OWL-DRAGON

Seasons

Have other early morning runners noticed? It's dark out there - a sure sign summer is slipping away. Monday I tried to kid myself that it was just cloudy but, no, there was a crescent moon and Venus to show it was darkness not clouds. This morning it was cloudy which made it even gloomier. Sigh. Still it's running that puts me in touch with the seasons.

I have a run that I do most Thursdays. It is on the quiet back roads near home. I can expand or contract it easily and these days run it without a watch. There is a regular cast of early morning people I see, although forthe most part it is solitary. But if this routine run had no surprises there was a surprise at the end. Birds. Mourning Doves. Dozens lined up along the roof of my house, and more lined up along the fence bordering my property and on the utility line that runs through the back of the property. And just my property. A few years ago I had to stop feeding birds because I began to attract hundreds of pigeons. Since then I hadn't seen such a congregation of birds. (There is a large flock of starlings that fly over in the evening on their way tonight time roost, but they fly on to a large tree in the cemetery.) Though I knew mourning doves flocked, I had mostly seen them in pairs and never in such a concentration. I suppose they were on their way somewhere and just stopped for a morning chat because when I came down from my shower they were all gone. Still I wondered why my house? Will they be there tomorrow?

If I hadn't been up in the grey dawn I would have missed them. Running really does open other worlds. Life in all its variety is wonderful and wonderous.