Went out yesterday afternoon in a flash winter weather advisory (a 20 minute snow squall / white-out) to be welcomed by another most pleasant surprise. Backstories on my Swan here.
Tag: swan1
And…Her.
7/ 3/ 54. I keep myself going with various kinds of dope: books, written and read, dreams, hopes, crossword puzzles, the sentimentality of friendships, and real friendships, and simply routine.
— Patricia Highsmith, “Patricia Highsmith: Her Diaries and Notebooks: 1941-1995.″ Anna von Planta (Editor). (Liveright, November 16, 2021)— Patricia Highsmith, Her Diaries and Notebooks: 1941-1995
Notes:
- Photos: DK @ Daybreak. 6:45 am, Feb 8, 2022. 36° F, feels like 29° F, Cove Island Park, Stamford, CT. More photos from this morning here.
- Related Swan Posts: Swan1
Walking. Swan-ful.
6:10 a.m.
Dark. 12° F, feels like Nasty. Wind cuts through all the layers. Shiver.
I’m driving down Weed Avenue, eyes scan The Cove.
When she’s here, even in the blackest of Nights, there’s no missing that White Coat, those 25,000 feathers, that Beacon.
“Sadness, I need your black White wing.” (PN*)
I drive on, now 500 yards from the park.
There!
I pull off the highway, grab the camera, and approach.
I offer her a soft, short whistle.
She pops her head up, “Hey there Mister, All Good Here.”
Then, she tucks her head back under her wing, and back to sleep.
I pause watching her for a moment, and then glance up at Polaris, shimmering overhead.
Yes, O.K. All good here too.
This World can keep on, keep spinning on its axis.
Notes:
- Photos: DK @ Daybreak. 6:10 am, Feb 6, 2022. 12° F, feels like 0° F (-18° F) Cove Island Park, Stamford, CT. More photos from this morning here.
- *Pablo Neruda: “Sadness, I need your black wing” from “To Sadness“
- Related Swan Posts: Walking. Swan-less. Miracle. All of it. (Take 103) & Miracle. All of it. (Take 2) & Swan
Walking. Swan-less.
5:35 a.m.
Dark. Wet. Rain. 43° F. I pan through the hour by hour Weather Channel Forecast:
5 am: “Light rain.”
6 am: “Light rain.”
7 am: “Light rain.”
8 am: “Light rain.”
and so on, hourly until 7 pm.
“Wintry mix likely for the next several hours.”
I sit up in bed. No chance, you are going out in that.
Mind drifts to my Swan. She’s out there. Rain, raining down on her coat.
I google ‘swans’ to find Biology of Swans. “Swans have about 25,000 feathers on their body – the vast majority of these are tiny, little feathers situated round the head and neck.”
Somehow this puts me at ease. For a moment.
25,000 feathers must keep her warm, as she dives to feed in the frigid waters of The Cove. She can’t be cold. She can’t be hungry. 25,000 feathers.
I pull the covers up, and close my eyes. Damn it. I need to get to The Cove. Continue reading “Walking. Swan-less.”
Miracle. All of it. (Take 103)
The first shot of her was taken yesterday. Mid-morning. The others, from this morning.
I went back out yesterday after my daybreak walk, the winds were howling. Like I hadn’t had enough of this?
She was 50 yards out. She spotted me, and there was no doubt of her intentions. Human, Food. She tried to crawl up onto the ice and get to the shoreline. Unsuccessful. I walked further down, she was in full pursuit, like she was panicked that I would leave. Come on Man, I’m hungry. I kept walking. She followed. I had nothing on me. Nothing.
I turned, got into the car, didn’t look back. Couldn’t look back. You do know that feeding them is wrong, right?
It was colder this morning when I went out. Much colder.
A large part of the cove was frozen over.
She was on my mind. She hangs with a flock of Canada Geese. I haven’t seen her mate in months, likely basking in the Gulf of California.
And there she was. Sleeping soundly. Ice solidly formed around her.
And I stand, watching.
She responds to a whistle, but I couldn’t disturb her. Both hands in my pockets, the right scooping half a cup of itty bitty Nyjer seedlings, which I sift through my fingers.
Another day Girl. Another Day.
Notes:
- Photos: DK @ Daybreak. 6:24 to 7:19 am, January 30, 2022. 9° F, feels like -2° F. Cove Island Park, Stamford, CT Other photos from this morning here. Related Swan posts: Swan1
- Post title Inspired by Albert Einstein’s quote: “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle.