March was in like a lion, out like a lamb.
In April, I was in lying around, or running, but not on the lam.
What will come in, or out, in May?
Wild life?
Yes, indeed, though the red-tailed hawk in the Public Garden doesn't count, that winner has been feasting on squirrels for years. I saw him the other day, in fact. Let's give him a cool name... Tobias? I'll get back to you.
But seriously, I've heard reports that in some areas social distancing measures have created an interesting side effect - more wildlife. Let's speculate, people tend to scare away wild animals, but there are fewer people out, so fewer chances to scare wildlife, leading to... more wildlife? Works for me.
I was walking home down a side street one Saturday night, and thinking about Tobias, and my wildlife theory. My stroll was interrupted when I emerged into an intersection full of people, arranged in a semi-circle with a radius of two yardsticks. It seemed like half the state of Iowa was caucusing, but I didn't need any hawk eyes to see the problem - on the corner was a fearless, kilted man, one iPhone or sneeze away from going viral, holding the bagpipes with the safety off. Chekov never said anything about instruments but I knew what was about to go down, and I flew back to my perch like a duck that found itself in Peking. Do they play 'Scotland the Brave' at your funeral if it was the cause of death?
It struck me later that although I've lived on this block for five and a half years, I'd never seen that man. Fewer people out on the streets may mean less opportunity to scare animals but it means less opportunities to scare people, too. I wonder if social distancing has had a side effect in terms of those with eccentric hobbies or talents, scared into hiding by the mean, and finding new definition for an average day.
