Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Hanging in there

Looking up

One thing about not having steps up to our apartment front door (that's it behind the watering can) and having to walk in an alley to the steps up to our back door is that I can see my front porch flowers from a new vantage point: looking up at them. In some ways they look prettier, since the sunshine means they are growing extremely well in ways I can't see from the front. The white petunias were a surprise, since I cannot see them in all their abundance from the front. The geraniums are sure doing well, looking good from both sides.

We had what, for me, was a very hot day yesterday. It got up to 84°F and was very warm inside our apartment. But fortunately for us, the temperatures today have fallen by at least ten degrees. It is, of course, summertime and most people expect warm weather. But since I'm not a fan of too much heat, I am thrilled by the current early afternoon temperature of 69°F. And I don't see any heat domes in our immediate future.

It's bird fledging time, and I've been watching some immature crows learning how to fly. You can always tell the babies, even though they're the same size as their parent, since they flap their wings helplessly and beg for food, even when they can manage it themselves. They are a little bit smaller with shinier wings, and they don't always make very graceful takeoffs and landings quite yet. I smiled at one youngster who I think had not been out of the nest for long, waddling to the edge of a roof and peering over the edge. I could almost hear him saying, "it's a long way down there!" Instead of taking off, he backed away and ran to Mummy for some courage. Since I was walking to the bus, I never saw whether he made the leap.

I envy them for their ability to fly. Learning how to navigate a canopy when I was a skydiver was not something that came naturally to me. Eventually I got the hang of it, but it was never the reason I jumped out of airplanes. I loved the freefall and deploying my canopy and landing it properly was a necessary part of the experience, if I wanted to do it again, at least. However, watching birds flying effortlessly brings back memories of my time under canopy. It's really fun to fly.

:-)

13 comments:

  1. I would love to be able to fly - under my own power. Your garden is looking really lovely. I am so glad that you are finding new ways to appreciate its beauty. And hooray for avoiding heat.

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  2. I envy your outdoor space, DJan. At least you're using yours to it's full advantage, your flowers look really nice. 🙂👍

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  3. And those young crows make one hell of a screech.

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  4. That's so interesting about watching the baby crows learn to fly. I've always been in awe of you jumping out of airplanes.

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  5. I'm fascinated with watching the ease with which birds fly... especially the ones that seem to glide up and down with the wind or current. Looks wonderful! Such freedom!
    As for the heat, it was 106 and 107 F here this week...

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  6. What a lovely display of summer flowers, I imagine looking up and enjoying their beauty. Crows are so smart, noisym but smart.
    ~Jo

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  7. I have watched the military skydivers at the airport here as they descend to earth from the perfectly good aircraft which they leap from. I think that scene will always remind of you, dear Jan.
    It looks so peaceful in one way but scary in another and I am not the one rapidly approaching the earth.

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  8. Your new view is like life. It can look much different from another angle. Birds in flight are amazing. I have flight dreams but I really need to work on my flying skills. Power lines often give me grief:) Still even those awkward moments are wonderful.

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  9. We are headed into a warm spell again. I am with you...I love 70 degrees! Hope you stay cool! We have some baby Chick a dees and woodpeckers that are fun to watch now that they found the feeder:) The mama woodpecker fed her crying babies a number of days!

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  10. You were a sky diver? Yikes! I am too chicken to even jump off a short wall. I am impressed!

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  11. Our baby crows have long ago fledged. They are so noisy at the begging to be fed stage, and funny too.

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  12. The *almost* year-round mildness of our Pacific Northwest climate has spoiled me. Like you, I found the 84°F annoyingly warm. Overall, this summer, so far, reminds me of summers past, that were relatively mild, especially when compared with last summer, and our 108°F record here in Seattle.

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  13. My apartment windows face east, so I don't really get the heat of the day.

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