Monday, December 13, 2010

Day 74: Man/Nature

Forest Hills train station and Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Plain, MA, 8:00am-8:45am
drizzly, grey, not cold

Within steps of leaving my house, I hear a persistent and unfamiliar call at the end of my street:


I willingly depart from my planned route in search of this bird, even though he is leading me towards the busy street, then across the street to the train station.
Wherever the Bird of the Day calls, I will follow!


A large hawk flies overhead, rather unusual for the neighborhood - Nature is asserting herself this morning.

When I get to the train station, I discover my source:


Turns out that observing and recording a creaky door at the station is not all that different from observations in nature. Waiting for people to pass through my noisy door (the other doors are silent) is not unlike waiting for a desired bird to speak again, and the occurrences feel similarly random, though I can see that the flow of human traffic has to be just right. Too few people, and they pick the other doors; too many, and the door never gets to close fully enough to re-activate the creaking portion of the joint.

Watching a stream of humans, attempting to "blend in" and not draw attention to myself, and my uncontrollable sense of willing people to walk through "my door" (just as I sometimes silently will a desired bird to call again) all make for a very funny urban/human take on my usual nature observations.

Later, I watched a similar stream, of birds this time, alighting on a large tree at the Arboretum and chatting for a while before taking off again. The jays led me there, and we were joined by a slew of tufted titmice, and a pair of cardinals. Listen for the little human cameo (a heaving construction vehicle) in the background:

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