The full catastrophe

Our winter rains, delayed by global warming, are predicted to begin tomorrow and to continue for as long as the weather forecast can predict. Portland is known for its rain. So today I slipped out of town to Sauvie Island alone, to see the dying corn, the brooding skies, and perhaps to hear a chortling crane or two before the rains come. I was walking in a field of dead corn when suddenly a clamor of snow geese and Canada geese swarmed the sky in alarm. The Extra, of a bald eagle with its prey, shows why. One of them failed to evade the eagle. My 35mm lens is not for birding, but the eagle flew directly over me, perhaps as close as 30 feet right over my head. I couldn’t miss it. 

What was most remarkable for me was the sound of the dead corn rattling its dry bones in the wind, clattering and whistling; and then the wet rattle of cranes just out of sight, all buried under the clamor of the geese. All this life and death. Right here. (Better in large.)

Today Oregon registered 1,122 new cases of Covid-19. Of those, 351 are in the county where I live, and 169 in the county where Evan and Bella live. The absurdities of the White House rage on.