Friday, September 14

Short Storm.

We had a sudden sharp storm late this afternoon. I wanted to get pics of the ominous build-up of great black clouds. After reaching 28 degrees, around 3pm, the temperatures suddenly dropped, as the clouds continued to roll over from the West. This is the aftermath pic, facing West. There is dire need of rain in the west, or the crops wont grow, & we are told to brace for a lousy Spring crop & very expensive vegetables. I have a feeling none of the heavy rain landed in the west, & it was not here for long either.

Though it was nice & heavy, & cooling, it quickly moved out to sea, with thunder & lightning. And Leo, the woos crept onto my knee, then behind the sofa. He hates the thunder.

At the time of the clouds building, the Carpet man came to fix a couple of minor glitches, & so I missed my photo opportunity. Dogs had to be shut out, so Gom stayed out with them.

Once the rain & clouds had passed, I watched as the skies cleared, & the ghastly Koel bird began terrorising Mr & Mrs Black & White! I tried my best to get photos of it taking place, & these are the best I could do.

My camera doesnt have digital zoom, so I have to use the somewhat inadequate optical zoom. I know they are not very clear, but you can see how large the bird is, & see by it's positioning, it is a menace to the other birds.

It is a shame they are such long shots, becase I could also see Mr or Mrs Black & White trying to defend itself.

I wonder if there will be any Black & White little ones hatched out this season?

After the downpour, the air smelt so fresh & clear, but because there had been such heat during the day, there is now a steamy humidity... a forewarning of Summer.
****
Finally the question of hair began to play large on my mind. Very untidy, & not grown enough for me to really want to risk another cut.
Some good news, in fact. I went to Salon, where I have once before been, & the owner is an Italian Gentleman. Gianni didn't actually cut my hair, but his lovely bubbly little assistant did, & she made a very good job. Trained by Gianni. I am sure he would never let a client walk out his door, with a bad haircut. It is only a little shorter than I had hoped, but as she explained it is nicely shaped to grow some more.
We watched a sad tableau unfold out in the streets. A clearly disturbed man, who was accompanied by a small extremely worried looking little dog, was being herded, literally, along the footpath, by a burly man dressed in a costume labelled Security. He was accompanied by a huge bob tailed Rottweiler.
The Disturbed Man, with red rimmed eyes that looked as if he might have been crying, was shouting. "Don't call me 'Rubbish'! Don't make me feel any worse than I already do! If you want to really F**K me up, keep hounding me!!"
"Back off! Just f**king leave me alone!"
Security snarled "Just keep walking. I don't want to talk to you!"
I felt so sorry for DM, he looked so haunted, & his little dog appeared frightened too, his little legs going so fast to try to keep up. DM reminded me of a shipwreck somehow. So desolate, & lonely.
I really would have loved to give him a hug. But I probably would have been slapped for my trouble. I am almost certain he was not a druggie. What ever his problem was or is, he seemed to me to be in pain.
As we rounded the corner, we saw 2 other Security men running after DM. Then the one with the Rotti broke into a run too. I think they hunted him to a standstill further up the street, where there were a lot less people.
I hope he gets some help. I hope he gets some ease for his 'grief'.
Travis, Sing


12 comments:

Stomper Girl said...

I liked the photos of the bird of prey.

I recently watched a kindly couple take time with a DM, and the abuse they received from him during would have made a lesser mortal give up. But they were great, tried to find out if he had somewhere to go to sleep etc and really took time and made eye contact etc. Stark contrast to the security guards you describe.

Alice said...

I'm sure if you and GOM were still running your friendly hotels you would have been out on the street like and shot and taking DM inside and doing whatever you could for him.

Pity those security guards couldn't read Marion's recent blog.

~Bren~ said...

Glad to hear your hair is finally "normal"! LOL
I hate seeing things like DM and have totally mixed feelings about it. On one hand I am sympathetic to his plight and on the other hand I would think "What damage has his behavior done to an innocent party?" I have become jaded since taking on the little ones...The Vampire will end up DM one day soon I am sure.

Thimbleanna said...

I love your stories Meggie and often find myself amazed at your ability to take the things we see everyday and make a great story out of it. It makes me wonder -- could I take an event that happens to me today at say, 3:00 p.m. and tell make it as interesting as you do? I think not. Your stories also make me think about the people I encounter each day...the cashier, the security guard, etc. What might be going on in their lives? Thanks for making us more thoughtful! ;-)

Tanya Brown said...

Poor DM. And poor little dog.

molly said...

Ditto to Tanya's comment. Who knows what has happened in that poor man's life. Those security guards--maybe they were droids of some kind?? Don't sound too human....Yay for Gianni's bubbly assistant. A good haircut can make your day.... hope GOM is not out with the dogs permanently!

Mary said...

Very sad story about DM although if I am perfectly honest DMs scare me (probably because I lived next door to one growing up). Gee that just brought back a flood of memories.
The clouds grew black, we had two cracks of thunder, three piees of hail and about a hundred raindrops. so you were right about the West.

Aunty Evil said...

I agree with Tanya. Can't think of anything else to say, really.

Pam said...

Yes, I too admire your ability to tell stories. And a sad one in this case.

ancient one said...

You should have whipped out your camera and got a picture of DM and the security people. (This scaredy cat telling you what to do.) Stuff like that scares me.

Glad you were pleased with your haircut this time.

We actually got some much needed rain last night. (1 1/2 inch) Probably too late for crops but needed none the less.

Keep on telling your stories of every day life. I find myself paying more attention to things going on around me now. And I know I'm thinking what would Meggie think of this? ...LOL

crafty said...

I've just had one of those actually I'm growing it but can you do something? kind of haircuts too. I think it's OK, but haven't quite decided yet.

Your story reminds me of something
I will never forget; one day as I was crossing a very busy road in a crowd of people in the middle of the city, a homeless ( I think) man caught my eye and said, "Help me"
It was so plaintive, and I had no idea what I could do, I think I had had my first baby by then, I did nothing, pushed on by the crowd, and as is so often the case I was rushing somewhere, but his eyes haunted me. I suppose he was one of those mentally ill people that fall through the cracks. It is so sad.

meggie said...

Hi All, It seemed to touch a nerve, the DM. GOM told that what I didnt see, was the fact that he had been raving at people passing, but he didnt touch anyone, & i think he was just in so much internal pain, he was crying out.
Unfortunately there seem to be growing numbers of people who fall through the cracks.