Attacked during morning walk 04.30.15

 

                I am here today to tell you in fact, I was attacked during my early morning walk, in my own neighborhood.

          The Attack occurred on April 22^nd, a Wednesday morning about 8:15am. I had been walking for about 10 minutes and I had a walking stick in hand.

          Allow me to answer three questions, before I proceed to impart this factual, and somewhat alarming account to you.

The walking stick was one that I had made, yes in theory, it could be used as a defensive weapon.

I was totally surprised by the attack, I did not see or hear it coming!

        I am providing as much information as possible in order to be, “Totally transparent”.

 

The word transparent means that one can see through something.

          Politicians use the word a lot, in hopes that, “we the people”, will be stupid enough, to think that what they are doing, is out in the open for all to see.

          In fact, politicians used the word transparent to mean, “I will do what I want” and, “You the People” are not smart enough to stop me!

 

          The morning was warm and very humid with a totally cloudy sky. It had sprinkled at some point through the night which cause the streets to be slightly damp.

          My spouse of 46 years has over the last few months lost 40 pounds. She has been working out each morning which has caused me to see the need for a little exercise.

          There are basically two criteria in determining whether I will go for a walk or not and they are;

Do I have plans to work in the yard that day, which I would consider as exercise?

Am I too tired from whatever I have done the day before, (like work in the yard) to go and exercise?

          So Wednesday morning I had no plans to work in the yard and I was not tired from the activities of the day before.

          All seemed well that morning as I started the walk. Now that I have time to reflect, I did wear the wrong shoes for the walk. I noticed right away that those shoes did not have as much bounce in the heel as my other walking shoes. I guess I was too lazy to stop and change the shoes.

          Toward the end of my walk I realized that I had a blister on the big toe of my Left foot. Even though those shoes are comfortable to wear during normal activities, they will not be worn again during an exercise walk.

          As I have stated in other articles, I have basically two goals during my walk.

First, I want to get my heart rate up and my breathing rate to a point that I could not easily hold a conversation. That is my indication that I am walking at a good pace. If I find that I am having to breathe through my mouth I slow the pace.

          Second, I want to focus on some subject, possibly a topic that I will use in one of my postings.

 

          My pace was fairly quick for a senior citizen, and I was focused on an upcoming event at Do it Best Corp.

Staff at the Waco facility will have gone 5 years without a time lost injury, which is a major accomplishment for any work group.

          I had made the corner of Oklahoma Ave. and Arkansas Street (Arkansas Street is only one block long, it is basically a connecting street for Texas Ave. to Oklahoma Ave.) when I focused on an object at the other end of the block.

          Arkansas Street is lined on one side with large bushes that are possibly 15 foot tall, which cover the entire area from the curb to a wooden fence (about 9 feet). If one looked inside these bushes, you could see litter that has gathered there over the years, and it would be very easy for someone to hide.

          As I said I was focused, unaware of anything around me and I was in the middle of the block when the attack occurred.

          Seemingly, out of nowhere, and from behind me, the attack occurred with no warning. Just missing the right side of my head, a male grackle flew past me with surprising speed (a grackle is a black bird). 

          Surprised, I first took an evasive action, I ducked. Then I stopped and looked around. It was a little like the old 1963 movie “The Birds”, by Alfred Hitchcock.

          As I looked around there were black birds on the tops of most of the bushes and they all appeared to be watching me. I now believe the bird that buzzed my head was warning me to stay away from the bushes as they have nests in them.

          I have seen birds dive bomb cats, but never a human. I got the message, and began to walk on the other side of the street.

 

Lesson learned, stay away from the birds nest!

 

Don Ford