Day 5 - 360 -- Understanding and Communicating

Two interesting encounters occurred this week. On Christmas Eve before sunset, major banging emanated from the roof. Now it was too early in the day to be reindeer. I thought it was a person so looked out the window for signs of a ladder and saw nothing. I did see a large black wing sticking out from the eaves, so put it down to a silly bird. On Christmas afternoon, the noise began again right outside the bedroom window. The wing was there again followed by a caw sound. It seems one of the local crows had been trying to get a drink from the eaves trough, yet it was cold so any moisture would be frozen solid. The banging happened as the bird tried to break bits of ice for his beverage. Clever, but loud.

This morning when I looked outside there was more light flurries and a dusting of snow on the walkways and car again. It looked a bit grey and gloomy. As I stood to contemplate this cold, windy scene the dog from down the street ran up the town sidewalk and then came back down, stopping to roll in the fresh snow. Well, that gave me a laugh. I noted that someone had to enjoy this sort of day. I went out later in the afternoon to clear off the car. As I got out of the car, I was greeted by the same dog. He is delightful -- a golden coloured Great Pyrennes. As we chatted, I looked up to see his owner watching us. The dog proceeded to roll in the snow in my front yard and then I laughed out loud as he put his chin on the ground with his forelegs by his sides and used his hind legs to propel himself across the lawn. Apparently, he enjoys my yard the most in the winter since I have a lot of untouched snow. His owner thought the neighbours might think I was making the marks in the snow. My response was that this would keep the folks guessing.

These encounters brought thoughts of understanding and communicating. Since I knew the dog already, I could tell he was happy or even joyful with the skiff of snow on the ground. He will be even more excited when we get the few inches expected into Saturday. Trying to figure out the behaviour of the crow took a bit more thought. I'd seen others do this sort of thing, but with less noise. Trying to make sense of those around us -- people and other species -- can bring a sense of order to a seemingly chaotic situation. Often, the absurdity of the situation can bring a smile or laugh. Learning to look for such aspects can keep us from going off to some angry place. We all share the neighbourhood, so if no damage is being done we could relax. I will admit that I've had thoughts of making snow angels on the front lawn, which isn't much different than the dog's playing today.

I chose the selection for today for two reasons -- the name of the band and the need to take time to understand what is happening around us. The lyrics speak to this somewhat, though from a very different situation than I've encountered this week. Enjoy!

Don't Let Me be Misunderstood -- The Animals