Captain Trips....could it be real?

Some of you may be aware of my major love for Stephen King. Some of you may not. That's kind of beside the point. Kind of...

If you've never read Stephen King's work, first of all shame on you! You're missing out on some really good stories. Second, you have no idea what Captain Trips is. If you have read his work then you know that he's used the idea of Captain Trips in several of his stories.

Basically it's an incredibly bad flu that wipes out the entire world...

I was browsing through my news stories this morning and came across an article from Tokyo. They are suffering through a pandemic flu called H1N1 that has killed 3 people so far. They have even stopped shaking hands on the campaign trail and said that they won't allow people close enough to the podium to get "spittle" on them during their speeches. They expect it to spread further during the autumn weather.

The idea of a flu wiping out tons of people has been in my mind for many years; mostly because of Stephen King. It scares me. It scares me badly. One of the campaigners said she was carrying disinfectant to her rallies. I think I would just skip being in public all together.

I am a chicken

It seems there is an issue over who’s allowed to be on the trail used by late night skiers in Bangor Maine. The skiers say it’s them; an owl has a different opinion.

A great horned owl has apparently decided that East Trail in the Rolland F. Perry City Forest belongs to him. He’s attacked at least 8 skiers and several dogs over the past three weeks.

One skier, Jim Allen, said “…all of a sudden, I felt a whack in the back of my head and this stinging…” Luckily he had a thick winter hat on and that protected him from the bird’s talons. Other skiers haven’t been that lucky.

Dr. Dan Cassidy, a local physician, said he had treated three skiers for lacerations after they had also been attacked by the owl. The city has posted warning signs to alert skiers and hikers of the threat.

I don’t know about you but I think I’d postpone any skiing I had planned if it was in the near future. I’m just a big chicken though. And owls scare me. I know that sounds bad *lol* but they really do. All hunting, meat eating, long, sharp talon bearing birds scare me. On the other hand, if people do stop going in the area because of the owl, it may decide it’s a good place to stay. I don’t know for sure about any of that…except that I would be scared.

One afterthought... Stephen King is from Bangor Maine. Do I need to say more about where this story took my mind?