Gee, I forgot to report on this battle going on between the AntiRos and the AntiAvs.
I was a witness, along with my friend Wendl, to the aggressive and threatening posture of these two armed groups.
We were sitting on a nice bench in Riverside Park watching people on foot and on bikes, leashed animals being walked and little children playing on the grass. It was afternoon and the light was gorgeous.
So peaceful. Until we pulled out a bag of cookies we’d brought.
It was subtle, I now realize, but fairly soon our bench was being closely surveilled and soon surrounded by AntiRo pigeons and AntiAv squirrels.
Then a corner of my cookie broke off and landed near my feet.
No, they did not attack. Not exactly. But they were pressing upon us in a silent message. The AntiRos were doing a casual, “I’m not looking at you or your feet, I’m just wandering around here” bit, although the squirrels (the AntiAvs) were feinting, more focused on the prize. I began muttering to them, “Just wait til I go, please!” and began uneasily recalling Daphne du Maurier’s short story, The Birds.
Wendl was stauncher; I so admire her for that. But after a goodly time appreciating what passes for the wild in New York, we decided it was time to go.
As we left, I did not turn around to see which militia camp won that cookie bit or whether there was a battle to the death over it.