I noticed a couple interesting things yesterday. I'm driving along 505 and 5 north of SacTown and all of a sudden I start to notice bails of hay on the shoulder and in the median of the freeway. Pretty soon the bails of hay turn into rows of cut hay ready to be bailed. And I think, that's a really interesting use of federal lands - to bail hay. I don't think the hay they get from the freeway would be that great to feed to animals, but it might make good ornamental hay bails. So I thought - cool.
I also noticed lots of black birds. From the steely-eyed grackle to the large raven. They hung out in the ribs on the side of the road pecking. Cars were whizzing by at 70 miles an hour just 1 or 2 feet away and they were not phased at all. I guess they have learned that most cars drive on the other side of the yellow line. This story reminds me of another bird story I witnessed. We had stopped at the Wagon Wheel in Needles, CA for their pancake bfast special (2.99!) and as we sat at the table we watched a black grackle hop from one car to the other picking at the windshield wipers. Apparently this bird had learned that bugs got stuck there and was looking for an easy meal. Smart bird!
I like your observations. I often look at the hawks sitting on top of
roadsigns and telegraph poles as I ride down the highway. They are good
vantage points and offer a clear line of sight to both roadkill and
rodents in the fields.
I also self-reflect a lot, and I found your style of writing similar to my
own blogs, where I spend a lot of time talking to myself where the words
travel through my fingers and onto keys on a keyboard.
Posted by: conrad | April 22, 2004 at 10:04 AM