It is foggy here. I was out in the yard having a smoke… yeah, I know, shut up, I am going to try to quit after Christmas… looking at my pine tree… I will tell you more about the tree in a bit… when a group of crows flew over.
They were in a group, but the flew spread out. They were together and yet each was also alone. They are strange, mysterious birds, the crows. Those sleek, shiny, black feathers… the glittering little black gem eyes that seem so knowing, so intelligent, so malevolent. The way they hop around in that strange way when they are on the ground. The sharp beak. The way they like to eat road kill.
I can see why Poe wrote that poem about the raven. Ravens are hard to tell from crows. According to knowledgeable birdwatchers, the way to tell them apart is when they fly, the crow has slightly rounded tail feathers like a ‘C’ while the raven has more of a ‘V’ shaped tail. I remember which is which because raven has a ‘V’ in it, and crow has a ‘C’.
Watching these dark harbingers flying through the thick fog, giving voice to that eerie, croaking caw of theirs, made me wish I had my camera in my hands. Hey, maybe we should all try to write poems about crows. They are the perfect mascot for Halloween. They have always been associated with witches and evil. They are the first birds to show up after a battle has been fought.
Yet I was not surprised to see them. Since I am something of an amateur birdwatcher, I have been looking at them for years. You always see them in the mornings or the evenings, flying alone or in spread-out groups of various sizes. In the mornings they are heading one way, and in the evening they seem to be heading back to where they had come from. It is like they all have jobs and commute to work. This was an intriguing mystery, and one that I did manage to solve… to a degree…
A few years ago, we went out for dinner, and afterwards we thought it would be fun to go for a walk at this big park near the restaurant. It was getting close to sunset. And as we walked amongst the eucalyptus trees they sky began to fill with black shapes and that harsh, lonely cry of the crows. And they were coming from all directions. It seems that thousands of them spent their nights in this big park. I didn’t see actual nests. I don’t know where they lay their eggs. I don’t know where all the other crows in San Diego go at night. But in our area, this seemed to be it.
So now, when I see them going one way in the morning and the other way in the evening, I know where these birds are going… maybe… sort of…
Oh, right… the pine tree… I was going to tell you about the pine tree. We have had it for years. It was in various size pots and we carried it with us when we moved. We used to use it as our Christmas tree. The last place we rented before we bought our first house where we still live, it was in a big terracotta pot and was still only about six feet tall.
When we moved in here, I busted the pot and planted the tree in the yard. It was very root bound, which is why it stopped growing. Well, I cut up and spread out the roots before I stuck it in the ground, and that thing just took off. It grows like freakin’ bamboo. In just 12 years it has grown to about 40 feet tall. And now I am in an awkward situation.
My wife’s aunt knows a lot about trees. She used to work at a plant nursery. She and her husband… you must remember Sharon and Bert, I have done lots of stories about them, the camping trips, and how I get most of the wood for my tiki carving from their land. They own Riley, that dog that comes over to play with our dog… Anyway, she told me that this kind of pine tree grows to 80 feet or more. That is a big tree. And I am worried that the roots are going to destroy our water pipes and the foundation. And my neighbor is starting to complain about the same thing and the fact that it shades part of his yard where he is growing flowers.
But I love pine trees. I always have. And this one has history. But most of all, I have a special plan for that tree. Because even though we live on a hill, we have no view. We are surrounded by other houses. If you remember those sunset photos I shared with you that I took from the roof of our house, you might also remember that I told you you can see quite a lot from up there. You can even see a little wedge of the Pacific Ocean. But we can’t afford to put a second story on the house.
So I have been carefully grooming my tree for one purpose… I am going to build a tree fort up there. Oh yeah… an arboreal man cave. A last refuge for a man who refuses to grow up. And guess what? Yesterday I cut a few more branches out and I can now climb high enough to see over the roof of my house. It is still a little wobbly up there. It sways and the branches are too thin and bendy. It is scary. But in a few more years, with careful trimming, I am going to have me the sweetest clubhouse ever…
Thank you for joining me on ‘Thoughts for a foggy Sunday morning’. I can’t believe I made it through two whole topics without getting sidetracked. The crack squirrels are being particularly well-behaved this morning.
Pouring My Art Out 
Do you know what a group of crows is called – a murder of crows! We had huge ravens when we lived in the bush in NW Ont. You could tell when the garbage truck was driving down the street because it was followed by a huge group of ravens! We caught a mouse in our house once & hubby threw it out the back door – before it could hit the ground a raven swooped in & picked it right out of the air! Just yesterday we saw a huge crow/raven on the balcony across the way – I have never seen one that big before!
Imagine being injured and unable to move out there… what would they peck at first?
Two things: 1. crows creep me out 2. I’m insanely jealous of your future tree house. Anyway, very nicely written! If I’d been the one writing about the crows it would have been much less eloquent.
There is something creepy about them…
Great post! It made think of the collective noun names for groups of birds e.g., murder of crows; parliament of owls; charm of hummingbirds: mustering of storks: wake of buzzards, and so on.
I love those words… we should make up new ones for groups of people of various sizes…
cool! my picture promt for the poetry contest has a crow..
I seem to recall that… now what other stuff can I send over? Which categories have the lest submissions?
i think debut writer is lowest
I think I did that one already… can you be a debut writer twice???
you can be any of the as many times as you want.
Bad English… good news…
oh my gosh i’m doing this everywhere a lot lately. i’m glad you actually understood what I was saying. I did it on twitter a couple times, then only found it after people had retweeted. how embarrassing!
I usually forget to re read what I send out and then notice something squirrely… I blame the crack squirrels…
but i don’t have crack squirrels
Not for you… for me.
i know
ok then
Great post, really. And well written. Just save some space for me in the tree fort. I can from the land of pine trees; they are everywhere, and blend into the landscape, but they stay green even when we are buried with white, so for that we should be thankful.
Okay… you can come… but no girlz…
Agreed.
You can also donate a big screen hi def TV…
I just bought a very large LED TV actually, it looks so real that I feel my soul being sucked into it. Conspicuous consumption, ye taste like raw hamburger slathered with extra old cheddar. Yum yum I say.
umm… bring cheese burgers too…
Funnily enough, I make great hamburgers.
That is funny enough… we will hoist the bar-b-q up the tree.
Excellent. Charcoal all the way, baby.
Gas might be safer… in a tree…
I don’t really want to be near any gas that might be associated with you. Just saying…
Wise choice.
I gotta say, as much as I would like to comment on how I love animals ( and the informative crow lessons) and house climbing and the pine story, I think I also am most impressed with your organized thoughts today. Made me enjoy the main topics thoroughly.
I may have even typed that without their help… I wonder if they all died…
Ha!
I would miss them.
I concur, Doc. The man can write.
word… to my mother…
Convey my most heartfelt regards.
I will do that.
I afraid he can. Or does? Does it?
It does.
Rea…….ally?
I thi……nk so.
O…….kay.
We should have a day where everybody does this all day long.
That’d be a kick. If we could actually keep it up without it becoming a wasteful desire at wordplay lacking true communication.
Yeah… we don’t want that…
Indeed not.
Same thing all around?
Doc, you need to get some material out there. I sense the desire, but the words are as yet not visible.
Spread your legs to the wind!… Wait… I meant wings…
I fear for your morals, my man.
That boat has sailed up a creek without a paddle.
Hehehe. Don’t mind me, Trent.
Indeed.
Oh man… tree roots can do very bad things, especially to foundations of houses. I hope they aren’t close to your foundation… or under…
You should see what I just put on my blog…
ok