The Things you See

The backdrop, minus the birds

 With only two cows, a heifer and three calves, there was no reason to cling to a rigid schedule yesterday, so for the first time in forever....literally our whole lives together..... I suggested to the boss that he finish all his chores before he ate his dinner....which I didn't rush and race to cook, since there were only three of us here, and no need for a tight schedule atall.

And I boned out the bird before we had dinner, so after there were just the dishes and the packing away.



Thus it was still daylight when I sat down in my Sunday chair, done with the day's requirements.

I happened to look up. To get this you have to imagine that every single surface for miles around is coated with inches-thick snow. Weirdly the sticky stuff fell in the midweek storm and just clung to every branch and leaf....everything is starkly and utterly white.

The sky was darkening woolly grey....



Into this stark, but beautiful monochrome burst a murmuration of starlings...not a big one, just a few hundred birds.....

But a few hundred strong black birds, swirling and twisting and twining against a backdrop of sheer white was a thing of staggering beauty such as I had never imagined. Jaw dropping, heart stopping, awe inspiring wow.



The trees over in the eastern hedgerow were also covered with thousands more....enough to make them look as if they had sprouted a full crop of black leaves.

Of course before I could get shoes and camera they were gone, but I won't forget them.