Swallows

Our living room window looks north over fields that we let grow to long, tall grass. It’s hard to tire of such a view. The last few days it’s been an acrobatic airshow as dozens of swallows swoop and dive about. We knew we had swallows around, in part, because they built a nest in an outbuilding of ours. They placed the nest right above my travel golf club case which is now, well, filthy. Lesson learned. Such fecal evidence aside, we’d only seen a few of them here or there until this week. They’re incredible birds to watch, especially in large numbers, as they dart with marvelous speed. Like little fighter jets chowing down on whatever it is that attracts them. The seasonal shift in landscape and animal life is a highlight of our first year living out here. These swallows are only around for the middle chunk of each year as they head down to South Africa in the next month or so. That gives me until next March to clean off my golf bag and find a swallow-free spot to store it.