Our brief bird entry, notwithstanding, we haven’t really
updated this blog in some time. [Please
consider all of our typical apologies/excuses inserted here.]
Speaking of the birds, the situation has worsened and morale
has deteriorated. Since we informed you
guys, we’ve developed quite a bit of intel, but little in the way of a
concerted counterattack. We now realize
that this bird was protecting a hidden nest above our front door in the space
between our ceiling and tin roof. We’ve
come to this realization thanks to the cacophonous chirping that now awakens us
daily and provides a constant irritant throughout the day. Moreover, our surveillance of the area has
shown not one, but two, offensive birds that patrol our front door area. Since the hatching of the eggs, the violence
has escalated. On Friday alone, Matt was
hit twice and Sara and Wandy were each hit one time. When two of the ladies from the kitchen that
we’re friends with came to inspect, they were also dive-bombed and narrowly
escaped being hit. They ran screaming
inside our house to the amusement of Sara’s Grade 7 Girls’ Club. So what do we do now? We have started using our back door religiously,
but the birds now know about this alternative access point as Matt was
dive-bombed in the back of our home. Yesterday,
Wandy came to our house wearing a bucket as a helmet. These bird episodes have begun feeling like
we are living a Hitchcock nightmare. The
day that these young birds grow old enough to fend for themselves cannot come
soon enough.
What else is new?
Oh yeah! Almost
forgot. We are staying until June. We originally planned to leave in early April
after the first school quarter, but we decided that by staying through the
second quarter (and the end of the semester) we can make a bigger difference
for some kids. It was not an easy
decision because we were looking forward to coming back, but we feel that the
potential value of staying these extra months is worthwhile. Plus, Matt has no interest in returning to a
world where the Clippers are better than the Lakers. So you guys need to postpone the welcome back
parade, but at least the extra 3 months of planning should guarantee its
success. For those of you truly marking
your calendars, the last day of the term is June 21. We should come back to the States sometime in
the two-week window between that date and the 4th of July.
Tomorrow begins the third week of the school year here. It feels good to be getting back into the
swing of things. Some day earlier this
week marked our two year anniversary of being in South Africa – yay for
us! If the bird attacks continue
tomorrow morning, we may actively recruit some slingshot-armed assassins at
school tomorrow. We’ll let you know.
