20 May 2009
Penny and I went for a walk in the Phoenix Park today which started on a surreal note and ended in high drama.
First we saw a man on a horse standing calmly in a band-stand, or perhaps I should say on a band-stand, as there are a number of steps up. And then moments later we saw a group of fallow deer loitering in one of the football changing 'huts'.
Penny looked at me.
"Horses in the bandstand, and deer in the changing hut... The world's gone mad Panti!" she said.
"It has Penny" I agreed.
"And the gays still can't get married", she said. "Weird".
We continued on, and as we walked, the weather started to clear up somewhat. When we're in the park, we usually stick to the wilder parts of the park, but with the changeable, miserable weather, we wandered into the enclosed, landscaped area near the main entrance.
That was where we took the snap, above, of the mounted Garda, who was wandering aimlessly near the pond, stopping to gaze at the swans. A few minutes later, we were in a quiet corner, on a path that wound past the pond by some trees and bushes, when suddenly we heard a loud roar coming from beyond the trees.
"PUT IT DOWN!"
Then suddenly, a man came crashing through the trees, running for his life! He was in his thirties, carrying a bag and an incongruous umbrella, running as fast as he could, with a panicked look on his face. And he was coming straight down the narrow path toward us. Then, a Garda came crashing through the trees, shouting and sprinting after the first fella. And then another Garda! And then the mounted Garda on his horse came ploughing through the bushes at full tilt! And then two more Gardaí on foot!
It was like a scene from a movie - and they were all coming straight at us! Penny was off her lead, so I bent down and grabbed her and dived off to the side as the 'fugitive' hurtled past us, followed closely by the chasing posse, the horse thundering through, and all of them shouting at him to "STOP"!
He kept sprinting, following the path away from the bushes and up a hill toward the street. And he nearly made it. But just as he was reaching the top of the hill, the horse caught up with him. He swung round roaring, swinging the rolled up umbrella at the horse, but the rider kicked him to the ground and then leapt from the horse onto him, and seconds later, all the other on-foot Gardaí piled on too.
I of course was scrambling to get my phone-camera out, and only managed to get a couple of snaps at the end, when they were already the best part of a hundred yards from us.
Penny couldn't believe it.
"That was like something out of a movie!", she said.
"It was!", I agreed.
penny for your thoughts
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phoenix park
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drama
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