Empty nest syndrome

Inevitably I had to paint around the swallows' nest above the alarm box and beneath the eves. After all the activity of the previous months it seemed strangely poignant to imagine our little family of chatterboxes flying in someone else's airspace, having successfully negotiated the whole of Europe, the Med. and North Africa so recently.

I am sure that they felt very secure up there, but I was aware that I didn't have wings should I have needed them. I was happy to have safely reached a place to pause, as the sun set.