Just about every house here has a pool, or certainly one nearby. Makes sense, since it's 93 degrees in April. (Accuweather.com seems to think this feels more like 99. Needless, it's much hotter here than at home.)
I don't know exactly where the party is as I've not ventured outside the confines of our backyard all day today. Not since I took my coffee this morning in exactly this same spot. But I know the party isn't next door because I can peek through the fences that border all three sides of my outdoor domain. Nobody there.
I don't know if it's a party with cars lined up out front or if it's a loud pile of kids that live there. I guess I'll know tomorrow if it still feels like 100 degrees out there and school gets canceled on account of sun. Suppose that ever happens here?
Why is it that at every pool party, one kid is crying? Is he the one being excluded by the older kids or one being singled out for a nap? Doesn't matter, there's always one.
And, why is it, that only one person is plagued by flying insects and the other isn't even if they are sitting next to each other? I'm talking about my own backyard now. But, still, I don't get it.
Just glad it isn't me.
That was actually yesterday. Today, no crying kids. None splashing or screaming, so I guess they either don't live there or school has not been canceled. Instead, being Monday, people are back at work which includes all the construction folks working on neighboring remodels. Seems there are two such projects in progress across two of the three backyard border fences.
Loud, they are, an intrusion on my backyard serenity. Besides many flowers, smelling sweet in this hot sun, the backyard has a peach tree and lots of birds - some of which are really giant bees, I think. One bird, that I can never pick out, I call the Hawaii bird because it has the same hoot as one that, also unseen, makes quite a racket on my visits there. In fact, when I'm in Hawaii I call this bird the Wake Up bird because of his preference for early morning hours and a shrieking call that sounds like Wake Up Wake Up Wake Up and invariably sounds as if he is perched directly outside my window. (Once for fun, late at night in Hawaii I thought I would give the Wake Up birds a dose of their own medicine. Figuring they were at rest, I went out on my balcony deck and shouted Wake Up Wake Up Wake Up. Take that!)
The Hawaii bird of Palm Desert is not such an early riser for which I am very grateful. It occurs to me they must be on the same time clock even in different time zones since the Hawaiian Hawaii bird gets up exactly three hours before its SoCal cousin.
I thought I heard an owl last night and right now there's a bird that sounds like an owl except it's the middle of the day and it sings hoo HOO rather than hoot hoot. Not exactly the same, is it?
There are hummingbirds everywhere, and they will fly so close to my head that I can hear their wings beating. Yesterday, one hovered so close above the pool, I could see its surface ripple from the force generated by its beating wings.
There are a couple of other birds - I have no idea what they are - that swoop and dart from tree to tree. They have bright yellow bellies and white feathers in their tails and wings, all of which you can only see while they are in flight. These like to swoop over the pool to take quick sips, dodging back and forth.
I like the flowers and the birds, and sitting in the shade in a lawn chair, taking in the backyard activity, construction noise and all. (Pictures to follow.)
Without a party, my temporary backyard pool looks lonely. I should keep it company. (Picture not likely to follow.)
(splash)
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