I was pedalling down the bike trail last night, wondering if the Latin alphabet was unconstitutional under the Establishment Clause, when I suddenly sensed that someone was grinding French Roast coffee quite nearby. Glancing around at the trees, the swamp, the fields, it seemed a little unlikely. Then I realized it was skunk that I was smelling. I didn’t linger.
The trail seems to be unusually lively this spring. I startled a woodchuck the other night, and also raced an odd-looking yellow bird that may have been a goldfinch (although it looked too narrow).
[edited to add:]
The bird won. Just for the record.
Well, that certainly gives me a better understanding of my hatred of coffee. Put it back in the skunk!
–Jeff Stehman
Makes you wonder about that Juan Valdez character. What was he hiding?
I’m guessing it was a Yellow Warbler, or some other Warbler species, given the time of year that you were observing it. That’s the one thing I miss about living in that area. This time of year the migration of different birds on their way to Canada can number around 200 different species and the bike trail is one 13 mile long stretch of buggy habitat arrowing straight towards the lake. Anyway, read your book. I usually don’t care for fantasy as I find most of the stuff that comes out these days is a bad Tolkien analog with more blood. Your book, however, seemed to be more original with more…well…fantastical ideas. Good stuff.
Thomas Babb
“I’m guessing it was a Yellow Warbler”
I Google-imaged this, and I think you’re right.
Where are you at, these days? (Feel free to email me if you’d rather not say online–the old university address or jamesenge at gmail will work.)
Glad you liked BoA.