Assessments

When I was in West Virginia last month, I was awed by my friends' quick assessment-to-action capabilities.  Like, in one moment, O indicated that a cat was moving in on the chicken coup.  I was mostly sleeping on the couch, but I understood that in the next moment, R was running with the squirt bottle to ward him off.  In another moment, the cat bumbled into the living room holding a bird.  In the next moment, the baby was secured, O had scruffed the cat, R had grabbed a towel while saying, "you get the cat, I'll get the towel," and the bird was scooped up and gone.  I'm thinking of the ability to understand something is awry, determine what that is, and then take an action towards it, all very fast.

This morning I had my own experience with measuring my assessment to action capability.  I was riding my bike to work past the fancy waterfront condos.  All of the sudden, a skinny red squiggly thing was squiggling next to me on the sidewalk.  I have good eyesight, and within a moment I could discern the thing was a rubber snake attached to a fishing line.  I slowed my bike a few windows down, and said, "That is a fake snake!"  There were two people approaching with a dog, and I said to them, "there is a fake snake on a string right there."

The snake got hoisted back through the first floor window.  I rode back to see if I could discern the culprit.  A small child? A cooky grandparent?  A true creep? I saw a metal piece of art near the windowsill and a closet full of long sleeve button down shirts and a flat screen television.  I waited a minute or two, but no one appeared to dispel the mystery.