Word: hawked
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...skunk and hawk remind me of how odd our college life is. We religiously obey our codes of dress and comportment, worry about social dynamics too subtle for any sociologist, as though the laws that govern our behavior here were binding in every possible universe. We become completely blind to the nature that teems around us, our eyes glued to the narrow path ahead...
...would have soon forgotten this incident had I not seen something equally unusual the next day. Walking through the Yard on my way to section, I saw a wide circle of people standing near Thayer Hall. At the center of the circle sat an enormous red-tailed hawk, clutching a dead squirrel between its talons. I braved the cold weather for nearly half an hour to watch this beautiful, strange bird. One woman snuck closer to take pictures with a telephoto lens; another bystander filmed the al fresco meal with a video camera...
With two flaps of its wings, the hawk suddenly took off and roosted in an elm. After a few minutes, I began to notice that the squirrels in nearby trees had ceased their usual pitter-patter. They pressed themselves tightly against the bark, utterly motionless, tensed against a predator they could sense but could not see. An ancient dance between predator and prey was being performed; with the exception of our little crowd, the hurrying students and tourists were oblivious to the drama...
...actually be a "yard," Cambridge Common a shared pasture where sheep and cattle were grazed. As Harvard matured, red brick replaced the briars, and asphalt smothered up the asphodels. But in spite of the modernization, a modest ecosystem still survives. It cycles away out of sight, invisible, until a hawk swoops down and jolts us from our reverie...
...animals that inspired it all." It's no wonder that a real animal can so unsettle us. The rare, wild beasts of the Yard remind us that there's world outside of Harvard. Beyond the classes and parties and grad-school acceptances, another life awaits. Like the skunk and hawk, we'll have to forage for our food instead of having it handed to us. But this world needn't frighten us so long as we acknowledge its existence...