| Beasting Out All Over |
[Jun. 1st, 2010|07:15 pm]
rejectomorph
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Baby blue jays launched the day by demanding breakfast. Their piercing, raucous chirps woke me. Not being obligated to feed them myself, I pulled the covers over my head and went back to sleep. A squirrel scampering across the roof woke me up a couple of hours later, so I got up and let Portia out the front door, then went out back to feed the feral cats. Another bunch of birds— some sort of thrushes, I think— had gathered in the neighboring back yard and were singing loud songs. Still later, acorn woodpeckers went to work on the utility pole out front (the rhythm section, late again.)
As the day grew warmer insects buzzed around the poppies, and a single bumblebee made a careful inspection of the eaves along the front of the house. By late afternoon, a number of ants had come into the garage. Their bodies, raised on long, thin legs, cast shadows that were bigger than the ants themselves and seemed unconnected to the scurrying creatures they followed. By the time the shadows of the trees removed the sunlight from the garage floor, the crickets had begun chirping from the dusky places under shrubs.
It's about time for the evening birds to begin their performance now. Unlike the morning chirps of hungry chicks, the evening songs are usually relaxing. I'm glad the air is now warm enough that I can comfortably sit outside while listening to them. I might even take a nap out there. It beats falling asleep in front of the television— at least as long as mosquitoes don't come and bite me. |
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