encounters

two encounters in one day while biking, one fairly common the other not so much. the first, while at a stop light a distracted driver bumped, that's really all it was a bump, my bike, enough though to knock me into the curb and onto the lawn. the driver was very contrite, though with cigarette still in hand. not very interesting. happens all the time.

the second, much more interesting, was with a goose. on my way home i usually cut through a park to avoid a busy intersection, w 46th ave and lowell blvd. rocky mountain lake park is a very nice urban park with, as the name suggest, a lake. while riding through the park this afternoon a nice family was walking around the lake tossing bread crumbs to the geese. as i passed one the children decided it would be fun to run at the geese, the geese spooked and took flight. they took flight right into my path. all i saw was brown, black and white as one of the larger birds flew right into my chest with a very lound thump.



how does one carry a live goose on a bike that doesn't want to be carried? i have no idea, with wings flapping, feet kicking and bill pecking i rode over a tree root and onto a fairly soft patch of grass. when i looked up from the ground my first thought was "holly shit, i killed a goose!". well , i didn't, the goose staggered a bit, gave me a dirty look and took flight again. it seems i didn't so much kill a goose as really piss one off. i was no worse for the wear other than a few ruffled feathers, a skinned knee and an arm soiled with, you guessed it, bird shit! oh, but i did get a great story out of it.