Weather, Or Not

A pair of foolish blue jays has nested in a bush under which the cat often chooses to nap on warm afternoons. They must want some excitement in their lives.

All night the air was still, the stars were alone, the street was silent. A skunk sprayed somewhere nearby, which made for a very odd smell when combined with the prevailing scents of jasmine and gardenia. Nature is at times a tasteless parfumeur.

I fell asleep on the floor while watching a crane fly confused by a lamp. I was thinking that maybe if I turned off the lamp the crane fly would to go to the window, and then I could open the screen and let it out, and then I just fell asleep. I was lying on the floor so as to straighten out a kink in my back. When I woke up, half an hour later, the kink had gotten worse and the crane fly had apparently singed itself on the light bulb and was lying motionless near the lamp. It was a bad night for both of us.

The room is very nearly cool. I can close the windows soon. The smell of jasmine will undoubtedly linger for hours though. Fortunately, the inappropriate base note of skunk has already vanished. I might be able to sleep, even though I'm not a cat.

There was an entertaining display of avian behavior in and around my mulberry tree today. At least three pairs of blue jays were engaged in what I presume was their courtship ritual. Watching their antics (and listening- oh, they were loud), I had the feeling that I was hanging out at a bird singles bar-- and a rowdy one, at that. I couldn't tell which couples were which, or if they hadn't even finished pairing off yet and were only engaged in a competition to see who got what. It was fun to watch, though. Oddly, my cat was outside watching,too, and didn't even chase any of the birds. Maybe she knows that if she leaves them unmolested to mate, there will soon be tender baby birds, much tastier than the adults.

We finally had to turn on the air conditioner this evening. It was only for a couple of hours, but I still wish we could have put it off a bit longer. It got so hot, though.

Oh, and I got the first casaba of the season. Summer's redemption!