What is the velocity of a laden swallow?

As I was leaving for work this morning, a small bird* swooped down in front of my car and picked up a bright yellow flower from the ground. It then flew up and spiraled around one of the trees in the garden chasing after another bird (possibly female?)

It was a clear and stark sky, the light blue offset by the bright yellow flower and fluttering brown wings, the sun was blazing but it wasn't hot yet, the old trees of our rustic garden indicating a gentle breeze from their slight sway, framing the scene and leaving a very crisp and refreshing image in my mind that I just wanted to share...

* best as I can figure, it was either an Isabelline Wheatear, a Rufus Bushchat or a common house sparrow...

streets paved in gold

Ever notice that when driving westward around 4ish as the sun is setting?

You look good when you wear it well

Driving never ceases to depress me

I saw the new plans for the sitra junction and while they look good on paper (I would have rendered them differently, of course) the sight of huge mountains of sand filling in more of the Tubli Bay and basically connecting Nabih Saleh to land was enough to bring me to tears. Only for a little bit mind you, as I quickly raised the windows and pretended to remove the dust from my eyes.

It was one of my favorite drives in Bahrain, especially during the migratory season when the shallow water was dotted with flamingos sifting through the silt with upsidedown shakes of their beaks. Sure, they were grey and it was stinky, but it was one of the most romantic scenes of island life I could ever describe or imagine.

Soundtrack to all of this: Felixdahousecat's Ready to Wear...for that 80's top of the pops nostaligia

The Season of Mists

The weather has finally cooled down enough to illicit a few shivers...or is it more than just that...

Driving back home late a few nights ago, I lost myself in the delicate wispy tendrils of mist that crept onto the edges of the highway. Around this time of year, the damp in the ground (Bahrain is, for the most part, just a few meters above sea-level) rises and the little droplets of moisture form a dense layer of fog which hangs a few meters above the ground. The Fog can basically appear anywhere and with little or no notice; one minute you are driving along with clear views and the next minute, you are driving through a cloud and can barely see more than the front of your hood.

Aside from living in a hot country where clouds in the sky are a rare occurance, there is something else that is exciting and slightly scary about the mist. Aside from the novelty value, there is something about the way the damp gets under your skin and into your bones and just sits there, making sure that you know something is different.

Now the strongest concentration of mist is typically in the areas that are not yet built up where the moisture can easily rise to the surface. One such place is the the highway to Saudi which has large tracts of land on either side in the final stretch before the bridge, which brings us to my story...

Driving home late one night, I sped under the fly-over and emerged from the other side underneath a thick blanket of mist. It hung about 4-5 meters above the ground, well over my head, and was so well lit by the street lamps overhead that the fog seemed luminescent. And as I looked above me, the structures formed by the fog within the confines of the corridor of the highway reminded me of the interior structures of a Gaudi building; that is to say, I felt like I was in the belly of some organic beast that had swallowed me whole. And as I gazed up at the rib-like tendrils of mist that formed this perfect compartment, I realised that was scared but could not tell you off what. And then, quicker than it had appeared, the mist lifted and I was on the exit heading home...

Location, location, location; I guess you had to be there to understand...