The sun is shining but it is by no means a pleasant day. The wind is blowing strongly and I just checked the weather radar and there looks to be another big rain shadow coming from the south east. Will go down and check the rain gauge shortly and see just how much we have had. As I said yesterday there was 5 inches in it and I daresay a little more today.
We have had a few good days but winter always seems to take a while to depart completely. I notice the magpies have been out collecting twigs and grass for their nests which for an ex-racing cyclist like me signals the start of spring and the swooping season. It won’t worry me this year though. Can’t see myself being out doing heaps of miles. Not until the weather warms up anyway. And the black and white kamikazes stop their antics.
Magpies are funny birds. They can be real characters for most of the year and will happily come and take food out of your hand and be quite sociable. Come the spring though and my God! It’s like being an extra in a dramatic scene of the movie “The Birds”! Well it’s perhaps not that dramatic but I have had intense encounters on the bike with some mighty vicious black and white flyers!
I don’t mind the ones that have a go at you and then fly back into their trees until the next punter comes along. It’s the ones that swoop low over the paddocks like a World War 2 fighter ace dodging enemy fire, only lifting altitude briefly to skip over fences before getting down on the deck again and viciously attacking unsuspecting cyclists from behind. This extra nasty breed of magpie then generally chases you for miles whilst you swing your bike pump at them, wobble over the road and put yourself in danger of being run over by a truck coming the opposite way because you are scared of being hit in the head by a bird!
The look in their eyes during these encounters is nothing short of demonic! Think I’m being dramatic? Wait until you encounter one! I’ve seen a grown man reduced to tears by the magpie that used to be ensconced just past the gate to the Lanyon homestead on the road to Tharwa. He was running along the road wheeling his bike with the magpie still chasing him after throwing himself to the ground during the intial attack. My Dad and I rode up a few minutes later much to his relief and he tearily recounted what had happened. Luckily for us on that particular day that the magpie in question had obviously tired himself out executing this attack as he flew off and left Dad and I alone. I think this fellow retired from cycling on the spot! If magpies can laugh I will bet that one was having a chuckle and recounting the story to his mates! “You should have seen this bloke I swooped today…….”!
Another bad one was at Cuppacumalong just past Tharwa and there was a bad one in Weston Creek that drew blood out of my scone in the magic days before bike helmets were compulsory.
Just another in the list of potential dangers for cyclists out on our roads. Please remember that they are out there and take care. Thankyou.
Well it’s Friday and it couldn’t come soon enough for those of us attending Canberra Mail Centre today. I won’t go into another rant about the abilities of the middle managers at the mail centre but I think most of us there today will be happy to get through without incident and Neal our regular supervisor will be greeted with open arms like a conquering liberator on Monday. We have suggested to him that he only goes away on leave because those who fill in for him make him look a lot better! Haha.
It’s supposed to poor weather across the weekend but I can handle that as long as I have a couple of relaxing days and can forget about the mind numbing boredom of the job for a while. Let’s make it a good one!
We have had a few good days but winter always seems to take a while to depart completely. I notice the magpies have been out collecting twigs and grass for their nests which for an ex-racing cyclist like me signals the start of spring and the swooping season. It won’t worry me this year though. Can’t see myself being out doing heaps of miles. Not until the weather warms up anyway. And the black and white kamikazes stop their antics.
Magpies are funny birds. They can be real characters for most of the year and will happily come and take food out of your hand and be quite sociable. Come the spring though and my God! It’s like being an extra in a dramatic scene of the movie “The Birds”! Well it’s perhaps not that dramatic but I have had intense encounters on the bike with some mighty vicious black and white flyers!
I don’t mind the ones that have a go at you and then fly back into their trees until the next punter comes along. It’s the ones that swoop low over the paddocks like a World War 2 fighter ace dodging enemy fire, only lifting altitude briefly to skip over fences before getting down on the deck again and viciously attacking unsuspecting cyclists from behind. This extra nasty breed of magpie then generally chases you for miles whilst you swing your bike pump at them, wobble over the road and put yourself in danger of being run over by a truck coming the opposite way because you are scared of being hit in the head by a bird!
The look in their eyes during these encounters is nothing short of demonic! Think I’m being dramatic? Wait until you encounter one! I’ve seen a grown man reduced to tears by the magpie that used to be ensconced just past the gate to the Lanyon homestead on the road to Tharwa. He was running along the road wheeling his bike with the magpie still chasing him after throwing himself to the ground during the intial attack. My Dad and I rode up a few minutes later much to his relief and he tearily recounted what had happened. Luckily for us on that particular day that the magpie in question had obviously tired himself out executing this attack as he flew off and left Dad and I alone. I think this fellow retired from cycling on the spot! If magpies can laugh I will bet that one was having a chuckle and recounting the story to his mates! “You should have seen this bloke I swooped today…….”!
Another bad one was at Cuppacumalong just past Tharwa and there was a bad one in Weston Creek that drew blood out of my scone in the magic days before bike helmets were compulsory.
Just another in the list of potential dangers for cyclists out on our roads. Please remember that they are out there and take care. Thankyou.
Well it’s Friday and it couldn’t come soon enough for those of us attending Canberra Mail Centre today. I won’t go into another rant about the abilities of the middle managers at the mail centre but I think most of us there today will be happy to get through without incident and Neal our regular supervisor will be greeted with open arms like a conquering liberator on Monday. We have suggested to him that he only goes away on leave because those who fill in for him make him look a lot better! Haha.
It’s supposed to poor weather across the weekend but I can handle that as long as I have a couple of relaxing days and can forget about the mind numbing boredom of the job for a while. Let’s make it a good one!
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 