This morning’s sunrise itself was very ordinary, but then a little ground mist drifted in, forcing me to abandon cat breakfasts.
Oh, it’s alright. Grant manages quite well without my input.
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Sometimes I think it’s better when only one of us provides meal service. When two of us are involved they get fussy and start playing swap.
They think we’ll get confused and produce more choices.
They are right, of course.
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No excuses made, or needed for my absence in the kitchen.
Watching the world light up, tree by tree has more restorative power than any medication.
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Birds were waking up as well. The larger one a crow but the other I could not identify.
Passing a window the other day, I noticed an unfamiliar shape on the porch table where birds come for nuts.
“Hello. Who are you?”
Then: “OH!” I said and quickly moved out of sight.
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To my surprise, it did not fly off, so I grabbed the camera and eased around the kitchen counter to get a shot of this very handsome Cooper’s hawk.
It appeared to be having a moment, a meditation, perhaps.
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Having a brief snooze?
Or perhaps it wanted to point out that my windows are less than clean.
Raccoons peer in sometimes leaving their messy footprints.
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It seemed an unusual place for a hawk to perch, on the slippery surface of a glass-topped table.
As it didn’t fly off, I nipped behind the half-wall then sat on the floor to inch closer for these shots.
…
Strange things happen to me. I’ll come back to Cooper in a minute.
While I was working on this, photographs appeared that yesterday I could not find.
Pictures that were taken in a group and downloaded at the same time as the railway line.
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The missing images were not the first nor were they the last in sequence.
If those other pictures downloaded, where were the rest? I scrolled up and down. I checked trash.
They simply were not there.
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Clearly remembering having taken a picture of a church steeple with the cross outlined, I looked and looked. I knew I hadn’t dreamed it. I gave up.
Just now….ta da!
Not a wonderful photo, but a subject I happened to recall, which proves my mysterious what?
Happening? Non-happening?
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Also among the missing…
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These images did not for some unknown reason fail to download with the others, because as was checking them just now, I noticed that I had already edited them the night before.
Where the hell did they go overnight?!
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They did not get “hidden” in error because these days I need a password to unhide and to view trash.
(Why? Why? Why?)
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Who could possibly want to steal my trashed photographs?
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And why does my PC behave this way?
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I haven’t said unkind things to it, lately.
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The trailer with flat tires vanished too.
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“What’s the daft woman talking about? Computers don’t have feelings. They are inanimate objects!”
Call it gremlins, whatever you like.
The airline I worked for got computers at the airport in 1970. Weight and balance documents, that had been put together laboriously by hand were computerised.
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Which was marvellous, until we had a system outage.
When this occurred, I used to pick up a pad of manual loadsheets and wave it in front of my monitor.
“We can do without you!”
And the system would come back up.
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No doubt it would have come back up anyway. But I am convinced that mechanical objects get snippy with me at times. Inopportune times.
When I was in Tibet I searched for the sight of a yak. When one finally hove into view, my camera failed.
This was a common occurrence.
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Mind over matter, I’m sure. Something to do with my excited brain issuing vibrations that cause pieces of equipment to seize up temporarily.
Someone should do a study.
My camera didn’t fail to take pictures of Cooper. Perhaps because it was a surprise.
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A few hours after that, I escorted a fly outside. As I opened the door to re-enter, I felt something brush my leg and turning, saw the Cooper’s hawk.
It had swooped past me and landed by the hedge. It hardly mistook me for a likely meal, but perhaps it was just the movement that caught its attention.
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It was getting late and Cooper was clearly looking for supper as it strutted along the hedge line.
Sadly, peanuts would not suffice and all potential prey had wisely gone to ground.
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Cooper went to try his luck under the pine tree in front of the garage.
“Groundhogs aren’t on your menu! “
“Happy to share a carrot, though.”
Thank you, Carolyn, for today’s pictures. The trees look beautiful but howk could do with something more tasty than carrots. Perhaps, some pasta?
Joanna
PS. It would help if I wasn’t almost asleep, and could spell “Hawk”!
Joanna
It’s wonderful to see the sun rise – and especially when it’s as lovely as in your photos. And what stunning pictures of the hawk (that eye)! Well, I’m really glad you found those missing photos, because here are such beauties! I can’t help with an explanation about the disappearance and reappearance of photos (or things) because the same thing happens to me sometimes …
You got some great shots of the hawk. The talons look wicked!
I also have ‘lost’ photos hiding somewhere on my PC. I just gave up trying to find them, as the process was too frustrating.
Best wishes, Pete.
What a magnificent bird, and how lucky you were that S/he decided to grace you with its presence. We regularly have a Sparrowhawk visit the garden, especially if the weather is stormy!