Again

From some place over toward the river, I heard an animal bellowing. I wonder if the deer are in rut? It might have been a very large bird, though. I don't know half the creatures who frequent this place. I also heard some noisy waterfowl a few mornings ago, heading up into the mountains. As summer drags on, the valley wetlands shrink and the birds remove themselves to the more enduring lakes at higher elevations. It must be nice up there now.

It is after five in the morning, and though I am tired, I am not the least bit sleepy. It's like when I used to drink too much coffee all the time. I am like that little blue light which lingers in the center of the screen after you turn off the television- bleary and conveying no useful information, exhausted, but unable to shut down completely. I'm apt to get a bit goofy at such times. I'll bet some beer would put me to sleep, but then I'd wake up needing to take a leak after two or three hours. Maybe I'll just imagine I'm listening to Al Gore speak. Yeah, that would knock me out fast.

Oh, it's Thursday, and there's nothing I can do about it.

Clouds

Aircraft are circling. I've seen two. One is a helicopter, but the other is a lovely twin-boom plane that looks very much like a WWII vintage P38 Lightning. Their path describes a circle around an area in the southeast part of town. I suspect that they belong to the forestry service, and that they are watching a fire, though I have neither seen nor smelled any smoke. But the day is cloudy, and growing more so. Though I have heard no thunder, the atmosphere is right for heat lightning, so it's possible that a brush fire has been started somewhere nearby. I'm listening for sirens. If we have to evacuate, I'm taking the cat and leaving Sluggo behind.

Earlier, the clouds were mostly cirrus, with a handful of small cumulous scattered about. Now they are more dense, but I doubt that we'll be lucky enough to get any nimbus. If they don't thicken up too much, there might be a spectacular sunset. The sultriness and the clouds have given the day a tropical quality, which is a nice change from the usual aridity of a California summer. I might turn on the lawn sprinkler, just to moisten the air further. Mmm, if only I had a fresh coconut! I'm going to go out and watch the airplane passing again and again, bright silver against the grey and white and blue of turbid sky.

Best Bushism Ever!

!!!

Thanks to m_leprae.

Thanks to David Letterman.