Bird nerd.

I spend most of my day at my computer, staring out of the windows into my and my neighbors' backyards. When it pours rain, as it's doing today, I feel comforted by the smoke rising from the chimney of the house on the next street over. The backyard directly next door has a series of leaning brick columns barely supporting a decomposing fence, and with the stained dark brick and moss overcoat, I'm reminded of the aged tombstones and monuments in my favorite place on earth, the Evergreen Cemetery in Portland, Maine. The magnolia is already budding little silver buds, while the rosebush is still clinging to one fuschia blossom cluster despite the winds. Lately a wonderful group of the most incredible little birds has discovered the bird feeder hanging under the back patio roof, and they're begun perching on the fence directly outside my window to get a look at me.


Being the nature nerd I (secretly?) am, I looked them up in my slightly water-damaged bird book from the Bins. As far as I can tell, the little black-headed hoppers are Oregon juncos. Makes sense, I suppose. For some reason these guys just charm me the way ordinary sparrows don't. I've never seen them in town before, and I hope they stick around after winter.

I used to read bird and mammal identification books often as a kid, copying the illustrations exactly and pedantically quizzing my family. I used to lament that the bluebirds in my forest were the Eastern variety, with more white and black bars, instead of the Western bluebird with the smooth blue heads and shoulders bordered by a soft gray vest. The first week I visited Oregon, I saw a Western bluebird and immediately realized what it was. Now I have a mated pair in my backyard, and like all jays their appeal is very limited, but I can't forget what a reminder they are that I'm living on a different coast, very far from where I grew up.

I hauled all my Xmas-present packages to the post office yesterday on my freight bike, and today braved the rains to attend my first sorely needed (no pun intended) chiropractic appointment. I've been in constant pain for the last few weeks, and it's turned me away from sitting at the drafting table and working. This is the last thing I need. So while I still have my precious health insurance, I'm going to load up on all the care I've denied myself over the last uninsured decade. My spine crackled like a bag of pretzels when the chiro popped me into place. What a relief. Now back to the grindstone!