Curtains

Day 282: First of all, I would like to thank Patty, sister-of-the-heart, for doing things with this image my photo processing software couldn't match. The picture was taken through my dirty kitchen window because I knew that if I opened it, one of the residents would pop out through the door. Second, even before I ordered Bernd Heinrich's new book "White Feathers: The Nesting Lives of Tree Swallows," I had observed Tachycineta bicolor's preference for them. I assume the contrast helps parents find their young inside the nest. Third...well, I believe my renters are returnees from earlier this year and perhaps even from past years, and it would seem that they decided to spruce up the place by adding lace curtains. It's nice to have tenants who care about the appearance of the neighbourhood (something I can't say about either of the humans who live near me). Even though the decorating job was only temporary, it was a bright spot in my day. In other news, I am equally amused and annoyed by the three baby ravens, blue eyes and pink gapes still evident, who are trying...quite noisily...to de-moss the roof on the north side of my house. I can't be angry at them. They're kids, and as readers have heard me say time and again, "There is nothing, absolutely nothing, as cute as baby birds."

It's Curtains For Me

Day 360: We all have times when we feel like we're losing control of our lives, our destinies. We may not realize it, but often our behaviour reflects that emotion in some way. For me, it usually manifests as a fit of furniture-moving. I put the harpsichord in the other corner of the living room, or I switch my bed around so my head and feet are pointing east-west instead of north-south. Usually, that minor adjustment to my attitude (pun intended) is sufficient to give the illusion that I've taken charge, and the mood passes. However, events of the last month or so have left me with the sensation of things being entirely out of my control, to the point that instead of moving furniture, I went out and bought new drapes and rods to replace those which have hung over my "picture windows" for the last thirty years. The drapes arrived several days ago; the rods showed up early this afternoon, and I've spent the day installing them. As far as regaining control of my life, I guess it's just curtains for me.