As will not be a surprise to those who know me somewhat closely, I am a night owl. Always have been.
Writing sports has always helped cement that lifestyle, as prep sports (surprise!) are rarely played during morning or afternoon hours. That means sitting at the keyboard at night, if putting the story down while the information and reflections remain fresh mean anything to the writer (and to this one, it always has).
So it happened that I was just leaving the PEGASUS TV-12 offices at 1014 2nd St. just before 2 a.m. Monday morning. I locked the door, turned around, and there they were: four adult whitetail does, grazing contentedly on the grass just north of the Carnegie Library.
The deer lifted their heads and stared at me from less than 50 yards away. I slowly lifted my phone and called the Perry Police Department. The does just stared.
My reason for alerting the police was to hope that they might help shoo the deer back to Frog Creek or the bike trail and thus out of town.
Very few residents of Perry have more time outside in the early morning (say, midnight to 2 a.m.) than I have accumulated in my 10 years of living here. I can assure you that there are many times I could have set up a table and chairs and played several hands of solitaire square in the middle of 2nd St and not seen a passing vehicle for long stretches.
However, the fear that this small group of deer might burst unexpectedly in front of a vehicle (and who would expect a deer to bolt out of a front yard in the middle of town?) was on my mind. So was the rare, but very real, threat that the deer might spook and one or more of them plunge into a plane of glass at any number of nearby businesses. It has happened before.
So I called the non-emergency number and kept on eye on the four ladies. A silver SUV came north on First Street, turned east on Willis and drove past. That sent the deer onto Railroad Street, and I could clearly hear their hooves clattering on the bricks.
By the time the first squad car arrived — coming west down Willis and turning onto Second Street speak to me when I gestured — the deer had bolted around the south end of the public library and crossed First Street, which I told the officer.
I hope the deer made it safely out of town and assume they did. They were the first deer I have seen in town since watching a mature buck and two small does run the length of the Perry practice field from west-to-east, consider (and opt not to) leap the fence at the athletic complex and instead dash north up 18th. I do not remember the date, only that Perry had defeated JSPC for the Cowbell Trophy at Dewey Field hours earlier.
As someone who has seen his fair share of Perry Police call sheets, I can say that our men and women in blue are asked to respond to some ridiculous requests.
I am not sure the officers on duty thought it worth their time to herd deer, and I am not sure I made the right decision to bother them, even if the incident did serve as surely the most unusual call of the shift.
However, it did, at the least, provide the impetus for these 500-plus words.
———————————
So Floyd Mayweather proved to be a better dancer than Manny Pacquiao. Not a big surprise.
I did not watch the fight, but confess to following the round-for-round reporting live on ESPN.
Anyone expecting a slugfest simply had not paid any attention to Mayweather’s 47 prior fights. He dances and holds. And wins decisions. Why would he change Saturday?
Saturday was also the day on which the Kentucky Derby was run.
What do the two events have in common, aside from each providing roughly two minutes of actual action?
Both represent two dying sports in America: Boxing and horse racing. If a “big” tennis match had also been held Saturday we would have had a true trifecta of “Hey, didn’t you use to matter?” sports.
———————————-
Saturday was also prom day for Perry juniors and seniors and it was my pleasure to be involved, as a photodog, for many of the activities.
My day started with a photo op at the Hotel Pattee at 3 p.m. with another photo op following an hour later at Wiese Park.
At 6 p.m. I was in the choir room where 94 couples gathered before the Prom Walk. A brief stop in the PHS Commons allowed for more photos before the young men and women were escorted by police to Lake Robbins Ballroom for a dinner and the dance.
Everyone appeared to be having a great time and I enjoyed seeing some students I do not know — and many others who I see only in their various uniforms — all gussied up and having fun.
You will find several dozen photos from throughout Saturday (sans After-Prom … I checked out before then) elsewhere on this website. I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoyed taking them.
