Took the dog out. Sat on the deck in the cool evening air. Birds flew overhead.
Lots of birds. After a few minutes I decided to count them. I quickly counted a batch in the sky: 20. With that visual, I started estimating batches of 20. They flew against the cold grey clouds, spreading out and coming together in waves and patterns. They reminded me of stars, or snowflakes.
It seemed like a batch of twenty went over my head about every second. They made a cawing noise. I tried, but couldn't hear the flapping of their wings. The numbers piled up by the hundreds. A thousand. I had damp hair from my shower and started to feel cold. I kept counting. The dog snuffed the snow and wandered around the yard. Another thousand. I headed to the door: head up, still counting. Twenty-two hundred. Two thousand two hundred black birds flew in the sky.
Lots of birds. After a few minutes I decided to count them. I quickly counted a batch in the sky: 20. With that visual, I started estimating batches of 20. They flew against the cold grey clouds, spreading out and coming together in waves and patterns. They reminded me of stars, or snowflakes.
It seemed like a batch of twenty went over my head about every second. They made a cawing noise. I tried, but couldn't hear the flapping of their wings. The numbers piled up by the hundreds. A thousand. I had damp hair from my shower and started to feel cold. I kept counting. The dog snuffed the snow and wandered around the yard. Another thousand. I headed to the door: head up, still counting. Twenty-two hundred. Two thousand two hundred black birds flew in the sky.
