I have never seen a bluebird

[redbird]

In one of Edgar Pangborn's stories about a post-disaster northeastern US, the narrator observes that "I have never seen a bluebird", as an indicator of loss (due to nuclear and biological warfare) and climate change. I read that in my late teens and realized that neither had I: starlings have driven them out.

A couple of days ago, cattitude found in an online bird report a sighting of an Eastern bluebird in Inwood Hill Park, so we had to go look for it. This wasn't a very good morning for birding--gray enough that few birds were singing, and that it was hard to see more than silhouettes. We saw a fine woodpecker on a downed tree-trunk, plenty of chickadees, a bluejay or two (scarce now because of West Nile virus), cardinals, and eventually a flock of robins. Any other day, robins in late December would have been a pleasure; today we inspected them to make sure they weren't bluebirds (the species are related, and both have the orange breast), and went on. I realized that it had been too long since the two of us had gone up into the hills for birds--we've been alternately ill and recovering for enough of this Fall that we weren't going up there.

I have never seen a bluebird, but if the weather looks promising I may try again tomorrow morning, even knowing that the bird could easily be in Central Park, or New Jersey, by now.

Having not seen a bluebird, I went to the gym. My branch was open for four hours today, and the weight room was a lot more crowded than I'm used to seeing it in the mornings. Time being short, I settled for ten minutes of cardio for warm-up, instead of my usual half hour, and am now wondering if that's part of why I didn't do as well on the weights as last time. (Having looked at my records, I see that I did more on some machines, and less on others, than I did Tuesday.)

Cardio, 10 minutes, top heart rate 151

Assisted chin-up, 10, 4 and a half
Calf machine, 50 pounds, 3 sets of 15
Bench press, 60 pounds, 11, 8; 55 pounds, 6
Seated leg curl, 85 pounds, 2 sets of 15; 75 pounds, 15
Adjustable row, 90 pounds, 3 sets of 15

Crunches, 4 sets of 20
Back arches, 3 sets of 16
Yoga tree, 4 sets of (2 on each foot)

Tricep pulldown, 45 pounds, 2 sets of 15; 40 pounds, 15
Wrist curl, 25 pounds, 3 sets of 15
Leg press, 225 pounds, 3 sets of 13
Bicep curl, 35 pounds, 2 sets of 15
Lateral raise, 5 pounds in each hand, 2 sets of 15

Stretches
That'll be the last gym workout of 2003.

I had lunch afterwards at Excellent Dumpling. As she was seating me, the waitress asked if I wanted "the same" and I said yes. I was inordinately pleased, not just at being remembered but at being remembered despite the change in hair color.

Then I went to the Virgin Megastore and bought a pay-as-you-go mobile phone. Unsurprisingly, when I called to activate it, I got a busy signal after pressing "2", and the Website doesn't respond. I'd like to get my number switched to the new phone before I leave for Montreal.

Comments

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

I have seen a bluebird, though not recently. One of the advantages of having lived in the middle of nowhere. (I still assert they don't make up for the things you have to give up.)