Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Times, they are a changing

Last Wednesday morning (Aug. 24) the Mississippi Kites were circling the park in a great furor, as if drumming up support for the migration south.  Wednesday afternoon there were only two around the park and I figured the main flock had flown the town, as it were.

Thursday morning they were lined up in some nearby trees in bigger groups, and I've seen them congregating anti-socially-- in a long drawn out line on a power line, every day since*.
Aug. 17, 2016  Grades 2 and 0.

They have not left yet, at least they have not all left yet, but it seems obvious they are thinking about it.   Change is in the air.

Actually, ragweed is in the air, and we are all suffering from it.  And we are, more or less, all suffering from our change back to full routine with no naps.  But school started Aug. 17 for the boys and Aug. 22 for me.  Images of  last year and the year before (grades 0 and -2) and the year before that, should you want to see that they are growing up.  Somewhere around there's a picture of my new red shoes for 2013, which I still consider my new red shoes.

*ETA: Wed. Aug. 31 there were 60 of them lined up in one block at 7:45 this morning.  5 on one tree, 1 in another tree and the remaining 54 spaces about a meter apart on the power line.  Six more were one the lines on the next block.  This is not where you'll find Mississippi kites mid-summer.
Yes, my eyes were open when I took the photo,
33rd grade?  My 11th year of full time teaching.

Because nothing says "end of summer" like paying attention
to one's toenails for the first time since March.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! Both of them are growing up. I guess that's the way it works---but always amazing to see it happening. I hope they enjoy school and continue to do so throughout their lives. Make sure they know there will be plenty of squash for them to eat this coming weekend!!!! No cookies, no candy, just good, tasty squash!!!

Sparkling Squirrel said...

Kites were lined up again this morning.
I'm looking forward to the squash.

Sparkling Squirrel said...

Kites were not on the lines this morning (and many were still there in the rain at noon yesterday) so perhaps they really left late on Thursday, Sept. 1

Sparkling Squirrel said...

Not ALL kites are gone. Tuesday morning there were ten circling in front of our house and six along the 2 blocks of power lines where there had been 66. Today there was 1 in the sky, 1 perched on a tree and five on the power lines.

I have heard that juveniles hang around longer.

Sparkling Squirrel said...

I heard (but did not see) one kite on Friday afternoon (Sept. 9) and this morning, Sept. 12, there were none.