August 31, 2005

Another totally beautiful day. The heat builds during the day, dominates the afternoons, then lingers into the late evenings, where it evokes feelings then images of my childhood Summers. The nights are still cool enough that I can shut down the air conditioning system and open the windows. I am comfortable and the interior of the house drops to the lower 60's by sunrise. (The temperature comfort thing is sort new. I didn't start living with air-conditioning until I was in my 40's, but immediately became hopelessly addicted, exactly the same reaction I had to the first warm house I lived in, probably the same year.)

The Bittern was gone this morning when I got up. It also wasn't there at sunset, which felt kind of odd. I did find out that there are several more staying at the pond where I relocated the Catfish. I was telling the owner about this bird and she said they had several at their pond. It has a much shallower shore and maybe 8 times the shoreline. They walk along the edge and flush out the Catfish fry. Another zone of intense predation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the closest I have been to the bird. It is actually in this picture, on the end of the boat, but it kind of blends in with the reeds. I sat for probably 30 minutes on the bench watching it. It blinked a few times, but never moved. It almost seemed to be sleeping (except for the blinking).

Some day I might admit that the support posts aren't the same height.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting Catalyst for Unusual Thoughts

I woke up this morning at 3 AM because something was crawling on my leg. In my attempts to get away from whatever it was, it bit me. Usually I have little to no response to any kind of insect or spider bite (they avoid me), but this hurt enough that when I couldn't find whatever it was, I moved to another bed. It must have been sort of venomous because the bite spot looked intense for a while (kind of still does, but not so much), and within minutes I started sweating and then hallucinated for several hours while staring at an infomercial. The main reactions that I remember are my hearing became unbelievably acute and my heart was pounding. Also I was almost overwhelmed by the desire to get in my car and drive somewhere (no particular place, but definitely not an E.R. as most people would think to do. Actually, I would rather visit a ayuhusca sipping, chicken blood slinging, goat bone decorated Witch Doctor than spend money in one of those places). When that passed, I then became agitated about the strangest question. I started wondering if throwing away all possibility of a professionally and economically sound future, and losing interest in absolutely everything except the care, manipulation, and fascinating biology of my neighbor's artificial pond, might be some sort of extreme action, or reaction. The rest of the night I struggled with the idea - yes, no, maybe, and by the time the sun came up, my fever was gone, my hallucinations had subsided to their normal levels, and I knew the truth about my behavior - of course it was extreme, and nothing or no one caused me to do it. One day I became interested in ponds and lost interest in other things. I was feeling much more normal, but tired, when I got to work.

More Rain

I quit painting when it started sprinkling earlier, then it stopped sprinkling, but I've been tricked by that before so I just kept on quitting painting. When Kilo and I were walking earlier, we noticed that the Bittern is still on the back of the boat and we just walked by without paying it any extra attention. It is a really strange looking bird. There is almost no intermediate movement between its very odd poses. It also seems kind of sad (I practice Anthropomorphism, but probably don't actually believe it).

The other day I heard Bill tell one of his friends that I had looked the bird up and it is a Lesser Buttren, so he believes me even if he didn't listen to what I said. Update: There is a Least Bittern, and since he still says many things oddly even after all of these years, he probably was listening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A smaller, darker dove. The Asian doves seem to be taking over what was once their territory. 

Last Weekend in August, 2005

Another absolutely beautiful weekend - the climax of another perfect Summer. I love the 21st Century. Labor Day weekend is just around the corner and I want to have the entire pond groomed by then. My brother has given me a very nice riding lawn mower which should cut the time down to half or less of what it takes now.

I need to re-think the garden. That is too much initial effort for something that I lose interest in so quickly. The tomatoes have been good, but not enough to pull me there every day. If I could grow something useful, like pancake mix, or sugar frosted flakes, I would be more enthusiastic and diligent.

The Bird spent the day in this tree. It is the blob in the very center. I'm trying to let it get accustomed to me being out there, and haven't done much during the past few days but walk out there occasionally, stand for a few minutes, then leave. It worked with the Blackbirds. They occasionally attack us, but are not frightened by us. Now that I think about it, it might be good if such a large bird stays just a little bit wary.