Morning Walk

Three days of storms have finally cleared out, and the result is one of the prettiest mornings in weeks. The humidity is low, the foliage sparkes with dew. So Dog, Baby Dog and I went for a long walk as soon as the sun was up.

We headed down the mountain, towards the paintball field. I was going to skirt this area when I heard an odd noise. It was the sound made when someone is dumping something out of a metal pail and hitting it against wood to get out whatever is stuck to the bottom. Except it was just one bump at a time, and then another bump a few seconds later. Since it was only 6:00 a.m., the paintball people weren't supposed to be here.

We walked a little closer, and I didn't see anything, except the sound seemed to be coming from the paintball truck which was backed up against the building. Is someone stuck inside? I wondered. Maybe they're banging on it trying to get out? That thought didn't make much sense, even to me, so I kept walking.

We were almost to the truck when another thought hit me. Some convict escaped a few days ago, not more than 15 miles from here and maybe...But before I could take that hysterical thought any further, a crow flew out from behind the truck. And the banging stopped.

Obviously, the crow was making the sound. But how? The dogs and I walked over to the back of the truck. This adventure was of no interest to them. I looked at the back of the truck and for a few seconds, I couldn't figure it out either. Then I found it. There was a metal chain running along the back of the truck, and the crow must have been fiddling with that and causing it to bump against the back of the truck.

Crows are smart birds, but I will never know what this one was trying to accomplish. The chain was painted, so it wasn't shiny. Crows are notorious for their preference of shiny things like foil, or soda can tops, and their nests are often lined with such riches. Perhaps it saw itself in the reflection of the glass and was sitting on the chain while attrached to that. Who knows? Another mystery.