In working on a batch of haiku for my Kickstarter supporters, I downloaded several weeks’ worth of police blotter columns from the Grass Valley (CA) Union as source material — hundreds of items in one fell swoop, all dumped into one file.

And what I noticed that was any incident that took place on “Red Dog Road” had a one-in-four chance of being strange — that is, good haiku material. The usual hit rate is about one in forty.  There’s something odd about Red Dog Road.  So below find the haiku I wrote about Red Dog Road, with the original items.  Interested in a vacation home out that way?

11:05 p.m. — A caller from the 11000 block of Red Dog Road reported a dispute with yelling and screaming and people possibly throwing wood at each other. 

They scream, they bellow,
they throw wood at each other–
out on Red Dog Road.

6:19 p.m. — A caller on the 11000 block of Red Dog Road reported her neighbor for “roaring” again. 

“He’s roaring again!”
she complains of her neighbor
out on Red Dog Road

5:26 p.m. — A caller from the corner of Red Dog Road and Jasper Agate Court reported a woman with a backpack going into traffic and yelling at cars. 

She strides through traffic
and shouts at the passing cars
out on Red Dog Road.

3:51 p.m. — A man from Red Dog Road reported a woman was stalking him. 

A she stalks a he,
and the he is complaining
out on Red Dog Road.

3:52 p.m. — A caller from Chalk Bluff and Red Dog roads reported an attempted attack with a machete. The parties had been separated. A woman who is five months pregnant later filed a report alleging she had been shoved down in a dispute. 

They’re waving machetes
and shoving pregnant women
out on Red Dog Road

2:15 p.m. — A caller from Jasper Agate Court and Red Dog Road reported a man talking to a wall. 

It is reported
that a man talks to a wall
out on Red Dog Road.

A thought

Has anyone checked
for “things” in the well water
out on Red Dog Road?