Birds

Our first summer here was 1995 and everything was new, including all these ocean birds. We immediately started a list of species spotted. Of course, after a few weeks, the possibilities were exhausted (although we didn't see a bald eagle until relatively recently, by which time the list was abandoned, even discarded). This doesn't mean I can't still get excited by a day like Sunday, when a great blue heron flapped overhead, a large hawk sat in a tree and performed a kind of screeching whistle at the dog and me, and an eagle flew fast along the shore on its way to an important appointment.

Then there's the little fellow above. He's actually the product of the paring of a pear - having quartered it, I was cutting out the core - and appeared spontaneously, in full feather. The adults in the room became wracked with laughter and took lots of pictures. The teenagers smiled but looked askance at each other.

"Look!" I managed, "Owls Head, get it?"

One replied, "It's funny, Daddy, but not hilarious."

Worlds continue to diverge.