peckerpole

A new visitor with a rather randy disposition set up camp near the top of the park.  His fiery headdress caught my eye and I recognized this audacious fellow to be a pileated woodpecker.  As soon he spotted me approaching the gate, he cackled with fervor and beat his mighty beak against the power pole like a sideways jackhammer.  His bulky frame jumped up, down, and to left.  He disappeared only to reappear in a heckling game with my eye.  As I sauntered back home, he catcalled loudly and swooped into the greens of a nearby maple. 

This sight of this winged derelict reminded me of one of my favorite reads, "Still Life with Woodpecker," by Tom Robbins.  In the spirit of tomfoolery, I share it with you here:

Conversation Between a Princess and an Outlaw:

"If I stand for fairy-tale balls and dragon bait--dragon bait--what do you stand for?"
"Me? I stand for uncertainty, insecurity, bad taste, fun, and things that go boom in the night."
"Franky, it seems to me that you've turned yourself into a stereotype."
"You may be right. I don't care. As any car freak will tell you, the old models are the most beautiful, even if they aren't the most efficient. People who sacrifice beauty for efficiency get what they deserve."
"Well, you may get off on being a beautiful stereotype, regardless of the social consequences, but my conscience won't allow it."
"And I goddamn refuse to be dragon bait. I'm as capable of rescuing you as you are of rescuing me."
"I'm an outlaw, not a hero. I never intended to rescue you. We're our own dragons as well as our own heroes, and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves.”
― Tom Robbins