DAWN CAWCUS

At just around dawn this morning the local crows convened their daily cawcus in the chestnut tree right outside my window. It was the usual noisy convention of CAW (Crows Against Work), in which members of the corvine grievance committee exchanged top-volume complaints on such subjects as the disappointing quality of gardens around here (where’s the endive? the capers?) and the extreme lack of snacks (the bread? the cookies?). Then toward the end of the event one of the louder members flew down to the small deck railing and yelled Kaya! Kaya! Kaya! into the room where Kaya sleeps when she’s here. (She’s a good source of snacks.) She isn’t here at the moment, though, so the cawcus broke up in black disappointment. Kaya will be here at 10:30 this morning however, and will stay the weekend, so there may be another dawn cawcus tomorrow, to greater effect.