Paste
And/or
Obtain
Even if those are my own words, I do not feel inspired by them.
I had some small, crazy stories from the last week or so to tell, and I did fit some of the words in.
But ater my crazy stories, I was still missing Ferry, Paste and Obtain.
The bike ride to and fro town did not give me any new ideas how to use these three words, but reminded me of a crazy bike ride some years ago.
The Dangers of the Woods
It was a Friday in December, or maybe January some years ago. I had an appointment in the bigger city about 20 km from home. I biked to the station in my normal small town, took my bike with me in the train and once arrived biked to my appointment.
Everything went fine, but I had forgotten two things. My bike lamp, and the short winter days. Coming out from the appointment, dusk was already settling. Now what? I walked to the station, walking by bike, pondering my possibilities. I could leave my bike on my station, not a good idea on a Friday night, it would almost certainly be stolen or broken during the night. I could take the bike with me home by bus, then an expensive and burdensome endeavour, as buses were not easy to get into and some bus drivers said plain no to having a bike on board. Still pondering I passed the Danish equivalent of a Dollar store. I hurried in there and obtained a flash light, a very cheap, big one, using those big C-type batteries.
All the way during the train ride back I debated with my inner self. Mildly put I did not look forward to the ride through the dark forest. I was afraid. On the other hand there was nothing to be afraid of. I knew from my many rides in new snow and daylight that almost nobody ever entered that wood. One person at each entry point, walking a dog, turning around not far in and leaving the way they had come was what I normally saw. And I had seen the very same thing biking through the woods on my way to the station.
One look at the bus and its driver made up my mind for me. He was of the no-saying variety - and the bus an old model with three steps up in the middle. I mounted my bike and headed for the woods. The lamp was nothing special, actually quite bad, but I could find my way, and see that the morning's person walking the dog had been there again, one more set of paw-prints and footprints entered the wood and came put again. They had made it a bit farther in than in the morning.
I had no problems following the paths, and even enjoyed the long descent to the small brook. I had just crossed the brook and begun the climb on thee other side, when I heard the most blood curling scream slightly in front of me and to the left. It sounded as if someone was being killed. I stopped, turned off the torch and froze. I thought to myself: "If there's a killer on the lose he did not hear me arriving over those screams. I am below him, no mater from where he'll arrive, I'll see him silhouetted against the sky before he can see me. I have a torch. I can blind him with it and get the hell out of here on my bike before he catches up with me. I can get out of the woods faster on my bike then he can run, and there's houses just outside at either end."
I hefted the torch, it was heavy and could serve as a weapon if needs arose. I strained my eyes to penetrate the darkness. I listened. Everything was quiet. Then the scream returned. From the left, in front of me ... and from the highest of treetops.
Rationality set in. Whatever was screaming was sitting high up in a treetop. It was in no way big and heavy enough to hurt me. Some bird, maybe. Maybe its prey screaming out its last in its claws. The biggest birds in these woods are buzzards - maybe a heron or a crane, but none of these are known to attack humans, and even then, if one attacked me, they would be able to peck and scratch me, but surely not harm me seriously - I was dressed in thick winter clothing, with a muffler round my neck. I also wore my biking helmet. I waited a bit longer. The scream, still murderous and very loud was heard again from the very same place. Now I was sure it was nothing dangerous. I lit the torch and biked home.
I have heard this screaming several more times since then biking through the woods. Always in the same place, always in the tallest treetops.
-- A -- B -- C --
And today's Wordle. I did not know the word, but had no problem figuring out what it was ;)
Wordle 1.477 4/6
⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
🟨🟩⬜⬜🟨
🟩🟨⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Today’s average difficulty is 5 guesses out of 6, or moderately challenging
I would have frozen, too, and I'm not sure I would have been brave enough to go on.
SvarSletI was in the middle of the woods. Turning around would have been just as bad - maybe worse. Facing danger is better than running form it, not least in a dark wood.
SletI would have stopped still too and listened, but after realising it wasn't something that would hurt me, I would be curious about what would make that kind of noise, maybe a screeching owl? I would google and try to find out.
SvarSletBikes aren't allowed on buses here and sometimes not on trains either.
I still am curious, and I have tried googling, with no good results. We're still calling it the schreeching bird.
SletBikes were allowed in buses slowly over the last 20 or so years, as the old model with stairs went out of circulation also easier for prams ;) In trains of old you had to send them - often days in advance - but in most modern trains you can bring them, and since two or three years ago even for free. Only limited to outside of rush hours in certain areas of Copenhagen. It is a huge success and more and more people combine bikes and trains/buses to go to work.