Signs and Blossoms Around Town (Red on Red)


Yesterday was the first day of the season working in the youth garden at the National Arboretum. Something made me look up. A bald eagle perhaps 40-50 feet overhead before soaring higher. “Look; follow my finger,” I called to my fellow gardeners, pointing to where the great bird was flying. They all looked up, and we shared a moment of awe.
“What made me notice?” one of my companions asked. I could not say exactly. I could have seen it’s shadow or perhaps even, without hearing it well enough to identify the sound, heard the wind in the eagle’s feathers. Or perhaps just instinct.
I’ve been working at home all day instead of at the office because of the icy, wet, and dank stuff that was coming out of the sky this morning. I am really looking forward to the warmth of “Indian summer” next week, though less so to the 30 hours plus or minus of travel it will take to get there.
Current long range forecast for Chennai (and we’ll be heading south from there) is for highs in the low 80s F, lows in the high 60s. Salwar, sari, and dhoti weather.