Subject: Life goes on...
Date: Sep 21 20:51:12 1998
From: "James West" - jdwest at accessone.com


... for the survivors, that is. This afternoon the outdoor area of the
Boiserie, the cafe in the UW's Burke Museum, was filled with people,
including yours truly holding two back-to-back meetings over coffee in the
golden autumn sun. Folk were about their business, including the squirrels
who make their hopeful rounds, and the pigeons who strut and peck for fallen
crumbs between the tables. There was a swoosh and rustle, and suddenly
everybody was staring at an adolescent Red-Tail as it sat atop the pigeon it
had just... uh... acquired, right there among the tables. It sat on its
dinner for about a minute and a half, giving it that extra squeeze every
time it twitched, and staring back at the staring humans with a look that
could only be called truculent. What a lout -- someone should find its
mother and talk to her. Then it lumbered off, unsteadily and at low altitude
(it wasn't a very big one, and the pigeon was) across the N1 parking lot,
and disappeared into the trees.

Shortly after that, a bird-watching friend joined me, babbling excitedly
about the Red-Tail that had just missed her head as it swerved across the
campus with a pigeon in its feet...

Let's enjoy these autumn afternoons while we can.

James West