{"id":114,"date":"2024-10-21T09:33:29","date_gmt":"2024-10-21T09:33:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.d-c-k.com\/mme-el\/?p=114"},"modified":"2024-10-21T09:33:29","modified_gmt":"2024-10-21T09:33:29","slug":"birds-cats-dogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.d-c-k.com\/mme-el\/birds-cats-dogs\/","title":{"rendered":"Birds, cats & dogs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Green<\/span><\/strong>
I<\/span>s the prevailing colour in spring and early summer<\/span> : lush <\/span>green leaves on all the trees, the poplar, Steve planted eight <\/span>years ago, swaying in the wind and now as tall as the house, <\/span>the wild poplars taken as young plants from the bed of the <\/span>Crieu<\/span>11<\/a><\/sup>Le Crieu, a natural stream made up of eight contributories and used by the Romans for irrigation purposes, valves and bridges still existing. It gave its name to the village La Tour du Crieu during the Great War.<\/span><\/span> spreading out, becoming voluminous and stroppy they <\/span>are toughies used to ungrateful conditions<\/span> ; lush green carpets <\/span>all aver the land, long pile, medium pile, short pile depending <\/span>on the closeness of the cut, the eye loves to take it in.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bird life<\/span><\/strong>
O<\/span>n our arrival in September in glorious weather which <\/span>lasted to the end of October I was struck by the bird <\/span>life, birds to be heard on all sides, birds flitting through <\/span>hedges and trees, birds in the sky, a swallow nest above the <\/span>front door. I posted myself with the binoculars by the windows <\/span>in the house, trying to identify them: the whole tit family, <\/span>especially the long- tailed variety, tree-creepers, finches, <\/span>redstarts, blackcaps and others I didn\u2019t know, thrushes, <\/span>blackbirds and the unpleasant magpies, were flying through <\/span>the trees or sitting on top of the concrete pillar which supports <\/span>the power-line, uttering their specific cries which could also <\/span>be heard at night : owls. Steve reported a large bird in the <\/span>grass near the washing line, hunting rodents or birds and not <\/span>used to meeting people in this garden.<\/span><\/p>\n

There were also kestrels hovering over the meadow, at <\/span>times diving down or taking up a position on the roof of the <\/span>house or in the nearby trees. On the morning of Mme El\u2019s <\/span>death, a beautiful day, I was sitting at my desk and saw a pair <\/span>of them settling in full view on the tallest pine-tree out there, <\/span>handsome birds, it was comforting. <\/span>And not to forget the golden oriole, \u2018le Loriot\u2019 Mme El\u2019s <\/span>favourite colour, yellow. How bright against the blue sky, when <\/span>you do see one! They make their usually invisible presence <\/span>known by their magical flute-like song.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nightingale<\/span><\/strong>
T<\/span>he following year, in the spring, the dawn chorus was <\/span>coming right into my window. There was a distinctive <\/span>bird not heard before, no doubt sitting in the box hedge <\/span>outside my room. I was in fact woken up during the night by <\/span>a strong, if not noisy birdsong and I realized what it must be: <\/span>a nightingale, of course, and I read up what the poet Keats<\/span>12<\/a><\/sup>Keats John (1795-1821), born in London, was one of the finest English poets of the Romantic period. He was famous, among others, for the Ode to a Nightingale. His prominence grew in the years following his untimely death, in Rome, at the age of twenty five.<\/span> <\/span>has to say on this subject. I drew Steve\u2019s attention to the bird, <\/span>we heard it all morning and often later on and came to know <\/span>its tunes. One day I saw from my window two slender brown <\/span>birds busying themselves on the ground by the hedge, what <\/span>were they?\u00a0 Nightingales, for when they flew off, they showed <\/span>their characteristic reddish-brown tail by which we recognized <\/span>them later when they were flying among the trees completely <\/span>inconspicuous.<\/span>
I told my friends in the gloomy north about it, and not only <\/span>nightingales, but hoopoes, too, flying close to the house, <\/span>foraging in the grass under the balcony, later the whole family, <\/span>four or five of them, invading the vegetable patch and sticking <\/span>in their long beaks in search of eatables.<\/span>
The nightingale is singing in the night while the wallflowers <\/span>are sending their sweet, spicy perfume into my room; the night <\/span>is bright with stars and a nearly full moon; the two pine-trees <\/span>outside my window have like a halo round their tops, a diffuse <\/span>light around them which the other trees don\u2019t have, sacred <\/span>trees? Perhaps caused by the bright green and glossy new <\/span>shoots up there, some interaction with light. In the morning,\u00a0<\/span>all-grey monotony rain about and the nightingale relieve by <\/span>the equally indefatigable black cap.<\/span><\/p>\n

Doves<\/span><\/strong>
T<\/span>here plenty of them , nine months out of ten cooing their <\/span>heads off almost nonstop. Can they imitate the call of a <\/span>cuckoo? I hear one in January and Frida\u2019s son told me he <\/span>did, too, but Steve says he only ever hear doves. One of them <\/span>in particular cooing at a distance and with great insistence <\/span>\u2018rolling\u2019 the tones in the throat, wanting to really drive <\/span>something home? They are lovey-dovey, models of peace and <\/span>pleasure, yet, our predecessor assured me, capable of fighting <\/span>like anyone else in the world.<\/span>
Their nests are as threatened by magpies as any, but doves <\/span>being of a certain size, they put up a fight and manage to hold <\/span>their own against the nasty predator. I saw a dove chasing one <\/span>away and helped by clapping, it worked. <\/span>Doves don\u2019t fly away when I clap my hands, they know who <\/span>is meant and look on, welcoming my action, I daresay. I\u2019ve <\/span>also seen that when I stirred up magpies,\u00a0 doves came forward, <\/span>joining forces with me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Poem<\/span><\/strong>
Ich will ein Garten sein : I want to be a garden \u2013 <\/span>Rainer Maria Rilke
\n<\/span>
I want to be a garden<\/span><\/em>
I want to be a garden by whose fountain<\/span><\/em>
The many dreams brought forth new flowers<\/span><\/em>
Some isolated and in thought<\/span><\/em>
And others in silent conversation.<\/span><\/em>
And where they walk, above their heads<\/span><\/em>
I will with words be rustling like tree-summits<\/span><\/em>
And where they rest I will listen into the sleep of<\/span><\/em>
The benumbed with my silence.<\/em>
\n<\/span>From :<\/span> Early Poems<\/span> by Rainer Maria Rilke<\/span><\/p>\n

Ich will ein Garten sein<\/span><\/em>
Ich will ein Garten sein, and dessen Bronnen<\/span><\/em>
Die vielen Tr\u00e4ume neue Blumen br\u00e4chen,<\/span><\/em>
Die einen abgesondert und versonnen,<\/span><\/em>
Und die geeint in schweigsamen Gespr\u00e4chen<\/span><\/em>
Und wo sie schreiten,<\/span> \u00fcber<\/span> ihren H\u00e4upten<\/span><\/em>
Will ich mit Worten wie mit Wipfeln rauschen,<\/span><\/em>
Und wo si ruhen, will ich den Bet\u00e4ubten<\/span><\/em>
Mit meinem Schweigen in den Schlummer lauschen.<\/span><\/em>
Aus :<\/span> Fr\u00fche Gedichte<\/span> von Rainer Maria Rilke<\/span>13<\/a><\/sup>Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) was an Austrian writer born in Prague during the time of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Unfit for military service as wanted by his family, he devoted himself to literature and is mainly known for his poetry.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e4upten<\/span>
Will ich mit Worten wie mit Wipfeln rauschen,<\/span><\/em>
Und wo sie ruhen, will ich den Bet\u00c4ubten<\/span><\/em>
Mit meinum Schweigen in den Schlummer laluschen.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n