Not The Brightest Crayon

Day 308: They're just not the brightest crayons in the box, if you know what I mean. This year, I have had a pair of Mourning Doves (Zenaida macroura) whose favourite resting spot is in the middle of my driveway. They often sit side-by-side, whispering sweet nothings to one another in a haunting, soft coo, but I do not see them feeding on insects in the gravel like the grosbeaks do, or engaging in any other activity outside of simply sitting there. They remain there for long periods of time, half an hour or more is a lengthy period for a bird to sit still. Sometimes one or the other of them will tuck its head under its wing for a nap, only rousing if my neighbour happens to drive through. They seem to be paired, flying off together toward a mutually agreed upon destination when they do take wing and returning together for another round of gravel-hatching. Try as I might, I just can't get inside their minds...not that there's much room in that pointy pigeon head.

Gravel Day

Day 148: It's been about twenty years since my then-neighbour and I spread gravel on our shared driveway. He moved away some time ago, and a succession of less-than-desirable tenants has been hard on it. There's an art to driving on a dirt road so you don't make a mess of it. It's not a difficult science. You simply need to drive slowly and take a little extra care when the surface is soft. Still, twenty years is a long time, and even the portion of the L which services my carport was potholed and puddled. To remedy the situation, I ordered a load of rock, 14 tons. With fences and power lines making it hard for the driver to maneuver his truck and part of the load getting stuck in the tailgate, unwilling to spread evenly, the last third was left in a pile to await my shovel.

Have you ever moved gravel? It's not a sport for sissies. Let's do the math. Two-thirds of 14 tons is 9.38 tons, give or take a few pounds. That's how much the truck was able to spread, but I still had to rake it out. The remaining 4.62 tons were what I shovelled and spread manually. Five hours later, I had achieved my goal and the entire task was done. You can bet your bottom buck I'm going to sleep like a rock...no, please! Don't mention rocks!...tonight.