Microwaves and Blackbirds

Christmas and New Year have passed and so has January and I worked. Well I worked for all those days that aren’t public holidays. Now I am on holiday. It is a great feeling to label time off as a holiday. It takes away the need to do anything constructive.

Today my microwave died. The sticker on the back tells me that I purchase it from L V Martin on the 6th of May 1989. It was a Mitsubishi. I believe I need to make that point because these days nothing is expected to last for 20 years! During that time it has moved countries and has been in use everyday. I have bought a Panasonic Microwave with a
two year guarantee but I bet the makers aren’t expecting or even wanting it to last 20 years. I didn’t see any Mitsubishis which may mean they are not available any more or they are marketed under a different name

I sat outside to read the microwave instruction booklet – 20 years has made some changes but not as many as you would expect. The local retarded bird joined me.

There has been a family of black birds around here who love sitting on the TV antenna singing. Dad is a beautiful black with an orange beak and Mum that dull brown that tends to make her invisible. They hold their own in this inner city area dominated by the squawk of Miners and the cooing of Pigeons.

Recently a brown adolescent bird has hung around them squawking. He opens his mouth and lets out what can only be described as a high bleat. These come at regular intervals. I have listened to see if there is a rhythm. But just when I think I have discerned one, the bleats change in tempo. There is stamina there. He can stay in the same place for up to half an hour with his mouth opening and shutting and the pathetic sound coming from it.

I thought he was one of the black bird family. He is quite large, bigger and older than a fledgling which is why he seems retarded. Yesterday evening I noticed a very slight white tip on his tail and I can see he is going to grow into a miner bird. I have become fond of him. He has become part of the local ambience.

This is one of the most striking gum trees I have seen in my local area. It is the grey of the branches that hold the nuts that make it a stand out – quite beautiful. I am continually amazed at how many varieties of gum there are.