In the Service of Her Majesty The Queen

Thank you both for your concern.

Just working on some stuff...and tired.

I am ok.

 

Good to hear! :thumbsup:

Remember, you got some good friends here if you need us! :hug:

 

Thankies! (Darn what ever it is won't let me send it...too short)

 

The morning has come, as it always does.

I am spending a large part of my day out on the porch, watching the birds trying to establish territory, listening to the chirping and warbling, scaring off the neighborhood cats that want to climb the loquat tree where the birds sing, my new role.

Normally, I don't go outside that much...too hot. But it hasn't gotten that hot here in Florida yet...in fact, it is cold this morning.

Which, for me, is good.

Happy morning, everyone.

 

The sky is overcast, the birds are singing and the squirrels are biting my nuts.

 

That's what squirrels do. One has to understand their nature, and take the proper precautions. :roll:

I have no sympathy, at all. oke:

 

The buzzards have been circling around this area off and on all day.

I do not like it.

It isn't hot enough for them to find a roosting tree. In the heat of the day, I was driving down a dirt road going home, once, and came upon a huge flock of them in a roosting tree. It was creepy.

They also roost at dusk.

Nature needs them, but I still don't like it.

Maybe it is just the wind currents up there, bringing them.

 

Here in the Northern Wastes, the Sun seems to be getting a little stronger every day.

I've been able to watch the beginnigns of dawn move to almost sunrise now, on my way to work. Soon, very soon, I'll be treated again to those wionderful vistas, arcing across the eastern sky.

Yesterday, I swore I heard a Red Wing Blackbird. Life is slowly returning here.

t's been too long... my soul needs the Spring again!

 

The sun is dying it's daily death, and in so doing, has chased away the buzzards. Birds that belong to the day are seeking a safe place for the night, some in flocks riding the breeze, chasing each other, others in solitary flight. A loquacious owl that lives somewhere close by has not begun it's nightly quiz and the bats have not flittered out from their hiding spots, yet.

I like birds, and might, if living elsewhere, take up birdwatching as a hobby. Not, however, in Florida. I do not tolerate heat well, and had a case of sunstroke once, that put me to bed for two days.

Plus there is the wildlife here: snakes that strike without warning, unlike where I came from, alligators and gigantic spiders. All of them hiding away in the undergrowth here. While it is not quite a jungle, not quite south enough for that, the underbrush is dense, composed of thorny leaves with sharp prickly points, and crammed together. Plants do have boundaries and keep territory, but you cannot tell that in Florida. Apparently, not many animals will eat Florida plants, so there isn't much happening to thin them out. Trees generally grow tight together and fight intensely for the sun. It isn't really a very friendly place, the woods here.

I am not afraid of nonpoisonous snakes, but I am afraid of large spiders of any kind. I had a black widow on me once and didn't sleep for two nights, not even with the light on. An alligator hissed outside my bedroom window one night. You can imagine the size and sound of the hiss if you think of the size of the alligator's mouth...very loud and raspy, almost a growl. I do not swim in the lakes and ponds in Florida and think people who do are crazy. But then, I am afraid of many things. I do not swim in the ocean, either, not even in the Pacific.

The sun is gone -- I am headed again for the porch. Afterwards, I'll burn Dragon's Blood to chase away the imaginary scent and feel of buzzards flapping in my brain.

 

Warm thoughts and warmer feelings surround you, Queen.

Enjoy your night.

 

Warmth is good. Thank you.

Hope you have a good night...and everyone else, also.

 

It's morning. I'm at work. And yeah, It was a good night. Nice way to start the new day.

Still caught a decent early suinrise before all the clouds and rain/sleet/snow/cold/yuck moved in.

 

Another day begins, cold, clear and crisp, me outside on the porch, drinking strong bitter coffee, smoking, a 3 cigarette beginning. I search for the birds in the trees, listen to their warbling, hear the beauty of their song. The loquat tree no longer harbors the pair who will nest, they have found shelter higher in a Pine, one the cats will not climb, fearing the long fall to the ground.

Back inside, my fingers stutter on the keys. They are slow to warm up. I look at them, wondering what they will bring to the screen, what they will drag out of the thoughts swirling around in my head, hoping I can trust them, monitoring the monitor.

I have not witnessed the dawn for years, unless one considers the gradual dispersal of darkness in the room as I sought sleep and lost as 'seeing' the sun reborn.

My mentor, the exorcist, who doubtlessly sleeps well, strives to teach me how to put a bridle on the ghosts and phantoms I have conjured up in my mind, and says there is beauty in struggle; I do see bits and pieces of it strewn about the day, even in the hard-fought night, or so I do imagine, and try hard to claim it, tie it down in writing, proof that it exists.

He says I am teachable, but I am a difficult pupil, I am afraid. It is hard
to learn new skills, when one has always been a fighter.

It is like carving stone.

Learning, he says, that is fought the hardest lasts. And so, I fight. And so, I progress,
tiny step by tiny step, one granite chip after another, a little pile of them at my feet. This
is an exhausting battle...the bits and pieces of beauty I find help to see me through.

I keep looking, I keep looking.

 

Scry, perhaps I haven't been paying attention. Do you write for a living? :gotmyatte

 

Man, if she doesn't.....

You defnitiely have a gift for verse, My Queen.

I can read your latest posts and find myself lost in their descriptiveness. I can empathize (don't think sympathize is correct, I dunno) with the feelings your conveying. It's quite moving.