One Great Thing About Having a Day Job

With temperatures yesterday soaring to 113 degrees in downtown Los Angeles, you would be correct in assuming that working in a high-rise air-conditioned building was just peachy. Even a brief excursion at lunchtime to the bank (not to rob) was a tolerable excursion especially when fellow Angelenos, who normally would never speak to strangers, commiserated on the weather. Since the subject of the weather is an English national pastime, I quite liked that. But it was when I got home to an apartment that registered 92 degrees inside, I realized how fortunate I had been. The temperature only dropped to 84 degrees at night as well. Fans were useless. It was just like standing in front of a hair dryer.

We live in a beautiful Spanish apartment with wooden floors, high ceilings and masses of windows. It was built in the early 1920's and many of these old buildings don't have air conditioning.

Today promises to be another scorcher but for once, I can't wait to get to the office!

The Darkest Hour Before Dawn

I get up at 4.20 am when I'm on a drop dead-deadline. When it's just a "normal day" I set my alarm for 5.20 am but there still doesn't seem enough time to really immerse myself in my writing before jumping in the shower.

Today, we got up at 4 am because my husband is on one of his extreme fitness training routines (he's a Gemini and is either IN something or OUT). True, I could have slept in but since I'm a morning person, once I'm awake, I am wide awake. I've never been one to lay in bed and hit "snooze." For a start, my mind starts churning - worrying about my book, worrying about my cat's eye condition, worrying about my job, worrying about earthquakes and whether the pigeon I found yesterday really did just fly away.

I don't find it hard to get up at all. I just love the quiet of the early morning. I love the smell of the dawn and hearing the birds begin their day.

What about you? Are you Owls or Larks?

Pigeon Rescue!

A distressing thing happened to me this morning. As I was dashing out of the house, I couldn't help noticing our resident squirrel in a terrible state. Even though I was late for work (as usual), I couldn't ignore the frantic tone in his voice. 

Hiding behind a small log cowered a pigeon. It seemed to be having a seizure. I hurried over and picked the little guy up. Apart from his rapidly beating heart, he seemed okay but every time I put him down, the squirrel starting going nuts—no pun intended.

I tried taking the pigeon into the house and found a nice cardboard box (one eye on the clock -boss will be there in five minutes) but the pigeon didn't like that and became even more upset. In the end, I gave him some of Mr. Tig's flower essence drops from Green Hope Farm called "Breathe" for respiratory conditions. It seemed to calm the pigeon down a little—at least enough for me to put him back in the garden. Fortunately the squirrel had gone and I was able to find a quiet, shady place  behind a wood pile. 

There are a lot of cats in our neighborhood. Mr. Tig being one of them. I said a prayer and just hope there won't be a pile of feathers or a solitary beak waiting for me when I get home tonight.

I've never had much luck with injured birds but it's so hard to know what to do for the best. 

What would you have done?