I went on a bike ride. The weather was great. I saw a hot air balloon and I sat by the lake and watched a momma and baby mallard duck feed near the shoreline. The duckling was having fun...






















The duckling reminded me of another bird. A swift. There are some resident swifts in our little village. They spend their afternoons, when the weather is nice, flying through our neighborhood. The other day I was watching them fly outside my balcony; they were whizzing and soaring, changing directions constantly, diving here or there - they were being creative. And I couldn't help but think that they were really enjoying themselves. They were having fun. For what reason other than fun would a bird, flying by itself, shoot straight up into the air, screaming as he goes, only to turn a few sharp corners, and glide back down spinning and swirling? And they do it all afternoon, especially on nice days. It's a show... better than anything I've seen off Broadway (except for maybe Stomp).




Then I got distracted by a man made bird, inside of which was a man who was clearly having fun as well. Luckily, I turned the camera off before the tiny man and his tiny flying machine ran into my neighbor's balcony railing... the sound track is Jason Molina.