swim party

The past two days the rain fell steadily. The temperature turned rabbit-warm. The traffic slowed.The town felt a step removed from drought.

I go at noon to Breckinridge Park. I see bluebirds and house finches there, and take pictures of the two resident American kestrels. It is close enough to my work I can then grab a sandwich and make it back within the hour. When I went to lunch yesterday, I drove through the park's road, expecting to see little but hoping to glimpse and photograph the kestrel(s) in the rain.

Instead, I saw huge puddles on the grass fields, and a profusion of birds wading in them--Canada geese, mallard ducks, killdeer, European starlings, common grackles and ring-billed gulls. I saw the male kestrel atop a huge pipe, two stories tall. I liked that a pleasant rainy day was a foraging house party for birds searching for food.

red-tailed hawk

Today I got on-line with Sirius XM. My Sirius XM account stems from my purchase of a car last year, or, more properly speaking, a CRV. A brief subscription came with the vehicle. I extended it to have the heavy metal stations handy for a friend who is a heavy metal fan.

I had gotten an e mail advising me that my credit card did not work. Today, though, I worked out
that my account was current. This left me to wonder if the earlier e-mail was phishing or merely a pre-emptory strike before a February renewal.

Tonight my wife made oven-fried tilapia which tasted great. I watched part of Iron Man II
by then skipped out early to watch "Elementary".

The weather was warmer today and the rain stopped. In Breckinridge Park I saw a red-tailed hawk land on what I imagine to be a microwave tower, and one of the two kestrels I often photograph this Winter was atop a blue hose spindle. None of my photos came out great, but they all captured memories.

I continue to read "Little Dorrit", a book which seems much more about life as I know it than does any dozen over-glossy gangster films
advertised on television. Today's news bore the Dickensian tale of a woman murdered by her abusive husband .Evil has its own banality.

I'm eager to get lots of work done tomorrow, and to enjoy the weekend.