Expect the unexpected.
My missing relative is now safe and well after “escaping” from his wife as they drove through Italy. He walked away from the car with only his wallet and phone and the clothes on his back. Several people, myself included, received a brief phone call from him to say he was okay -- but he refused to tell anyone where he'd gone.
After searching for a month, his distraught wife eventually found him at a dilapidated farmhouse in southwest France. But he refused to speak to her, claiming a desperate need for peace and quiet. Several days later, he returned to their home.
That same day, after heavy rain, water started to pour through my bedroom ceiling. (I live on the top floor of a seven-storey building.) As I mopped up, the management company investigated the problem and found a Peregrine Falcon residing on the roof. It has been killing pigeons, plucking their feathers, eating the flesh, and discarding feathers and carcasses in the gutter above my bedroom... Wow!
Unfortunately, for health and safety reasons, I am not allowed up to the roof to look at the falcon. I once saw a large silhouette swoop down in front of my office window and realise it must have been this hunter. I now glance at the windows as often as possible, and am proud to have a falcon on my roof. :)
My no-longer-missing relative is getting on with his life as though nothing much happened.
“In Europe,” he told me, “husbands disappear all the time.”
Really?
Saturday, 23 August 2008
A Missing Relative and a Peregrine Falcon
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10 comments:
Falcon, falcon, falcon!
As for your relative, what an interesting fellow ; )
No wonder you feel inspired.
Oh my, there's a ton of stories there.
Natalie - he is certainly full of surprises. Whatever next...?! ;)
John - you sussed me! ;)
Cate - truckloads! It’s almost overwhelming. :)
Glad your relative's okay. Perhaps he needs a ghost writer for his memoir?
Stuart - thank you. And the memoir would be riveting; should I pass your name along? ;)
Interesting post. I love birds, and hunters are neat. Also, your cousin's story is intriquing--perhaps this is a wake-up call for his wife. Or he may have needed a rest away from everybody. For some it may take weeks to recover from day to day stressors.
Wow. I'm glad to hear that your relative showed up again, but how strange! He'd make an interesting character in a book, I think.
And the idea of having a falcon in residence is so cool! I hope you are able to get a good look at him.
Wow!
We have hawks in our neighborhood. They swoop past the house constantly, and every once in a while, one will sit on a low-ish branch and watch me as I walk the dog.
Barbara - yes, I now know he did what he needed to in order to think things through. And last week he began divorce proceedings.
Caryn - it was incredibly strange, and he would make a fascinating fictional character.
I’ve learnt that there is, in fact, a pair of falcons residing on the roof. Unfortunately, I’ve seen nothing more than a swooping silhouette. (I want binoculars (or a periscope) for Christmas!)
Katie - wow! You and Winston watched by hawks. I think that is a lucky sign.
:)
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