this is my first SPRING in NC.
things i've noticed:
1. there is a thick green-yellow layer of pollen covering the entire city. if you leave yr windows open [as you must, it was 93 yesterday] then this layer will also be on every surface in yr house. it is like the black dust from the bus system in sf. only it is green-yellow.
1a. i realize that most people would write "yellow-green." i do not know why. it occurs to me that it is, for some reason, more acceptable to write "yellow-green" than "green-yellow," however, upon observation, i am first struck by green and second struck by yellow, thus: green-yellow.
2. since about two weeks ago i find myself again waking to the chirping of birds. this was once a devastating experience for me, as i had so linked the morning birdsongs to a particular woman who ultimately broke my heart. now, though, i once again am able to enjoy this phenomena.
2a. i wake rather early in the morning and i use the sound of birds to gauge whether or not i should actually get out of bed. i don't mind getting out of bed if it is, say, 6 am. i do mind getting out of bed if it is before 6 am because then i feel as if i will be way too tired that day. my friend, chris vitiello, he subscribes to the belief that if one is awake one should get out of bed and maybe read a book or write poems. chris doesn't have a dog named bear that immediately springs into action the second he knows yr awake, though.
all of this to say:
the birds start to sing at 4 am in durham.
2b. i don't understand why they are singing so early. the sun is not awake yet. but the birds are. this morning i thought... well, maybe the birds in the South are responsible for waking the sun.
but then i thought maybe the porch lights are too bright and somehow i am participating in a complete re-wiring of the birds' brains... nervous system.... and what might that mean for the future of, not just birds and bird life as we all know it, but, let's say squirrels? rabbits? or, more importantly, my waking habits?
4 comments:
it's not you, Kate, it's them.
you have no idea how badly i needed to know that! thanks matt!
Seriously I've had this same conversation about 42x a year. After FIVE years here I still have no idea WTF is up with Durham birds. But did you realize there are some birds here that chirp ALL night? That is even weirder. I'm no help at all, but the annoyance never really disappears.
Ah, yes, Durham, home to the famous alarm clock birds..which woke me up every single day during grad school. They sound just like a cheap travel alarm clock: beep-beep-beep (pause) beep-beep-beep (pause)
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