers off it’s prey before devouring it. She’s a big nature fan so this was delightful for her. Anyway, her story made me realize what was going on overhead that night on my walk and this comic came to mind. Hope you enjoy. 
Something cool happened to me over the weekend that I feel compelled to share. I’ve really been wanting a bicycle. Well, its a want as well as a need thing but I wont get into the details. Anyway, I’m talking to my friend Chris and he says, “Hey! There is a yahoo group called FreeCycle. Join the local one for you and ask for a bike. I bet someone gives you one.” I thought what the hell and did and low and behold the next afternoon a lady in my neighborhood emails me and offers me hers. How cool is that? Freecycle is all about offering stuff you no longer want but someone else might really need. It’s not about selling. I highly recommend it. There is probably one in your community and you might have some stuff lying around that can help someone else. Or maybe you need something and someone else has it. It’s really worth joining either way. Thanks Debbie from FreeCycle for my Huffy! <3
Lastly let me thank my Huffy. 
I hadn't been on a bicycle since I was around 12 years old or so. Needless to say I was pretty wobbly and a bit freaked out. I thought the bike's steering was way off but it turns out it was me. I'm grateful because I learned a lesson that can be applied to life in general. The reason I was finding it hard to steer is because I was focusing on the ground immediately in front of me. After a few times of trying, I began to focus my direction on where I wanted to be. Suddenly, I was no longer riding so wobbly and steering all over the place like a mental patient. You see the metaphor here I'm sure. I'm sure it's far from original but it was an epiphany to me all the same.
Grasshopper signing out. See you next week.
September 12th, 2007 at 12:32 am
Autumn foliage sheds
Vein, rachus, barb, calamus
Accipiter feasts
Spectacular comic this week, calan! Keep up the good work!
And be sure to wear your helmet all the time!
September 12th, 2007 at 12:36 am
helmet?
i wear an acorn cap. does that count?
September 12th, 2007 at 12:47 am
sublime downy storm
surfing a warm twilight breeze
veils savage raptor
September 12th, 2007 at 1:09 am
Eviscerated.
Consumed, ripped apart, swallowed.
Wonder of Nature.
September 12th, 2007 at 10:07 am
New bike for Calan
Learns life lesson while riding
Message for us all
September 12th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
A beautiful and thoughtful post today, Calan.
o feathers feathers
they’re so simply beautiful
floating down, down down
the turmoil above
changes not my innocence
if i don’t look there
September 12th, 2007 at 3:40 pm
The feathers, are they
really red by their nature
or is it from blood?
Well done calan. ^_^ And awesome news about the bike!
September 12th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
The burdy is so pretty!! Nice hawk, yo.
September 12th, 2007 at 10:59 pm
Yay freecycle!
Yay Huffy!
September 13th, 2007 at 4:27 am
for every action
an equal and opposite
reaction appears
wondrous featherstorm
one death forestalls another
beauty from horror
useless bicycle
cluttering someone’s garage
or Calan’s new joy?
…oh, and yay freecycle! Quite a bit of my old stuff has been rescued from being prematurely entombed in a landfill that way by someone who actually had a good use for it. I save a trip to the dump, I get rid of junk I don’t want, I make someone’s day by giving them free stuff, and I get to feel “green” about it. How cool is that?
September 13th, 2007 at 11:41 am
it’s super cool, justme!
thanks everyone for the kick ass haikus. you all rock.
September 13th, 2007 at 11:59 am
Birdy predation
Nimble attack, followed by
Evisceration.
September 13th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
the scarlet bird
vermillion in its nature
bleeds its feathers down
the warm liquid drip
dripping down the tree but oh
the red snowglobe land
this reminds me of “the scarlet ibis”, a short story about a sick boy, his brother, an exotic bird, and death.
beautiful art, today especially!
September 14th, 2007 at 11:08 am
thanks elizabeth. sounds like a cool short story. i love short stories and to read in general. lately though i listen to short stories on my ipod as i go to sleep. they have to be pretty short or i fall asleep and miss the ending.
September 17th, 2007 at 10:26 am
I love the title pun, Rain of Terror. I’ll be thinking about this one for a while, I can tell.
And what’s freaky, I just discovered Freecycle this week too! :O
Glad to hear about your bicycle, Calan. But if people plan to give stuff away, just beware that there are predators. There might not be much you can do about them, but at least you can keep an eye out.
I know someone who was giving away her stove. She got several immediate responses the same night, but the one she picked turned out to be a guy who just wanted to scrap the metal–boo! It was a nice working stove, and she had made it all clean and sparkly. That guy was not cool.
Keep pedaling Calan, with your little acorn cap!
September 18th, 2007 at 2:43 am
*pedals fast as fast can be with one hand holding my lil acorn cap*