Grim Portents of Darkness to Come

Dark days in America, literally and figuratively. The US election dropped a giant orange rat onto the dining room table and now we're all afraid of what the rat's going to destroy. It is hard to look on the bright side because the shadows cast by America's Folly are dense and long and have cast a pall across the land.

Still, Shad rides. Despite the raw cold, the early onset darkness, the tortured landscapes. Despite the specter of authoritarianism that has suddenly broken upon the country like a poison mist. Joy is hard to come by. The portents of decay are many.

Like the death of this noble creature which I found on the road running alongside the Holden Reservoir on November 27.

Owl down

Farewell, wise one

At first, I rode past it but, realizing what it was, went back to look. Wanting to spare this beautiful creature's body the desecration of being run over by cars, I moved it off the road and laid it down in the bracken alongside the reservoir's edge. I wanted to offer it a dignified resting place, and I asked its spirit's forgiveness for the destructive capacity of my species.

Then I rode on, saddened by the owl's death, troubled by the ugly forces that have been unleashed across the land.