Monday Motivation: Sunny Wind

Is there anything more motivating then a sunny spring afternoon? The wind is blowing and the neighborhood children are waling home form school. At least, I think their walking home from school because they are making happy noises and conversation as they walk past my open door. The wind is blowing making life miserable for people with allergies. Today I have encountered two people wearing dust mask, which is something I do not often see here in Las Vegas.

The wind speed is 21 mph with gust up to 28 mph. It is scattering litter up and down Sunrise Avenue. The boughs on the pine tree are waving at the palm frowns which are waving back at the pine trees. The neighborhood children do no seem to notice the wind, but then kids have a way of ignoring things that do not enhance their play experience. The birds are not ignoring the wind. I have watch a couple of them have problems flying because the wind is disrupting their flight path. The cause of that may be the apartment buildings along the street. There are several two story apartment complexes along Sunrise which may be cause the issue with the birds taking off and landing.

I have not seen any pigeons this afternoon. Usually their are pigeons scavenging along the curb. They could be in the alley or they could be in their nests. I heard bird noises coming from the pine tree across the street. I think they sounded like baby birds, but I could not say for sure. I know the bird sounds resembled those of song birds and not pigeons. The wind does not seem to be bothering the humans much, but it is bothering the birds.

Monday Motivation: Monday Story Ideas

Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.

Orson Scott Card

This morning began really slow, but I did find some story ideas in my slow beginning and the slow pace of the web this morning. I don't know why my browser was so slow. It could have been the weather or it could have been the creatures in cyberspace. I like the creature in cyberspace idea because it leaves a lot of room for any genre of story. A story about the weather effecting the speed of the internet works as well, but that suggest a science fiction story while the creatures in cyberspace suggest a horror story.

This afternoon my browser is running at its normal speed. The wind has also picked up here in Las Vegas. No, I don't think one has to do with the other. That is a good story idea though. I'm sitting at my desk looking out my front door (my studio apartment has only one door leading to the outside) at the pine tree across the street. The variable wind is blowing through the branches and sounds like the waves washing onto a beach. The birds are singing while litter and leaves are blowing down or up the street depending on the direction of the wind.

My neighbors are home, but then my neighbors are at home most of the time. Right now they are talking and playing music both, of which, I can hear through the walls of my apartment. I have to say that apartment living encourages understanding and forgiveness. I think I could write a story about those two attributes as well. I could also write about the people walking by my apartment who stop in front of my door and talk to each other. I love apartment living because it encourages my muse to come up with story ideas.

On the Last Sunday in December 2013

On the last Sunday in December
a flock of black birds
congregated
in the gutter across the street.

The pecked at the remains
left by yesterday's
garbage trucks
and then flew away
wheeling
toward the Las Vegas strip
and a more
substantial meal.

A bird sings in Las Vegas

a bird is singing
serenading charcoal clouds
is there a slight breeze

I must have the happiest bird in Las Vegas nesting in the pine tree in my front yard. The song is sweet and beautiful, so it could be a nightingale. I know it  is not  a sparrow because it does not sound like one. I have only heard this bird and not seen it . I have witnessed several birds flying around the neighborhood and flitting from tree to tree.

The birds I have seen make up about three or four different species. There are sparrows nesting in one of the neighbor's oak trees. I have see a black bird of some time flying around and pigeons. I also see pair of nightingales; at least, I think they are nightingales because they do not look like any of the other birds I see and they resemble pictures of nightingales I have seen.

A warm winter in Las Vegas

after last night's rain
the sparrows and black birds sing
greet the morning sun

It rained last night, when I went out  to pick up the morning paper there was a puddle of water in my driveway. The air seemed chilly and damp to me, but the birds do not seem to mind. The birds are singing as it it were spring.

This winter was warmer then normal. As I look out my window into my front yard, I see green grass growing. I do not remember grass this early in the year before. The oak trees in the neighborhood did loose their leaves, but latter in the winter then normal.

wind in the pine tree
the limbs cast dancing shadows
a beautiful day

The wind is blowing, so there is a wind chill factor. I have not listened to the weather either on television or online; therefore, I have no idea what the wind chill factor is. It cannot too bad because the birds are singing and they normally do not sing if it feels very cold.

Muse Monday: Early Morning noise

On Monday my muse

Wants to write poems to my

Neighbor’s barking dog

I get up between 3:00 and 4:00 AM (when my alarm goes off). About first light this morning, a neighbor’s dog was barking. This is unusual because they do not leave the dog out at night. That dog usually goes outside later in the morning, however, today he or she was barking at something.

I set on my bed listening to the dag. It was not an angry bark, so I do not think the dog saw any strangers in the neighborhood or its yard. A cat may have startled it or another dog. It did not bark very long, when it stopped I got up. Sometimes I enjoy just sitting on the side of my bed and listening to the noises in the neighborhood.

One of the neighbors’ has a Harley, I love listening to that bike as he rides to work in the morning. I think the sound of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle is beautiful. I enjoy just sitting and listening to it and the other neighborhood noises, especially this time of year.

If I listen carefully, I hear baby birds chirping in their nest. I hear adult birds singing, marking their territory with song. There are all sorts of wonderful sounds early in the morning, if a person just stops to listen.

Birds Swarm in shape of McDonald’s Logo

Look closely at the flock of birds in this video. The formation is the shape of the McDonald’s logo. Check out the video below and watch the birds.

Bird Watching in Las Vegas

Outside birds fly past
I sit in my living room
Look out my window

The cool temperatures that encourage to birds to fly overhead, everyday for several weeks I watch birds fly past my window, land in the trees or in my driveway, and then take to the sky again.

Birds, birds, and more birds

For the past four or five days, birds have been flying around the neighborhood. Every time I look out the living room window, I see birds flying past, birds flying from tree to tree or from one side of the street to another. This morning the wind was so strong that it disturbed the flight of one bird.

I saw the bird flying west, but the winds blow it backwards a few wing strokes. So the bird returned to the neighbors oak tree. After a few minutes, the wind eased and the birds were flying through the neighborhood again. They continued to fly until the rain began.

It rained hard for about five to ten minutes and then it stopped. The birds did not fly while it was raining; however, after the rain stopped they began flying again. No only have they been flying, but they have been singing as well. I have never heard so many happy birds in my life.

Birds, birds, and more bird
All day long, they fly and sing
The birds are happy

Wind and birds in Las Vegas

Limbs dance in the wind
In the shade birds chase insects
The days grow shorter

The birds are still singing

All month birds have been singing. Every time I go outside, there are birds singing. One of the birds is a nightingale and the others are sparrows or mourning doves. The weather has been variable and cool. The temperature is not in the triple digits, sometimes wind blows or clouds hide the sun, and one day it rained. Through all of this cool and weird weather the birds continue to sing. I cannot be unhappy or depressed when I hear a nightingale sing.

A nightingale sings
Proclaiming his happiness:
Who can be depressed?

A Beautiful Spring day in Las Vegas

Sunshine ends the week
Nightingales and sparrows sing
Spring in Las Vegas

The weather is nice, the sky is a hazy blue and there is no wind. That is probably why the sky is hazy because there is no wind today. The sun is bright, even with the haze the sun is bright. It is a nice day in Las Vegas. Spring is here and the birds are singing. I even heard a dog barking this morning.

Personal relationship with pets

Dogs, cats, parakeets
give unconditional love
bring smiles to my face.

The pets I have cared for over the years have taught me many things. Each pet has a special place in my memory with the lessons they have taught me. Each pet brings both smiles to my face and tears to my eyes. My cats, dogs, and my Grandmother Newland's parakeet taught me that different species of animals get along better then human beings.

I saw a Mourning dove today

I saw a mourning dove today; he was walking on top of my garage roof. Now the pine tree is gone, it is easy to see birds or cats walking on the roof of the garage. I have not see a cat walking on that roof in a while, but there is a neighborhood cat that jumps onto the roof from the stone walls between my yard and the neighbor yards.

The cat that walks on the roof is too well fed to endanger any bird in the neighborhood. I am not sure she would know what to do with a bird if she accidentally caught one. It would be an accident if she did catch a bird. To begin with, she does not even attempt to chase them when she does see birds walking on the ground in front of her.

I have not included that cat in a story or poem. This is unusual because I usually include every cat I have ever had or encountered in a poem. I think it is about time I included her, she is a beautiful cat mostly black with a few orange and white spots decorating her fur. That is why I think the cat is a female. Cats with more then one color in their fur are usually female and yellow cats are usually male.