Weird bird spotting today.
One of my sisters works at a hospital a couple of train stations down the street from me, and sometimes we carpool (her schedule is different from mine). Today, I had to be at work earlier than she, but she had to stay later, so she took my car with her to her office.
As she's almost never on time, I knew I'd be waiting for her a bit, and as the parking garage is h-o-t and oppressive, I used my noggin to find a good spot to wait. So instead of waiting by the car, I waited on the bridge from main hospital to garage, where it's nice and air conditioned, and she could just stop off on the bridge level and let me know when she was ready to go (she takes the street route from her building). Enough backstory? okay.
So. I'm sitting there, dreaming a story on the backs of my eyelids and collecting art ideas I knew even then I wouldn't remember later (and I don't), when I hear a thump, followed by another thump. Gradually I became conscious that I'd been hearing a lot of caw-ing, and that it didn't sound like the usual grackle noises. The thumps continued, as did the caws, so of course I turned... and saw, right there, two crows, far too large and disheveled to be grackles, and completely out of their element (I can't remember when I've seen a crow in Houston. Mom's house in Arkansas, occasionally, but not Houston). I was kind of excited, but puzzled - I like the members of the corbid family, and seeing a crow up close and personal would have been cool all by itself.
But that's not the weird part! One of the crows sat atop the bridge roof, cawing down at the other, who was, I kid you not, flying back and forth between two windows, tapping on the glass. Not crashing, mind, just hitting the glass with his feet, and swooping back over to the other. Meanwhile, a pair of grackles (as if for comparison, to say "hey! that really is a couple of crows!") were sitting on a tree branch watching this wild behavior, looking as puzzled as I.
I know the goofy bird was not confused about which way was out or anything, as after a few more thumps, he (she?) and the roof-sitter casually turned and flew away. If Miss V (my sis) had not seen the crows flying away as she arrived, I would have been sure I was dreaming. Weird birds... gotta love 'em!
Now, bed for me. I swore I'd get to sleep early tonight for once. I lie to myself.. is that a sign of mental imbalance? Would I know if I was crazy? hehehe
As she's almost never on time, I knew I'd be waiting for her a bit, and as the parking garage is h-o-t and oppressive, I used my noggin to find a good spot to wait. So instead of waiting by the car, I waited on the bridge from main hospital to garage, where it's nice and air conditioned, and she could just stop off on the bridge level and let me know when she was ready to go (she takes the street route from her building). Enough backstory? okay.
So. I'm sitting there, dreaming a story on the backs of my eyelids and collecting art ideas I knew even then I wouldn't remember later (and I don't), when I hear a thump, followed by another thump. Gradually I became conscious that I'd been hearing a lot of caw-ing, and that it didn't sound like the usual grackle noises. The thumps continued, as did the caws, so of course I turned... and saw, right there, two crows, far too large and disheveled to be grackles, and completely out of their element (I can't remember when I've seen a crow in Houston. Mom's house in Arkansas, occasionally, but not Houston). I was kind of excited, but puzzled - I like the members of the corbid family, and seeing a crow up close and personal would have been cool all by itself.
But that's not the weird part! One of the crows sat atop the bridge roof, cawing down at the other, who was, I kid you not, flying back and forth between two windows, tapping on the glass. Not crashing, mind, just hitting the glass with his feet, and swooping back over to the other. Meanwhile, a pair of grackles (as if for comparison, to say "hey! that really is a couple of crows!") were sitting on a tree branch watching this wild behavior, looking as puzzled as I.
I know the goofy bird was not confused about which way was out or anything, as after a few more thumps, he (she?) and the roof-sitter casually turned and flew away. If Miss V (my sis) had not seen the crows flying away as she arrived, I would have been sure I was dreaming. Weird birds... gotta love 'em!
Now, bed for me. I swore I'd get to sleep early tonight for once. I lie to myself.. is that a sign of mental imbalance? Would I know if I was crazy? hehehe