Either I haven’t recovered from whatever I had last week, or I’ve caught something else.
Sigh.
Eight crows this morning, plus a couple of gulls and squirrels.
Flowers too.
The morning coffee ritual consisted of the unadulterated hickory coffee.
It tastes … burnt to me. I may have the mix wrong.
I’m mostly better, but still absolutely wiped.
One Kiddo has a mild cough, while the other, a mild fever.
The Missus is somewhere in-between the two Kiddos.
Apparently, it’s Spring. Blue skies, cottony white clouds, moderate temperatures.
Pollen.
Low key walk. When I get chest congestion, the cough lingers long after I’m better.
Good thing there were no neighbors to freak out about my potential contagiousness this morning!
Eight crows.
Started with two, then five, then eight.
Gulls were out as well, but never got too close.
Thieving bastards were everywhere.
In trees.
On power lines.
In the street.
On the sidewalk.
Looking for handouts.
Despite being as thick as, well, thieves, they were hard to photograph.
Doggo didn’t notice them very much.
Being Spring, the flowers didn’t disappoint.
And then, safely home where I could cough in private, my morning coffee ritual.
Thirteen crows (!?).
Two thieving bastards.
A couple of gulls.
Flowers.
Morning coffee ritual.
Everyone at home is sick now.
And even work is a plague house (now I know where I caught it).
I’m gonna say twenty one crows this morning.
A few waiting for us out front, calling out to the rest.
Plus, a gull and, surprisingly, three hummingbirds.
I discovered very, very late in the game that my phone camera, because I was shooting in the dark last night, was in Night mode.
Still, the camera managed to work around that.
Most of the time.
It was cold, and there was some ice, but the one picture I took of the frost did not come out.
So here are some flowers.
And it isn’t a morning walk without a thieving bastard making an appearance.
And at the end, at last, the morning coffee ritual.
Up late due to being, well, up late last night.
Hoping for a break in the weather, I decided to start our walk even later by having cereal first.
Turns out we had about a teaspoon of milk left.
Which I discovered after pouring my cereal.
Not a great start to the new year.
The weather finally cleared up enough to risk a walk. Albeit in my yellow Stay Puft Marshmallow Man rain slicker.
No car was going to fail to see me and take me out the first day of 2026.
No, sir!
Continuing the worrying trend of a bad start to the year, I had to pass a neighbor in his garage, garage door open, yelling at someone inside his house.
A lot.
[No photo because I’m not crazy.]
I didn’t get an imminent violence vibe, so didn’t feel compelled to call the cops a few hours into my new year.
Not that it would have done any good. Last year, for a different neighbor, I did feel compelled to call the cops.
Twice.
They never came out.
About ten crows were following me this morning, which surprised me, given how late a start we’d gotten.
And a gull, who settled in with the crows but never attempted to snag a peanut.
I’ve also noticed the local squirrels have taken to keeping an eye on us as we walk.
Instead of flowers, I was struck by the way the sunlight, when it peeked through the clouds, sparkled off the water droplets on the flowers.
It was a solid positive sign about this new year, so I focused on those with my camera.
And a bunch of lemons on the side of the road:
And then the miracle happened.
The best sort of droplet photo opportunity you could hope for.
The most intense, vibrant rainbow I’d ever seen.
A sweeping, complete arc across the sky.
The pictures I took don’t do it justice, so I’ll just share the one that saved 2026 for me:
And then home, followed by about six crows, to my morning coffee ritual which, not gonna lie, also saved my 2026.
This morning, I learned that while it’s cozy warm when worn inside the house, my new cardigan sweater is not as warm as my jacket outside the house.
Six crows this morning. Granted, it was a late start, which might have thrown them off.
But those six followed me all the way home.
A shadow fell across my face: one festering pustule of a gull.
It was definitely cold again:
But despite this, the flowers hadn’t given up yet.
And then this:
Even the trees were anti-social this morning:
At last, hands and face numb from the artic conditions, I stumbled across the threshold of my home and into the warm grasp of my morning coffee ritual.
On the order of twenty-five crows this morning.
But the gulls were back, too.
I paused my peanut parceling and carefully waited for the gulls to move along.
I wasn’t careful enough.
While I find the gulls aggressive and distasteful, I will admit they make for some dramatic photos.
Surprisingly, the crows put up with them.
So, with no immediate danger of me becoming an accidental war correspondent, I moved on to flowers and other beautiful distractions.
This one made me think of the Karate Kid for some reason:
And then, finally home, it was once again time for the morning coffee ritual.
Late start to this morning’s walk.
When we got home yesterday, only Big Daddy screeched for peanuts in the backyard.
Little Lady was nowhere to be seen, and Big Daddy kept screeching long after I’d left peanuts out.
I was a little worried for Little Lady and fearful Big Daddy was forlornly calling out for his lost love.
I needn’t have worried.
Little Lady was the one screeching solo this morning.
Joined by Big Daddy once I was out the front door.
Only three crows on the walk, and I was left with the impression that three was definitely a crowd.
One of the cheeky bastards followed me for more peanuts while having two already crammed in his beak!
There were some interlopers, too.
Two gulls, circling low, watching but not interfering.
Beautiful flowers are still present, but less abundant as the weather turns.
And once home, a jarring change.
No, not the Missus crying with her bags packed and a taxi waiting.
I’m not sure how I feel about this. The Missus kindly (??) had it all set up and ready to pour by the time I was up, so not much of a ritual.
Phone is on Do Not Disturb (autocorrect wanted “So Not Disturb” and I was loathe to … correct it), meaning I missed a call from a dealership trying to convince me to trade in our mini van for a new one.
That feels like a good sign for the day…
ian m dudley 