The snow is white, running to grey,
revealing glimpses of green and black and brown.
The sky is blue, the sun is out,
depleting more and more of the whiteness.
I am glad.
Once a rarity, snow has become a
frequent visitor,
ruining our plans, our railway, our health.
The sun, weak though it is in the face of this
December morning,
is most welcome.
I have spent the last several days with one main occupation - penguin watching. Now this may sound odd as I am living in London, England where there are very few penguin colonies. I have, of course, been watching them online. Edinburgh Zoo website has a wonderful live feed of their penguin enclosure which I, brought down with a nasty cold (I blame the snow), have spent many content hours vaguely keeping an eye on, and it has helped to thoroughly cheer me up. Who wouldn't smile as the little things bicker and run around, or leap through the water, or just chillax in the sun eh? Not me, that's for sure. I can't resist their little tuxedo patterned bodies, waddling gaits and sunny optimism. Well, they seem pretty cheery, at least.
The other kind of animal that is in my life at the moment is the ladybird. And when I say in my life, I mean flying around my bedroom at night. This seems strange to me. I am guessing that they are looking for somewhere to hibernate, and are managing to get through my badly-sealed non-double-glazed window with ease. In fact, I can see one right now crawling along the sill. It isn't even the same one that landed in my drink last night - that one was black with red spots, this is the opposite. A few weeks ago I was seeing them four or five at a time, there must be a great ladybird hibernating spot in my bedroom wall or something. I wonder what will happen in spring...
Ah well, at least they're harmless, to humans anyway. To aphids, not so much.
For all you wannabe penguin-watchers:
http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/EZPenguinCam.html
I'm loving the penguins! They make me happy too :D xx
ReplyDeleteDuring my second year at university there was a wasps' nest inside the guttering above my bedroom window. It was the summer and I had to open my window, so I pinned the net curtain across the gap as a makeshift mosquito net. However, the wasps had evidently burrowed into the wall and came through tiny holes under the sill into my room, so I would often wake to find them flying about my bed. I could have reported this to the landlord and had the wasps gassed out. But, I am against killing. A wasp is not a parasite. It has a right to live in its own house. So I agreed not to have them gassed, they agreed not to sting me, we passed a peaceful year of co-habitation.
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