On safari

While cycling up and around the Tantalus-Round Top loop I always see the same groups of wild chickens that inhabit the mountain, plus the occasional mongoose. Once I came across a rather majestic (and large) lizard taking up residence on the side of the road. He didn’t move when I turned back to check him out, leading me to believe he must have been sick or injured. Still, he was something to see.

Then there was the time about a year ago when I kept spying the same pair of domesticated rabbits. Someone had obviously abandoned them after cleaning the cage had become a nuisance. It was tough passing them by because they’d just pop out of the grass and look at you with those eyes, seeking food, or attention, or help. During the several weeks they’d make their roadside appearances, they were never more than several hundred yards from the location where I’d first spotted them. Because of this, I sent a map to the humane society instructing them where to look. It wasn’t much later that I stopped seeing the bunnies. I like to think that someone picked them up and gave them a home (the alternative being the aforementioned ‘occasional mongoose’).

But, yesterday I saw something new: a peacock! I’ve heard that O’ahu has wild peacocks but I’ve never seen one before. His tail feathers were looking a little worse for wear but the neck plumage was radiant. I stopped for a moment, we stared at each other, and then I continued on my merry way. As I coasted downhill I began to wonder if I shouldn’t take this bird’s appearance more seriously. (This is a story for another day, but I’ve had several experiences with animals showing up under curious circumstances right after a death.) Before the encounter someone had called me twice so I decided to put on the brakes and check my messages — something I don’t normally bother with when riding. I made an exception in this case, though, because the peacock had got me thinking about Grandma (whose own peacock showed up after she’d had an “intervention” with the ghost in their Plano house — again, another story). This, in turn, had me wondering about my phone ringing.

I had to wait about 5 minutes to get through all my back-logged voice messages, but in the end it was only Adam wanting to know if I was down for a little darts and beer at Anna’s.