Blue.
It’s the colour of the sky.
Well, not always.
A clear blue Summer sky breaks my heart a bit.
Because my mother’s funeral was on such a day.
Not a cloud in the sky. She would have loved it.
It was the day I had dreaded all my life.
Yet, when she was gone, I had to be relieved that she had been released from the torment her life was becoming.
Love is such a mixed bag of tricks.
If you really love someone, you want what is best for them, even if it means letting them go.
Even at your own expense.
It means you accept them as they are, not as you would like them to be.
It means you hold them in your heart. Forever.
I didn’t understand my mother. But I loved her dearly.
And when I see a painfully blue sky, I feel her presence. I love you, Mummy.
.
Blue is actually my favourite colour.
How beautiful are jays? They are so numerous, so raucous. We maybe take them for granted.
This year I hadn’t photographed a single one.
What a shame, I thought, yesterday. Not everyone sees these birds and they are quite lovely.
This particular one is a bit different.
Maybe that’s what prompted me to pay attention.
One day I noticed a bird with a bald head and neck.
And he wasn’t a vulture. Why are vultures bald?
It was thought to be in order to facilitate scavenging inside carcasses. Euh.
But now it is believed that the naked head and neck allow the bird to regulate it’s temperature.
So there.
My little friend here, however, is not doing that. It’s interesting that I have lived around these birds for many, many years, without ever seeing a bald one before.
Obviously, I just haven’t noticed, because it turns out to be quite a common thing.
Bluejays undergo a complete molt in late Summer and sometimes their head feathers take more time to grow back in.
Which proves I haven’t always paid attention.
Furthermore, it happens to Northern Cardinals as well.
Not that I’ve seen one!
Many years ago, on Long Island, there was a Bluejay we called Stumpy because he was missing a foot.
At least I noticed something.
He liked nuts too.
This morning, unaccountably, the peanuts remained, uneaten, on the patio .
It appears to be everyone’s day off.
Or perhaps they know that this chap is around.
He suddenly flashed past the front door, in pursuit of:
Happy to say, Zoomer escaped into his hole.
Cooper’s Hawk not best pleased, but off he went, sailing low over the head of a small groundhog and disappearing into the trees.
Just yesterday a similar hawk picked a bluejay off the grass right there, but groundhogs are a little oversized for a small hawk.
Returning to the sky……I never tire of watching it:
Last night a storm blew up
The clouds boiled and mingled angrily
But still the sun shone through
And then I captured these images…
Blue. Pink. Grey. Isn’t the sky wonderful?
Blue. The colour of a mood. But not today.
You do seem to be feeling much better today! Hopefully you had a good night’s sleep. Beautiful pictures, too! Do you see many snakes? Recently a very large hawk swooped down in front of my living room window and scooped up a snake about four feet long, and carried it up and into the tall pines; wished I’d a camera nearby! I didn’t see the snake fall and expect the hawk took it into the nearby creek banks.
Actually…..I haven’t seen a snake this year, although they are certainly around. I expect I’ll see one tomorrow now. It’s amazing how often I will say I haven’t seen such and such and one will walk by, as if they hear us!
I wish I’d known my Mom better, as a person, not just my Mom. I wish I’d asked her more questions about her life. I guess I am missing the parts of that person I didn’t try hard enough to get to know. The part I knew very well, at the end, was happy to be leaving Alzheimer’s and its related infirmities, so I couldn’t be other than happy for her as well, when she died. Thank you for these sky and storm photos, they are somehow comforting.
Awful illness, isn’t it? So many things I never asked also. You think later “but why didn’t I?” I want to say that now to young people, except I don’t know any! I too take comfort in Nature. The great healer.
Oh so beautiful birds. The blue one and the red on are new for me. I noticed that woodpeckers at least the female lost most of her head feathers when she was feeding the babies. She looked quite miserable with her head 🙁 And the hawk standing in your garden! We have to search for hawks, usually they dont´t come near houses. Great photos again!
Your photos are so wonderful!
Thank you!