Thursday, May 2, 2013

Crow vs Hawks

As I was sitting in my car today waiting for my husband, I caught sight of two hawks riding the thermals just above me. They were swooping on something in shadow of the trees. Then, like a Valkyrie descending from on high a crow came down, and began to attack both hawks. The hawks fought back for a while, but they soon realized that the reward for their tenacity wouldn't be worth the price of an injury, so they disappeared. The crow landed in the tree, and although it had won it looked rattled. It preened itself shakily.

The crows here are brave. I saw another one whilst I was walking the dog, and it didn't move at all even when my dog rushed towards it. Of course, my dog only weighs 6lb, so he's not very imposing. The crow was bigger than him. Even so, I thought it would fly off when threatened by anything. I was wrong. I passed within two feet of it, and it watched me insolently with shining black eyes. It was beautiful and also somehow imposing.

I can see how people become fascinated by birds.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

The View of the Mountains

Our new apartment has a beautiful view of the mountains, without anything blocking the way. I never get tired of seeing them, and now that the weather is better Pip and I love to sit out on the balcony and watch the clouds go by. Or rather I watch the clouds, he patrols to make sure no birds land on HIS territory.

We made it to Colorado. We sold the house, pared down our possessions and drove three days to our new apartment, which we had never seen. Luckily, we loved it, as we had signed a year long lease. We got Colorado drivers licenses and Colorado plates for the car. We became used to hearing the coyotes howl at night. Although I have to say that seeing them makes me nervous. Not for myself, but for Pip, who weighs in at 6lbs. A nice coyote snack! We have become accustomed to the altitude, and even started looking for a home to buy.

I have been writing, which is wonderful. After getting all the work done on the house and packing everything, I hadn't written a word in months. There were stories within me, and at night I'd dream about them and their characters. It's been a relief to get them down on paper, although one of them has had to be re-written about seven times. I find that staring at the mountains has awakened my creativity, to the point that I'm even starting to paint again, after five years hiatus. I'm glad we moved.

The only thing I miss about Pennsylvania are the people we left behind. Friends, colleagues and my wonderful writing group. I miss the staff at my usual coffee shop, who knew what I wanted before I opened my mouth. I'm thankful that modern communications allows me to stay in contact with everyone.