Instant Birds

There's a large spruce tree in front of our house. When I came home from work yesterday afternoon, the tree was filled with the sounds of birds. Until now, the tree has been mostly silent. We used to have a pair of Springer spaniels, Bob and Raye. In the good weather, we'd leave a window open in the laundry room where they stayed during the day. A mockingbird in the spruce tree was able to mimic Raye's keening perfectly.

On the way to work yesterday I stopped for gasoline. It's difficult to buy gas because so many people have parked their cars and gone in for their white chocolate raspberry latte (which, you'll be pleased to know, contains no crustaceans). The station had run out of 2s for its price signs and had to make do with hand-drawn numerals.

[At a well-known coffee chain]
"A venti Americano, please."
"Room?" asks the young woman behind the counter.
"?"
"Room?"
"Oh, ah, no, black"
[a couple of minutes later]
"Venti Americano with room," says the barista.

Peter Jennings of ABC News announced yesterday that he has lung cancer. It's been nearly 20 years since my last cigarette and longer for Sandra, but stopping confers no immunity. It probably didn't help that, as a kid, I played with the sheets of asbestos cloth that my father had for his welding business.

The overnight news brings the report of Prince Rainier's death. His son, Prince Albert, who assumed royal duties during his father's illness, is reported to be an interesting guy.

During my evanescent graduate career, I took a course with David Hackett Fisher, who won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for history.

A Boston-based restaurant chain, Legal Sea Foods, has joined the boycott of Canadian seafood products in protest over the seal hunt.