When pigeons attack!

When I’m back home in Indiana, I always take a morning walk through the woods, or up on the meadow — wherever my feet feel like roving, at that particular moment.  It’s a routine I’d gotten out of, here in Boston.  Not that there aren’t perfectly wonderful places to walk, but an urban environment feels different, and is different.  You’re not alone, for one thing.  There’s no wildness of that natural order that belongs to coyotes and foxes, and deer. Or even the deep wood, which is utterly impenetrable.

Lately, though, I’ve been getting back into my morning stroll, and the funny thing is, it still feels good.  The environment may not belong to the forest, but it has its own revelations — and the sun is just as warm, and the birds certainly as feisty and loud.  I used to feel that way about my morning meditative walks in Shanghai — I don’t know why I didn’t think Boston could offer me a similar experience.

FAST FORWARD TEN MINUTES AFTER WRITING THE ABOVE POST:

So, of course, after ruminating about walking and nature, and other variations on lalala-land, I spy a little bird on the chair in front of me in the outdoor seating area on Harvard Square, where I’ve parked myself  to write this post.

Here’s the bird.  At the time, I was cooing over him — like he was so innocent and cute.  That hasn’t really changed.  I don’t think he had any part in what happened next.

Which was that a pigeon suddenly decided to splatter my computer keyboard with the tail-end of its breakfast.  It was a mighty downpour.  And when I looked up, the pigeon (aka, “The Culprit”) was in the branch above my head, half-shrouded, looking at me like, “That’s right. And Good Morning.”

I twittered about this.  Victor Gischler, who you should all be reading, twittered back:

Which, if you’re an author, is simply hilarious.

Still, I’ve heard from multiple sources that a pigeon pooping on you is good luck, so I expect my day and the week ahead of me to be marvelous.

The keyboard, by the way, cleaned up very well.  But it’s a good thing I’m not squeamish.

***

In other news, I have a new newsletter sign up form on the front page of my site.  I had let that sort of thing lapse, partially because the old program I was using just didn’t quite cut it.  Mail Chimp, however, seems to be way more dynamic.

I’ll be making some announcements soon about a Dirk & Steele prequel that’s being re-released as an e-book, so stay tuned for that!