I witnessed a dramatic attempted murder and heroic rescue in Forest Park today.
It was an exciting morning in Forest Park, filled with brave heroism and I watched it all.
I left home about 8 AM on my ride. When I got down to Steinberg Rink, I took the long path around the river and lake, (the new wetlands area), on the east side where the two long curved wooden bridges are. As I was riding on the first bridge, I saw something huge in the sky and it was a gigantic falcon hawk (I later learned) with a wing spread close to a full yard. I quickly glanced at the water, and one medium sized lone duck was clearly the hawk’s target. I was about to witness a murder. Well, that’s harsh language. Maybe I was just watching breakfast being retrieved. However, it was not to be. On my right, from the west, like fighter planes in a WWII movie, several red-wing blackbirds came zooming out of nowhere and attacked the falcon which was 20 times their size. They drove the hawk back, but it banked and came back. This time a large white heron came to the duck’s rescue (I think the duck NEVER in this whole drama, realized a thing, it just kept fussing around in the middle of the river). The hawk settled in a large near-by tree and the red-wing black birds kept at it and finally the hawk gave up and went away, the heron, sitting on the bank watchfully.
By this time I had ridden over to right near the second bridge and a man about my own age had stopped, having just come along, to (seemingly) look at the majestic heron. I commented on the heron’s grace, but the man asked: Did you see that falcon hawk attack? I allowed I did and he then mentioned the name of the KIND of hawk. I didn’t get it but it seems to me he might have called it something like a red-tailed falcon hawk, which struck me since it was the red-winged blackbirds which drove it off. Just then another small bird landed and he named it. I said: whoa, I’ve been wanting to know what that bird is for weeks. It was a killdeer. What a strange name. Reminds me of a small roadrunner, with a white ring around the neck. This man knew the names of every bird and tree and water fowl. I was in heaven. He told me these high grasses (about 4 ft. high) attract masses of red wing black birds, hundreds of them together, and they defend other creatures from hawks and owls, so do the crows. Poor hawks and owls. Where are they supposed to eat if not at the near-by river!
It was a dramatic and delightful experience, and talking to this man was so much fun. He really knew a great deal. I rode just another 100 yards to the drinking fountain up the trail and while getting a drink other people came up. I was telling a couple of young boys about the drama I had just witnessed and as they off rode toward that area a woman who was getting drink asked if I were Bob Corbett. I allowed I was and she identified herself as “the other philosopher in Dogtown.” I was quite surprised and a conversation ensued. Tabby Ross is a professor of philosophy at UMSL and lives in the 6100 block of West Park. She’d been hearing about “the other philosopher in Dogtown.” We began to exchange a bit of philosophical interests, but that would be a fairly dead end for us. She is in the general area of analytic philosophy and I come out of the European tradition of French and German Existentialism and German Phenomenology. That would be like trying to get a Freudian psychologist to have a valuable discussion of psychology with a neuro-psychiatrist. It just wouldn’t work. She is very interested in aesthetics, philosophy of art and environmental issues. That led us to discuss a common interest, Forest Park, and being philosophers we turned to conceptional analyses of the park in history. I was telling her about my readings in the Forest Park book, and we were having a delightful conversation about imagining what is the “concept” behind the current renovations of the park. That discussion may be one we will continue soon up at Cairdeas Coffee House.
But, it was time to get back on the trail. I rode a few more miles, and when coming to the back northeast corner of the zoo a horn beeped and someone called my name. It was Rose Chiaurro Kennedy who often takes her morning exercise walking in the zoo. Rose was just leaving. So we went up to the Lindell Pavilion to have a cup of coffee and chat. It’s always a delight to see Rose. She has been sewing the neat cloth bags to house our growing precious collection of framed items, and Rose is helping me with a project on “Early Italian Families of Dogtown” (more coming on that topic soon). We chatted a while, but I had to race off.
I had to be home by 11 AM for the kickoff of the Euro 2004 soccer match between the Czech Republic and Latvia (just ended, one of the most entertaining yet of the games in this tournament), but I had several miles to finish riding and had to get to the Esquire Shopping Center to pick up some bagels I’d ordered at Einstein’s.
As I left the Lindell Pavilion I ran into a fourth person of the day, my daughter-in-law Kathy Corbett, second time in less that a week that I’ve met Kathy while she was out jogging/walking and me riding. We only exchanged a few words today – soccer games do call after all – and I was off. In the excitement of riding very fast to finish my 15 miles, and my mind racing to some of the interesting conversations of the day, I forgot that I was going down to Einstein’s (an extra mile out of my way), so I ended up riding 16 miles rather than 15, getting home just in time to get a quick shower, fix a pot of green tea and set out two of those delicious chocolate chip bagels I had just purchased fresh from Einstein’s, the rest safely tucked away in the freezer.
What a fun morning. Then the reward of that marvelous game just ended, and now, in just 45 is the day’s second game, Germany vs. Holland, which should be an awesome game. What fun. My nephew Johnny Corbett had come by just to see a bit of the Latvia / Czech Republic game which was supposed to be a huge blow-out for the Czech Republic, but when it turned out to be an awesome game, he just couldn’t leave…. He raced off to a meeting just as the game was concluded.
It’s only 1 PM and I feel like I’ve done enough for it to be midnight!!!!!
Now, back to soccer…..
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