Last night a dream of 4 layers of depth. I was in the most shallow layer.
This morning, pushing, encouraging myself – images of growth.
From the closed, embryonic phase –
To open, complete, reaching for the sky –
Growth
Heat in the city
Waking up my son this morning and looking out the window into the little activities in the back yard – squirrels crossing on the squirrel highway of telephone wires, various birds here and there gathering food and such – the peaceful putterings are suddenly interrupted by the massive swoop of a hawk diving into the back yard beyond where the strange white dog lives.
A moment later the hawk is up, perched on the fence between the properties, lingering a moment, huge, and then he flies off, giant wings carrying him out of the yard, a small brown shape clutched in his talons. A mouse? A bird? Looks too small for a mouse, so perhaps a robin as they are plentiful in these yards.
Last summer I remember O, the (ex)husband, saying he’d seen a hawk swoop into the back yard and catch a pigeon one day when he was home – so it seems they do go in for birds. And perhaps it is the same hawk.
The presence of a hawk wouldn’t be surprising of course if we lived out in the burbs, near fields or a marsh, but we are right downtown. Just 2 weeks ago there was a shooting at the gelateria around the corner – the memorial flowers are still wilting outside the cafe where the man died.
Talking with my boy after the fact we figure this must be a good yard for hungry birds and animals in the city. There’s so many trees the woodpeckers like the range of insect sources, the squirrels and birds have been feasting on the saskatoon-berry tree for weeks. Someone a couple of yards down seems to have a crabapple tree cause the squirrels drop half-eaten little apples as they pass by on squirrel highway. All this fecundity, the well-fed life must be appealing for the larger birds of prey as well.
It is the beginning of a hot day here – hot for us Canadian types at least. 34 degrees now in the early afternoon and rising, but with the humidity feels like 40-something.
In the hammock with the camera, seeking out birds in the trees I realize they are hot too, their beaks open, panting.
The sprinkler seems like a good idea for everyone – for the plants, all a little parched and shrivelled from so many days without rain, for the birds if they dare come near the sprinkler….
And they do, having a veritable sprinkler party, flying and darting through the water, catching the lower streams in their beaks and drinking, splashing around in the puddles forming in the dips and valleys in the earth.
Early summer in the city
Early summer in the city and I start my days in the paradise of our back yard. There is a soft coo of turtle doves in the air, the high chirps of sparrows and robins. The mornings are cool and fresh, pungent with lilacs – May has given us a series of purple and white blooms.
Heading down to work on my bike, the sun has risen a little higher into bright towering blue sky days.
Passing through the cool of Allan Gardens park, the homeless guys are still on their benches, emerging from sleeping bags and newspaper blankets, starting their daily routines.
Out onto Sherbourne St, the summer emerges in full force – the streets are starting to exude that heat, the concrete gathering up the suns rays and radiating back a thick smelly weight of warmth.
Taxis cruise by, lazily looking for fares, windows down, music wafting with nostalgia for Pakistan or Jamaica or Senegal or Colombia – mini-worlds on wheels.
A woman – a face perhaps from Yemen, shy and distrustful – holds her head scarf at her throat as she crosses the street.
Groups of men sit outside the soup kitchen, arguing loudly, passing the time, waiting for the next meal to be served.
If it is this warm in May, people say, what will it be like in July and August?
follow your nose 