|
|
|||||||
|
May 5, 1999 |
|
rain on |
|||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
|
May 5, 1999 Reading: Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott, Salt Tide by Curtis J. Badger
Copyright © 1999, Janet I. Egan |
|
Glossy ibises are becoming a theme. I walked into the cat shelter this morning just as Kendra was telling Bob about seeing 25 glossy ibises in Newbury. Twenty five of them must have been quite a sight! And apparently the red-breasted mergansers are still putting on their sideshow. Bob saw them for the first time on his plover warden shift last week and he was describing their long necks and serrated bills and colorful mating plumage to us this morning. They made quite an impression on him. Must be interesting weather or a strange moon phase when the topic of conversation at the cat shelter is birds. Usually we talk about ringworm, poop, pee, bleach, disinfectants... Roberta's love life... Joey is being unusually mellow today. He head-butted me and rolled over to let me pet him while he was at his post on top of the big yellow bucket where we keep the litter. He even let people get litter out of the bucket without drawing blood. He did get a little skittish when one of the new cats let out a yowl, but he quieted down again until Bonnie tried to groom him. He's got a little problem common among long-haired cats. Nancy calls them Klingons because they cling on. Joey was having no part of any human touching his butt though. He ran off and sulked in the laundry room. Jazzpurr has been pouncing on every cat he sees. He leaped onto Cubby who rolled over and put her claws out in preparation for a real cat fight. Jaguar was just walking out of the socialization room as this was happening right in front of the door. Jaguar halted and stared at them on full alert. Jazzpurr stood there with teeth bared and one paw up ready to strike. Cubby lay there on her side in "don't you dare attack me" mode. All three cats stayed perfectly still for at least three minutes. It was like a tableaux of a cat fight. Finally Jaguar eased his way past Jazzpurr without being attacked and this distracted Jazzpurr just enough that he lost interest in Cubby. Jazzpurr proceeded into the socialization room to terrorize one of the new black cats who is still in her cage 'cause she hasn't been there ten days yet. I shooed him away when she started hissing. Jaguar and I had some quality time together before I left. I guess enough time elapsed after the standoff for him to feel comfortable again. And by this time the rain had let up some too. I decided I was in a rut lunch wise, so I got a veggie wrap sandwich to go at Teaberries and a large dark roast coffee from Fowle's and ate lunch at the boat ramp. Sort of a misty picnic. Could I resist the pull toward the refuge from there? Nope. I'm surprised there are still green-winged teal around. The major teal migration wave already went through a couple weeks ago. I should look at my checklist to see if they nest on the refuge. Hmm, should check on gadwalls too. I thought all ducks (except mallards of course) nested way north of here, but I haven't memorized every range map in the book yet. And that turtle at North Pool - I got a better look at it today and think it is probably an Eastern painted turtle. Probably its ten closest friends are too. Next time all 11 of them are out there I'll concentrate on them instead of the gadwalls and green-winged teal. Enough time flew by while I was contemplating the green-winged teal and painted turtle that I was hungry again. That veggie wrap wasn't all that filling. I stopped in at The Tannery Cafe for some of their orzo and wild rice salad, which I love, and found myself unable to resist the pull of browsing at Jabberwocky despite my recent (umm, like yesterday) vow not to buy anymore books. I came away with Salt Tide by Curtis J. Badger and Black Lamb and Grey Falcon by Rebecca West. I seem to have a growing collection of extremely close looks at very small stretches of the Atlantic Coast. Salt Tide documents part of the Virginia coast. The main reason I bought it though is an excellent chapter on the piping plover, which I read as soon as I got home. The Rebecca West book is supposed to be the classic about the history and people of the former Yugoslavia. It's 1100+ pages so it'll be awhile before I've read enough to comment on it. Oh, yeah, I also bought a new copy of Henry Beston's The Outermost House so in my copious free time I can reread it and write that comparison to Summer at Little Lava that I've been promising. All that and I made sure I was home before dark to avoid getting a ticket for only having one headlight. I made an appointment at the Honda Barn for said headlight for tomorrow. |
|||||
