Where ever I have lived or visited, I have memories of different bells or chimes ringing in times of day or special occasions. As a teenager, I recall the bells of the Catholic church near my best friend’s house ringing at seven am, reminding us we had actually talked most the night! The last house we lived in had chimes to music that rang at noon and six pm. Special times in Italy with Carol are remembered with quaint church bells from tiny villages dotting the endless vineyards and olive groves in Tuscany.
Recently there has been a “cling, clang-clang” starting at daybreak, that seems to be emanating from or near our wood stove in the family room. At first we thought it was the stove heating up since we just starting lighting it. But it soon became apparent, especially since it only started at dawn, that something else was going on. We would hear the clangs, run out the door, only to see nothing. We would come back in and go about our business, and it would start again! We were baffled until I came home from work, and saw a woodpecker banging his way up and down the stainless steel pipe as if he were charging a rival! Wrong time of year, isn’t it?
Our “Don Quixote” was not happy with just the stove pipe, he has had a ritual of eating some suet, hitting the picture window, clanging the pipes, and doing it again!
I thought this ritual would run it’s course, but he has been doing this for a month now!
So every morning now, I am awakened to the faint “clang, clang” at daylight, from the other end of the house. Sometimes he is a little annoying, but I am getting quite used to it. He will not do it if you are outside, but surely he sees us when he charges the picture window! I have not seen a Mrs. Red-belly, I hope she shows up soon before he damages himself. Anyway, I really am enjoying the novelty at this point, hope you enjoyed the tale and illustrations!
Here is a painting of what appears to be someone’s “water gardens” near the colony of house boats on the John Day River near Astoria, OR:
Really neat use of old recycled glass electrical conductors! Enjoy! Julie
Leave a comment