Sunday, January 27, 2013

The Birds Must Be Crazy

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.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Bird From Hell


We are terrified of a bird.  Seriously.  We have a bird that is always outside our house.  It has been known to dive bomb at people, but it’s getting more aggressive.  Yesterday, it hit Sara in the back of the head as she walked out the front door.  This morning, it hit Matt in the head.  This afternoon, it hit Sara again in the head as she was unlocking the door.  Insane!  We’re currently recruiting boys who have slingshots to take care of it.  Don’t judge.

P.S. We promise to write a real blog post this weekend.