Last night the electricity went. Again. Over the last three weeks this has been an almost nightly occurence, so I performed the requisite cussing routine then went to bed although it was only about 7 PM. By midnight I was up and on the computer, with the rain falling and the wind gusting. It was altogether quite a cosy setting.
After awhile the rain eased up, the wind died, and something landed on the roof. For the next hour or so, this creature stamped back and forth, creating a rather interesting uproar. I decided it had to be a bird of some sort. From the sounds it was making, I deduced that it must be an albatross.
I went outside, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner echoing in my head, hoping to catch sight of the monstrous presence on the roof and fearing that I would have to defend my life against this humongous bird of prey. I could just see the thing gliding down, grabbing me in its talons and swooping off to some distant aerie to devour me at its leisure. I know what you're thinking, that it would take some bird to even lift the likes of me, far less to swoop away with my poundage dangling from its claws. All I'll say in my defence is that you did not hear this thing. I did. This was a big bird.
Peering up at the roofline revealed nothing, so I briefly toyed with the idea of hurling some stones on to the galvanize to scare the creature away, but my mother was sleeping and would not have taken kindly to rocks crashing on to the roof in the dead of midnight. I went back indoors and after a while, a long while, the stamping and clattering stopped.
My sister scoffed when I mentioned the albatross adventure to her today. Fie, I say to her. Ridicule me all you like. So what if the albatross is native to Antarctica?
I know what I heard. She didn't.
6 comments:
The second I saw this picture that "cool change" song from the 70's popped in my head. All day long I'll be singing about "the albatross and the whale, they are my brothers..."
Did you ever think it may have been Santa and his crew? He's around this week.
Albatros in these latitudes?
More likely a Roc.
Kim, I don't think it was Santa and his entourage, somehow. I know they skipped this island because the lucrative movie option for that book was not in the mailbox come Christmas morning! I guess I won't be retiring to that villa in Tuscany come 2008 after all. :)
Kevin, a roc? A mythical bird? Are you suggesting that my experience was 'mythical'? It was an albatross. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
The Rime is one of my favorite poems. It absolutely rocks. Once a year I take it out and re-read it.
People see what they know and if I saw the same thing or knew the same poem I might think albatross. I know cobo so I would venture that as a guess and I also know pterodactyl which it probably was :)
Kanani, rocks is the word. I do the same - reread The Rime periodically.
aka_lol, I don't think a cobo could have made that racket. Now a pterodactyl... Don't know why that one never crossed my mind! :)
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