3-22-08: Really, it’s spring today. Proof came this morning with a rat-a-tat-tatting that scared the cats into flight, gave me and Kat a start. But we knew what it was: mechanical sound, rapid, something we’d heard two times before. The story began with a similar clanging one day while I was puttering about the house. I thought, what in the hell was that noise. It came, it went, it alternated well over an hour intermittently. And it sounded like something in the furnace room downstairs. Searching high and low, and only hearing it once in a while, I was unable to locate the source or the site. I called the plumbing outfit that had installed our forced air heater some twenty or more years before, even before we owned this place over the last twenty or so years. They came a couple a days later and were examining everything while I held a flashlight, not wanting to be left out of the loop. When they’d checked everything they could think of, the oldest of the lot said, “You know, some years ago I had a similar situation like this. It turned out it was a woodpecker pounding on an exhaust pipe on the roof.” At almost the exact end of his comment, the rat-a-tat-tatting began again. It rang through the furnace just like some wheel clanging, then stopped, and started again in a couple of minutes. I grinned at the guys and rushed upstairs, outdoors, and leaped up onto my picnic table top to peer over the roof. Sure enough, there was a spotted bird about 12 to 15 inches tall, just flying off and away to a nearby pine tree. I went back down to the basement, said “yes” you were right, it’s a bird, not this old plane. We all laughed and they left me to my wonderment. So, today, he or she is back, a sure sign of spring. I’ve tried explaining the phenomenon to my cats who are attentive, but seem skeptical of my explanation. They’ve been fooled before, they remember, so are a bit wary of my tales anymore. I’ve yet to capture by photo the bird at work, but here’s my pen drawing interpretation of it pausing just after sending it’s message or call to a mate, I presume.
Tags: cats, flicker, Helena MT, pen drawing, rat-a-tat-tatting, Spring
