What I saw at the river

Today I cycled down to the big river. It has been several months since I went there, and I discovered that all the gulls were gone. I forgot they don't hang around there in the summer. They turn up in autumn, and stay for the winter.

I did not spend as much time there as I'd planned, because while I was cycling along the riverbank I remembered that a friend had moved to somewhere near that area, and maybe he was at home and I could pay him a visit? I texted him, and he answered immediately, saying he'd cycle down to meet me. He brought his dog. I think the dog remembered me, although I hadn't seen her since she wasn't much more than a puppy. She got all excited when she saw me. Or it could just be that I smell good to dogs when I'm all hot and sweaty after a bicycle ride.


We went back to his (very nice) new place for a drink, and after an hour or so I cycled home again along the river. On the way I took some pictures, but not very many.

One picture I took was of a cormorant flying. It was doing its best imitation of a cartoon. I must say the hornbill does it better, but still, that was a pretty good effort. The dangling foot is especially good.


I also saw a lot of crows. They were behaving in the way crows do, flying around and shouting scornfully, except for this one. I think this one is an outcast.


It was quietly fossicking in the grass, looking normal, but when it turned the other way . . .


I saw that it had a mutant white feather.

How odd. I guess that was why the other crows didn't want to hang around with it. Poor, lonely white-feathered crow.

Before I left the riverside I saw the amazing umbrella bird, hanging from a tree.


This is a baby umbrella bird. When it is older it will open, trundle down to the river, and drift out to sea (unless it is captured and sold into slavery beforehand, that is).

I know this because I have seen it before.

Nara

Today The Man and I went to Nara, where we had various adventures. I used my new camera a lot, and made a lot of mistakes. The biggest mistake I made was to not use the 'auto' function at least some of the time. I learned a lot, though, mostly about what I do not know. For example, I do not understand light very well, which is why most of my pictures are rather glarey.

In this one, however, while the light is not great, it's not too bad either. I took this photo because as we were walking past, the dog watched us very, very carefully, as though he couldn't quite make up his mind whether we were shady characters or not. But I am posting it because while I was looking at the photo I suddenly noticed the cord going into the dog's kennel.

What can it be for, do you think? Does he have a chandelier in there? A burglar alarm? A call button for if he suddenly feels ill? An electric blanket?


(Of course it could just be a leash and not an electric cord at all, but that would be boring.)

This is a map of a temple we did not visit because it does not exist anymore. I like the details on this map.


I particularly like the wee people.


There were a lot of chickens at the shrine we visited. This hen liked The Man very much, and followed him around for a while. When we left she watched sadly.


"Why are you taking him away?" she asked. "I like him. He's a nice man."

And it's true. He is.

Growl

You're asking for more photos, but do you know how hard it is to photograph a cat that refuses to come out from under the rosemary bush? I still haven't seen the kitten properly yet, only heard it. I THINK it is dark grey, although that could have been something else entirely. It is still very, very small, judging by the squeaks and lack of activity.


It was morning when I took this picture, and she hadn't wiped the sleep out of her eyes yet. Also, she was still too sleepy to bother spitting at me.


This evening, however, when I took her some fish, she growled and spat as I placed the dish under the edge of the rosemary bush. She was trying to say Thank you, but it came out all wrong.

I'm pretty sure she appreciated the fish, though. When I came back to check, the dish had been licked clean. I rinsed it out and left it full of clean water, in case she gets thirsty in the night.

I'm hoping to bribe her into letting me see her baby, eventually. At least I think I want to see it. I started thinking about the whole rosemary baby thing tonight, and, well ... I don't know. Maybe this whole thing is a big mistake. Maybe I don't really want to know what she's got hiding under that bush.

But speaking of growling animals, today The Man and I went to the supermarket, and as we were parking our bicycles we were having a little argument about something. It wasn't anything important or serious, but there was a bit of good-natured shouting. An elderly man walked past holding a small hairy dog just as The Man shouted something insulting back at me, so the insult went straight into the dog's face. The dog responded, as he passed me, by growling.

But it was a quiet, tentative sort of growl. It was a growl that said:

You're bigger than me so I don't want you to actually HEAR me growl, but I'm growling anyway, to show anybody who happens to be listening (and I hope nobody is) that I disapprove DEEPLY of that insult, and just don't do it again, all right? If you do, I will growl again, but not very loudly, probably, and I hope you won't hear me. I don't like this shouting business though, indeed I don't. Grrr! Oops. He didn't hear that, did he?

I didn't realize until I heard it that a growl could say quite so much. It made me grin all the way round the supermarket.

All he needs is heels