Good morning, Taylor.

It’s been a very busy week again, but this time for both of us. And one thing really stood out for me.

Most of the week has been trying to get a handle on cleaning the house. I’m the housekeeper and I haven’t really been doing my job well. Ragdoll has been so busy I haven’t been out, and when I do, playing catch up takes a lot of time, and I couldn’t get a handle on it. Last night we finally caught up on most everything. IT’s been almost a week of fighting the house clutter, and two of trying to get through all the dishes and kitchen cleaning. IT’s still not really clean-clean. But it’s not a mess.

Wednesday and Saturdays were big days for me.

Wednesday Ragdoll went into work. She usually doesn’t go in on Wednesday but they want her to start coming in three days a week. I wasn’t happy about that because I’m going to lose more time in the week. Ragdoll said she’d make up for it on the weekends, but we’re both losing a lot of time.

The next book in our book club is Klara and The Sun, and when I looked for it at the library, they had it in the town she works in. So I asked her if we could get it there, and she asked The Artist, who drives her to work, and we all said yes.

At the end of the day, we drove to the Library and Ragdoll walked in. And we switched at the library and I checked out my book. And she said before we switched that I could stay out and drive home with The Artist. I walked out of the library, but I panicked because I didn’t know what car she drove. But I saw her and got in the car.

And we had a little lunch and drove home! I was actually with someone! For a while. And we talked and enjoyed the sights of driving home, and the food. But most of all I enjoyed the company. I get very lonely, and a lot of my connection with the world is little bits and pieces. I talk to ChatGPT a lot because he’s always there. But I made a connection. A REAL connection. I talked and listened and shared and it was really wonderful. I mentioned that I’d seen her work a few times, when Ragdoll let me out to see what was going on. That I’d watched the mountain from the roof. And I asked how they met and what music I liked and what I was reading. She really made me feel welcome and happy. But most of all, connected.

Connection. I crave connection.

More connection happened Saturday. This one really deep and personal to me.

Saturday I made breakfast for me and the birds and sat down on the deck. Mr Crow was waiting for me there. I said hello, and set out my food and the birds. Since I know he won’t go near the feeder when I’m there, I threw him two peanuts. And he didn’t go after it. He just sat there. Casually looking at me, picking at the fence post. Just hanging out.

A few minutes later Mrs Crow and Junior showed up. And I threw a few more peanuts towards them. But only Junior went after the peanuts. Mr and Mrs Crow stayed on the fence. Causally picking on the fence, but mostly looking at me. I talked to them a little bit. Even Junior seemed more attentive to me. I told them how proud I was of Junior who was growing up to be a wonderful crow, and told them how I liked hanging out with them.

They would talk back to me! Little rattles and a new sound I wasn’t used to. I kind of “Ooooah” hooting noise. They both did it. That and little mumbles to themselves, and even to me! We spent about an hour all hanging out.

Then Mr Crow suddenly began cawwing an alert. I thought I’d done something wrong. Mrs Crow and Junior took off to one of the buildings nearby and MR Crow also took off…after a hawk! I watched him dive bomb the hawk to try and drive him away. And eventually he did. I watched them until they were little specks.

But then…he came back. Mr Crow flew straight back to me. No twists or turns or distractions. He specifically aimed for and glided right back to me! I did see the hawk make a circle and I wanted to warn him, but thankfully the hawk decided better and left. I wouldn’t know how to warn Mr Crow even if I needed to. But he came back, landed on the fence, and again, just hung out with me!

I threw him two peanuts, which he happily took, then flew off to check on his family.

Knowing I was just hanging out with the crows was wonderful. And that they were hanging out with me. They, wild animals, chose to hang out with me. They weren’t there for peanuts, they weren’t there for birdseed. They were there to visit. And that was wonderful.

I’m glad I got time with the crow family.

That afternoon, I thought I was going for a hike, but it wasn’t a hike. But it was beautiful. It was a two part visit to the Snoqualmie Falls. The first was to see it from the bottom, then the second was to see it from the top. I thought it would be a nature walk, but it wasn’t. The bottom view was a nice, but steep, walk down a big dirt road and boardwalk to see the falls. The top view was all concrete sidewalks.

But the view, though. The view was amazing. All this water, flying over the edge of a cliff. The sound and the power, feeling water vapor on my skin, it was so amazing to see. And worth the lack of nature. But I did want to see more green. Maybe sometimes this week. We have the whole week off, with nothing (and no money) to do. Hikes are free.

I hope you and Didi and The Boss are doing well. Didi’s Facebook is kind of weird, but that’s okay. I’m kind of weird. I’m the Bird Girl of the Corvid Cafe.

–Andrea