As a sometime teacher to aspiring media students who need to brush up on language skills, it has been my wont to exhort them to write a paragraph a day. “Write on anything,” is what I advised them, “the view from your train window, an encounter with a classmate, a day on campus, window-shopping at the mall…anything. Just make it a habit to write!” A great believer that practicing and preaching go hand in hand, I set myself the same task. But when ‘have to do’ is faced with ‘distraction’, the latter offers the more delightful option. There’s always something to do which enables one to put off the evil moment. Let me illustrate. As I sat me down at the computer, I heard the crows outside my kitchen window embark on raucous conference. Intrigued, I trotted off to take a look. There were rows of crows on ledges, window sills, cables lines. In short, they were packed in feather to feather on every available perch. And as they indulged in simultaneous, tumultuous cacophony, I wondered who was listening to whom. Popping my head out of the window, I added a tentative ‘caw-aw’ of my own much to the disgust of the crows perched immediately below me. They turned a sideways beady glance in my direction and, almost without pause, continued in concert. I joined in again, more vigorously this time. My visitors few off but were immediately replaced by the next set of vocal gymnasts. This was certainly no ‘unchained’ melody.
My husband tells me that this happens prior to pairing off as the mating season begins. I was incredulous. But sure enough, a few days later there were pairs going beak to beak and females lovingly grooming their partners. Soon it will be nest building time. Crows building nests are harbingers of the monsoon. Let’s hope they get it right this time too.
Well this was one distraction that paid off. My paragraph for the day is done and dusted. Maybe there’s a moral in this somewhere?
Good stuff Wendy ! Good stuff.
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