Ordered chaos...

Ordered chaos...

One of the features of my new home is that I am only a short block and a half from a bridge to the millrace and the heart of the Maple City Greenway. I often bike on the trail, but tonight at sunset I walked up to the Waverly Street Bridge and back.

You see things differently - and see different things - when you walk, and it was such a fine evening (albeit muggy) that when I got back to the footbridge near my street I decided I wasn't ready to stop yet, so I continued North to the Madison St. Bridge.

Just before that bridge is a wide area in the race - a kind of big pond. As I turned to cross the bridge, something got my attention behind and above me and I looked up. The sky was that deep blue that you see about 30 or 45 minutes after sunset, but still light enough to see the swallows feeding above the pond. It was an amazing sight that (literally) made my jaw drop. Hundreds of birds flitting, diving, wheeling, squeaking (maybe that is what got my attention...) Each one took a pass over the pond, then wheeled over my head or at the other end of the pond, and plunged back into the frenzy. A completely random but beautifully choreographed dance in the sky.

Note to Ben: As I watched, Herr C (GHS) stopped to watch too, and then asked about you. He sends his greetings.