Saturday 07 November
I woke this morning at 8.04 am straight out of a dream. When that happens it is quite disorientating. But the sun was shining and I had had a wonderful deep and long sleep. So, a smile soon planted itself on my face and has pretty much stayed there all day.
This evening, it was finally confirmed that Joe Biden is the new president of the US and celebrations are breaking out in all the major cities across the country. It seems to have struck a chord with many, many people in the UK. It’s a real moment of positivity and it’s made us all realise that there has been none of that since March. I really feel that, none.
So anyway, today my smile held strong from the moment I woke for the majority of the day. We had coffee and croissant and went out for a walk in the sunshine. We all went on the walk we did a few weeks ago. Mabel loved it. It was unseasonably warm, which has sadly become seasonably normal year on year. All part of global warming I guess.
There was seemingly no difference on the roads or in the middle of Manningtree today. People still out in numbers despite this being the first weekend of the second lockdown.
My smile remained this evening as the news from the US came through and when I went to see Dad.
He is resigned to what is inevitable with his cancer and has been trying to ensure all is in order. It must be the hardest thing to come to terms with, your own impending mortality. Dad spoke to me (and my sister earlier) about the birds who are no longer visiting his garden despite the bird feeder remaining full. I brought a different one over for him, one that holds fat balls rather than seed, as it’s more appropriate for this time of year. I replaced them in the dark only to find out that grass was growing out of his old feeder where the old seed had germinated. This greenery was completely blocking access to the rest of the seed. The birds have clearly moved on to a different food source.
Dad mentioned beforehand that some poets had described how the spirits of those that have died move to the bodies of birds. He felt that they may have stopped visiting his garden because they knew he would be joining them himself soon. I like that idea and I don’t want him to lose it. So, I will go and see him again tomorrow and, as the birds inevitably return to his garden now that food is in abundance, I will encourage him to welcome back his feathered friends. Ones that may become long-term friends moving forward.
The Bald Birder 