Monday, May 16, 2005:<\/b> I keep forgetting to enjoy the new Fayetteville Public Library. My usual habit is to hit the 10-minute curb parking and go in long enough for the book I had put on hold via the Internet or to choose a fresh book-on-CD.<\/p>\n
The new building though is conducive to reading, writing and just staring out the big windows south toward the Boston Mountains.<\/p>\n
This was a perfect spring day so I made time to park in the deck and sit outside on the library’s large patio, where I got a lesson from nature.<\/p>\n
I heard a bird call over and over from above. I looked up and saw a small bird chasing a small-to-medium-size hawk. Not just chasing, but attacking, pecking the predator between the shoulder blades, or whatever they are on a boid. Both were flying.<\/p>\n
Obviously, the hawk was interested in that bird’s nest and the chicks or eggs in it. The hawk may have already gotten one, who knows, and the dark little bird (it was too high up to really determine the species) was defending the nest by chasing the big guy away.<\/p>\n
Fight club rules (Chuck Palahniuk). Was this a fair fight? What is a fair fight? Why should a fight need to be fair, and who or what determines that? (Oh, commentators, and what do they know?) <\/p>\n
The little bird if on a level playing field — which would be anything solid, including a tree branch or roof — would be cheese on a cracker for a hawk, and as quickly devoured. Its hooked beak and long talons were made for lunching on the fly.<\/p>\n
But in the air, the two were not on equal footing (equal winging); the little guy had the upper claw. The hawk was could not strike the bird, coming up from behind and pecking his back, and striking hard, you could tell, because the hawk sometimes lost a little altitude.<\/p>\n
We all know that hawk will return. It knows where the nest is. The little bird will eventually lose the contents of its nest perhaps including its life, unless the hawk locates a less-guarded nest full of snacks and forgets.<\/p>\n
Can’t feel sorry for the hawk. People talk of wild animals as having enemies and the bigger animals having fewer enemies, at which point we usually come to a sermon about Man.<\/p>\n
The hawk obviously has lots of enemies, but few that can do anything about it.<\/p>\n
Martial arts generally model many stances and attacks not on mockingbirds, but cats: the scope-out, the crouch, the spring of arms and legs then landing ready for more, for basic moves on prey. Cats offer martial artists complex tricks more useful to humans when the other guy is another cat.<\/p>\n
As a long-time little guy, I also need to learn about fighting from a little bird that uses well its limited resources and opportunities. -30-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Copyright 2005 Ben S. Pollock Monday, May 16, 2005: I keep forgetting to enjoy the new Fayetteville Public Library. My usual habit is to hit the 10-minute curb parking and go in long enough for the book I had put on hold via the Internet or to choose a fresh book-on-CD. The new building though […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-lessons"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2978,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2011\/07\/budget-hawk-takes-bath\/","url_meta":{"origin":143,"position":0},"title":"Budget Hawk Takes Bath","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"July 20, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"There really was a hawk in our yard, I told My Beloved. She was out of town so this was on the phone. She believed me enough. After all, she's the one who spotted the high nest this past spring, in an old oak in the back yard of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Body, Home, Street"","block_context":{"text":"Body, Home, Street","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/body-home-street\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Hawk at home's near birdbath 16 July 2011. Photo by Ben S. Pollock","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/hawk-1st-bath-199x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":159,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2005\/02\/plug-the-spin-spin-the-plug\/","url_meta":{"origin":143,"position":1},"title":"Plug the spin, spin the plug","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"February 2, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Copyright 2005 Ben S. 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This last one, critiquing the first full biographical treatment of poet Ogden Nash, brought out a couple of e-mails from old\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Body, Home, Street"","block_context":{"text":"Body, Home, Street","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/body-home-street\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":124,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2005\/08\/eek-a-thing\/","url_meta":{"origin":143,"position":5},"title":"Eek! A Thing","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"August 10, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Copyright 2005 Ben S. PollockWednesday, Aug. 10, 2005: It's only taken three decades to admit I'm a Westerner. That is, I began reading about Eastern religions in my pre-teen years. 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