Monday Morning

Our bird cafe

Anna hung a bird feeder out on our “terrace” last week but so far no birds have found it. I see birds around the neighborhood, but I assume that they must be able to find ample food from other sources. There was a humming bird buzzing around the feeder but it didn’t light, and I don’t think it would be able to eat the seeds anyway. There are birds in the neighborhood — I’ve seen a couple of house sparrows playing in a tree across the street, and there are bigger birds (gulls and crows) around, too, but they’re not going to be interested in our feeder. Perhaps the particular seed we’ve chosen isn’t appealing to our little feathered neighbors.
UPDATE: Just as I posted this entry I heard a bird chirp and turned to see a house sparrow sitting on the bird feeder. He/she pecked at a seed or two and then flew off. I’m hoping he/she went to gather his/her flock.

Keeping it Clean: On the second Monday of the month there are several blocks in our neighborhood where, due to scheduled street sweeping, parking is not allowed. This is not just a revenue tactic for the city (although the tickets are pricey if you get one). The street sweeper actually comes by on schedule to sweep out the gutters. This is not a cursory fly-by sweep job. The sweeper might even make two passes on a particular block to be sure to get all the trash.

Anna and I were coming home late one evening and both of us noticed that the area around our Adams Point apartment seems tidy. Sidewalks are relatively free of litter. The owner of the building just south of our place had steam cleaned his driveway and sidewalks that morning. As I am writing, there are a couple of people across the street sweeping up the sidewalks, picking up trash, and sprucing up the area around their building. On our walks and rides around Lake Merritt we’ve seen people picking up trash and cleaning up detritus that has collected along the shoreline of the lake.

Of course, in a perfect world, there wouldn’t be trash on the ground or in the lake, but if there is, it’s good to see Oaklanders taking pride in their city and making an extra effort to tidy up.

Monday January 11, 2010 — Mark —


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