a murder

sections of i street are completely swathed in birdshit. downtown sac is a flood of deciduous trees and the birds love them. bummer for you if you park your car downtown for even a minute because you will find your vehicle splotched in white, grey and yellow droppings so thick they make an impasto as hard as concrete.

it's a bad habit, i know. when i walk i tend to keep my head down, literally. i get lost in thought, i suppose, and i'm looking at the sidewalk but not seeing it. the same goes for traffic. i look out for traffic but i miss the cars on the road, much like not seeing the forest for the trees. that sort of thing.

the past 2 nights i endeavoured to change that. look up at the buildings, the sky, the few stars one can see in a city. by early evening the cold is settling in. the sky is now empurpled and losing color quick. the crows have returned to the trees for the night. they are thick, those crows, and loud. cawing to each other as if they were young men at a football game.

quite a sight to watch these crows circle over head in a cluster. even better is to watch them settle down for the night. i think of van gogh's last painting 'crows over a wheatfield.' yes, there is a mad energy of the crows.

i don't know where the crows go in summer nights. for the summer the crows are creatures of the day where their wings and caws float above and thru the city in broad daylight. but not in winter. i don't know where the crows go during the winter day. at night i know where they are, settling down in the city shellacking the sidewalks, streets and a few stray cars in their shit.