Yes, quite literally what the title says.

I was out biking the other day, figuring I should get some exercise, fresh air, and sunshine, instead of being cooped up in the house playing Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility all day long. (Though I have to admit I still long for the days when I played Toontown. I did broach the idea of a month's subscription to my mother, which she immediately struck down. I'm already computer-addicted enough as is, I suppose.) So I decided to stop by the nearby park.

A very pressing matter in the town I live in is the bird population. We have astounding numbers of ducks, seagulls, geese, and pigeons. There are now signs at various bodies of water, such as at the reservoir and at the park I just visited, telling visitors not to feed the birds so that they'll continue with their usual patterns of migration instead of staying here permanently to gorge on bread crusts.

In fact, they've gone so far as to provide brochures in three different languages - English, Chinese (Mandarin), and Spanish, to "educate" the citizens about why we shouldn't keep the birds around. Something about how the birds poop in the water, which in turn makes the water dirty and gets them sick. (But wait...If they don't want the birds around anymore, shouldn't they just let the birds get sick and then die of their own accord? Oh, right, they wouldn't want to spread bird flu or some other disease. Or tarnish their reputation with the blood of several thousand innocent birds. Reminds me of the passenger pigeons being driven extinct.)

I saw some of the Canadian geese who have taken up residence at the park, and notice that they'd had their children (they're called goslings, right?). I thought it'd be nice to get close and take some photos of them. Here's a few shots...Sorry that they're a bit on the blurry side. Aren't the goslings so fuzzy-looking?





But while the goslings went on eating the grass (that's what it looks like, though they're actually eating the bugs), one goose stood guard. He stood there looking around suspiciously. Whenever I made a move he opened his mouth and hissed, showing his tongue. One time I tried to approach quickly and he ran towards me, flapping his winds and hissing like crazy. I hastily retreated until I was far enough that he decided I wasn't dangerous. It was actually a little fun, in a twisted way, taunting the goose. I don't want to risk getting bitten, though. I've heard goose bites are quite painful. But it would be nice to have animals that don't run away, growl, or try to bite me when they see me and actually meet an animal that likes me for a change.

Labels: animals, bird, birds, canadian geese, disease, geese, goose, hygiene, migration, park, pollution, sickness, wild animals

With only two weeks of summer remaining, I've decided to make the most of it. My father gave me the A-OK to take walks by myself, as long as I didn't go too far away from home and remembered to bring my garage opener and cell phone with me.

My plans were foiled the first time that I made up my mind to go outside for a stroll. The sun was particularly high in the sky in the early afternoon, so I decided to wait a few hours for it to go down a bit. But then someone rang the doorbell. I figured that I shouldn't leave the house anytime soon just in case whoever it was might see me and try to talk to me. Or even worse, he/she might realize I had left home and would try to break in. (Well, we do have an alarm system, but if there's no one in the vicinity, you could still probably get away with stealing something.)

By the time I figured I could try venturing outdoors, it was already past 5 pm. If I went out now, my parents might return while I was gone. I would have to leave a note for them saying, "I'm fine, don't look for me" or something (but then they might worry and think I was running away from home). So I figured I'd have to give up on my solo walk for that day.

But on Monday, I gave it another try. I had woken up fairly early that day, so I was already rarin' to go when it was 11 am. I decided to walk to the end of the street that I live on, where the cul-de-sac is (I happen to live at the very beginning of the street, although someone who lives further down the street once said she thinks of my house as being the end of the street). There are gaps in the fence which you can go through to cross the train tracks and enter the park that is on the other side of the tracks. (The official entrance to the park is at the end of a different street. I usually go in through the little side entrance.)

As I entered the park, I saw that there were squirrels running away, probably to escape me, the big scary monster. There were also a bunch of rather funny birds. I am quite sure they were quails. (Quails are California's state bird, but I've never really seen them before. At least, not that many of them at once) They began toddling off quickly when they realized I was there. I followed them for a while (which made them walk in their awkward way even faster) until they reached a dead end and instead flew up to escape me. I guess they aren't really used to people. So they only come out at times of day where the people are far away or there aren't many of them.

I was planning to have a bit of time to myself for quiet contemplation. While walking there I had been feeling quite amiable. However, when I was about to settle down on a bench in the park, I noticed a fly on it. It wasn't one of those tiny ones that don't really bother you. It was one of those big fly sort of flies. (Due to my lack of insect knowledge, I can't tell the species.) There are no other benches in the park besides the picnic tables, which I don't want to sit at because they are close to the playground and the parents with their little kids will probably think I'm suspicious. (I mean, I was taking a box out of my bag. What if there had been a bomb in it? Though I can assure you I am not at all interested in terrorism.)

Then, soon after I dismissed the park bench as being undesirable, I heard a baby's crying. I didn't have much reason to be staying in the park any longer anyhow, so then I left for home, but using a different, longer route. Along the way home I saw a cat, which improved my mood considerably (at least, until it left). Nothing ever turns out perfectly, but I had a lovely time walking by myself. Somehow it's different when you're alone. Even if you're with someone else and you're not talking to them, you're still aware of his/her presence. But by yourself, you can let down your guard and relax for a change.

Labels: alone, animals, danger, fly, going home, outside, park, quails, ruined, summer, terrorism, thoughts, time, walk

I think I became a scratching post for cats last weekend or something. Let me start with a bit of explanation.

Lately my dad and I have been going biking once a week, for the purpose of exercise and some good ol' fresh air. Can't do wrong with it. (Unless, of course, you live somewhere very polluted, like China; then maybe you're better off not breathing...) We paid a visit to Hoover Park in my town. I've been there before, but I usually took a different route to get there. You can get to the park by going to the very end of my street and getting to the railroad by finding a gap in the fence. Then, cross the railroad and go up and you'll get to the park. My mom doesn't want me to go in that way since a train could suddenly come, or whatever. Just like this problem about a guy named Bobo that I did last year in math class. (I don't know if this is a true entrance to the park or if someone unofficially made it) The main way to get the park, though, is to go to a different street, and to the very end, and there's the actual sign that says the park name and such.

When we were heading back from the park, I noticed a black and white cat wandering around and so I got off my back. I watched the cat for a while and decided to whip out my camera, which I had conveniently brought should I have a good photo opportunity on the bike ride. I tried to take pictures of the cat, but whenever I thought I had a good position, it (I wasn't sure whether it was male or female, I guess my knowledge of animal genders is rudimentary) kept turning and walking toward me. At first I thought it was going to attack me, perhaps (I know that's far-fetched, but cats don't like me too much. My dad's friend's cat tries to hide its face when she sees me, and another time there was a cat, the cat of my mom's friends, but it was a lazy sort that didn't like people) but then, when it was about to collide with my legs, it would swerve just a bit to the side, so instead it brushed against my pants. My dad said that the cat couldn't reach an itch and so was using me to fulfill that purpose. D: How offensive to be made into a scratching post!

Anyhow, today, one of my friends showed me her Chinese book. She doesn't study Mandarin at school, but she does go to Chinese school, I believe. I am glad that I'm not in Chinese school. Only very recently did my mom tell me one of the reasons why. One reason was apparently because of my dad - he says that he convinced my mom it was not a good idea, though I have no idea if that's true, considering it's my dad. The reason my mom told me had to do with behavior. She said that different cultures can have different views on things, and different ways of doing things. And, well, according to my mom, I was actually in Chinese school for a short time. Apparently there was a woman who needed to pick some other kids and me up to take us to Chinese school. My mom says that the woman was in a rush and she pulled me along too quickly, so I fell and hurt myself. And my mom decided to take me out of Chinese school. So, I guess a good thing resulted of a bad thing. :p

Back to the Chinese book before I forget what I'm supposed to be talking about. To practice for her test, my friend read me a story from her book. It was a strange story. The main character was a guy who had only one eye, no arms, and I think he was missing a leg too. And he had holes in his mouth because he had to write and draw with his mouth (putting a paintbrush in his mouth or something, seeing as he didn't have hands). Then there was another story which she started to read (but she was interrupted by the bell ending brunch) which was about a girl who had only half a brain, or something like that, and she had to get a surgery, and she liked to play sports... (Which I, surprisingly, could understand by hearing my friend read it - I mean, the part about the character liking to play sports) And apparently she got seizures or something. What kind of things do they teach you in Mandarin?! Sounds pretty vicious to me, but my friend says they just write strange stories to make it more interesting. -_-;;

Labels: bike, camera, cat, chinese, chinese school, culture, disability, entrance, injury, itchy, mandarin, missing limbs, movement, park, railroad, rush, scratching post, seizure, story, street

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