Observations from bed

Felled by a lingering cold and vigorous cough, I am back in bed this afternoon trying to rest and get well. I finished my book and was laying here watching the birds out the window, when suddenly they all took flight, all in a burst. A second later, the resident hawk who frequents our yard swooped down and settled into the fig bush that stands behind the bird feeder.

She (he?) is beautiful, small and brown and striped, and blends in perfectly with the fig bush. She hopped around a little, settled down into the roots of the bush, I thought maybe hiding herself to wait for prey. But no, soon she flew off again, landing in the tree on the edge of the garden, and then away again, I couldn’t see where.

From the bed I have a lovely view out some large windows to our bird feeder, a large stand of trees, our small meadow. Thomas sits in his kitty window, in his “hot tub”, and watches the world outside. This large window puzzles me; there are spotlights mounted in the alcove, but I’m not sure what they are supposed to illuminate. It’s not really meant for a reading nook, although I suppose it could be, but other than that, why the spotlights? This funny house is full of mysteries. I love it.

The narrow window is just to my right, looking out at the bird feeder and makeshift bird bath and the trees and the meadow. The birds are just now staying away because of the recently-departed hawk, but usually this small area is lively with sparrows and dark-eyed juncos and towhees and doves. I absolutely love our little birds, and I am torn about the hawk. She needs to eat, of course, and while I suppose she’ll find her meals whether there’s a bird feeder there or not, I wonder if I’m leading innocents to the slaughter. There is sometimes a rat or mouse under the bird feeder and I think it lives in the roots of the fig bush; I don’t mind it living there, as long as it stays out of our house, but I did think (rather unkindly) that the hawk could have that rat for a meal instead of one of our sweet birds.

It is gray and chill outside, and I am light-headed and weak and sore from coughing, so sitting in bed watching the birds is just the right thing for a day like this.

That’s all for today.