WHERE WILL LIGHTNING STRIKE NEXT?

Rex Burress

There are those who believe in predestiny with fate being determined previously by some power in a vague dimension of control.

I had occasion to wonder about that theory when I went down by the riverside near the Oroville Nature Center one fair morning in-between flames, heat, and smoke. The area seemed quite quiet since the road has been closed all summer due to the flood damage, and my objective was to check on plant recovery in the midst of flood flattened flora along the river's edge.

As I paused to unlock the Center and check out the exhibits, I heard voices, and overhead sitting on the rim of the embankment surrounding the old bathhouse, sat two men apparently eating something. “Well, hi,” I responded; "I didn't know anyone was around.” I quickly slid inside and locked the door, as I was a little old man and vulnerable—and unarmed except for my walking stick. The inclination of the strong, rough-looking fellows might have been harmless enough, but then again... I didn't know what to make of the shirtless guy with tattoos over every inch of skin!

There is much to be said for not profiling a person from their appearance, since people's surface may not match their interior. Even my hero John Muir often looked like a tramp with his beard , traveling clothes, and tendency to sleep in cemeteries; in fact, he once said “I've made a tramp of myself. I have gone hungry and cold. I have left bloody trails on sharp ice peaks to see the wonders of the earth.” He also said, “No matter into what depths of degradation humanity may sink, I will never despair while some of lowest can love the pure and the beautiful and know it when they see it.”

But in today's excessive crowd, there are some who would do thee harm, proven time and time again, and caution is the best part of valor. [“...Vainly the fowler's eye, might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong...” --Bryant, “To a Waterfowl” See the goose veer off-course at the sight of man.]

After working 32 years at a bird park in the middle of the Oakland, CA metropolis, and three years at a downtown San Francisco store, you pick up a certain amount of “street-wise” instincts, which amounts to spotting a troublesome situation and avoiding it.

Thus I was inside the Nature Center and heard a loud 'thump' on the roof! I stepped outside and one fellow had incredibly jumped from the embankment to the rooftop, and the other stood below apparently waiting to be pulled up! This was totally bothersome since the Center has had repeated vandals on the roof, tossing tiles down to the walk for some reason, and the latest damage was repaired by City Technician Jim Gallaher just a couple weeks ago—including replacing copper flashing!

With my appearance, the guy on the roof went to the other side and got off, coming around the building saying he was retrieving his cap! There was no doubt in my mind that there was intention of doing mischief, so I went back inside and summoned security, and soon there were three police cars on the spot!

The suspects were apprehended, handcuffed, and their backpacks searched, back-grounds checked, but no hard evidence was found and they were released. “You can't arrest on suspicion alone, or appearance or race,” thus runs the thread of logic through our society. What a job police have of sorting it all out.

Some might call it profiling, but officers of the law have an on-the-spot judgment to make, and there are those law defenders that would like to live to tell about it. Handcuffs may be hated, but it's a guaranteed way of not being surprised while attention is diverted elsewhere. What would YOU do in a moment of potential danger when your well-being might be at stake?

I thought about the strange timing of my walking to the Center and confronting those two! How unlikely is that? Coincidence? Predestiny? God? Some things make you a kind of believer!

“The feeling of our own roof gives a sense of protection to the people.” --Shehbag Sharif

“In every aspect of my life, I live under the protection of and in accordance to the law of this nation. At the end of the day, it's a wildlife biological fact that the game must be managed. There's only so much habitat, i.e. food, out there.” --Brad D. Smith