Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Horrible and/or Funny

I ran over a squirrel on my bike yesterday. It was funny and horrible all at once. ...Mostly funny. Horribly funny, maybe. I suppose the most accurate explanation would be it was hilarious to me (he was okay), but there was a pedestrian near-by (one I had been trying to avoid hitting; thereby precipitating the hitting of the squirrel) and I thought maybe I should pause and show some concern for the poor creature instead of just riding on.

Which I really didn't mean to hit; I just thought he would move, but the poor thing panicked, I guess, and went right under my front wheel--making a little chittering/squeaking sound as he went under--and right up a tree a little behind me beside the trail. And then he was obviously fine so I just wanted to completely crack up. But there was the pedestrian jogging along a little behind me now; hence the slowing and demonstrating that I really had been concerned for the squirrel (I just knew he was okay already). Silliness, I'm fairly sure.

'Minds me of some commenting on another blog a few weeks back about finding the humor in the painful things in life; or the relationship between painful things and funny. Does this qualify? The squirrel would probably not appreciate my sense of humor on this.

11 comments:

Mark said...

Oh, that's most definitely funny. But then, most things involving squirrels are.

Su said...

I hope this isn't the beginning of a squirrel thing for you, like my bird thing. Also? If I ran over a squirrel with a bike, I would almost certainly fall over. So well done that you stayed upright.

Mike said...

Hi Lita. First thank you for the comments. Second, I'm glad you didn't fall off the bike or hurt yourself. I'm also happy for the squirrel and I'm sure he/she learned a valuable lesson. At least I hope so. If I were to see him/her I'd tell it that it caused a lot of comedy. That should make it happy, huh? ( :-D )

Kar said...

Mark-- Too true.

Susan-- Aw, thanks--but you woulda stayed upright too; a bike has got waaay more force than a squirrel. At least the squirrels did't pay attention in geometry.

Mike-- I guess the valuable lesson that the squirrel learned would be: don't hesitate; go forth and be proactive with thy destiny, especially when you're in line with oncoming traffic.

Mike said...

Very good Lita. You have a sharp mind. Thank you for the comment and you're welcome. It's for people exactly like you that we do it. People like you make it worth it too.

Su said...

Ahhh, but when it comes to my sense of balance, the force of the bike vs. the force of a squirrel really doesn't come into play. I have been known to trip over crayons and walk into walls (although I still maintain that the walls are plotting against me--and they did pay attention in geometry), so a squirrel should have no problem knocking me over. Although it would seem that I have been warned.

Sarah said...

I am always running into things; it's a family joke. Just the other day I cut the back of my finger with my big toenail. If that isn't pathetic I don't know what is!

Lita, I am sorry for the squirrel but they really are not too bright. The one I hit before sat so still I thought it was dead. So I swerved to miss the dead squirrel. At the last second, too late for me to possibly help it (I was driving a car), it ran right under my tire. I felt the same way. Horrible and funny.

Another time I was driving here in my neighborhood and a dog ran right into the side of my car. That's right- it hit me. Then it went barking back into its backyard.

Totally crazy.

Kar said...

So basically you got hit by a dog. That's awesome. He probably ran off to tell everyone he hit a car. Told that thing he meant business and sent it packing, yes sir.

Su said...

Hey, I call it a sphere of dominion, too. :)

Saru Namii said...

This is all hilarious. No reason at all for it to be horrible, unless, as you were saying, horribly funny, but then maybe that doesn't mean much coming from me. After all I'm the one that starts cracking up when I get hurt. Maybe I'm just wierd...

Kar said...

Life is pain, as Wesley would say. Life is also hilarious. Therefore (by a simple mathematical calculation) pain = hilarious.

It's all making sense to me now.