Falling Birds and Floating Fish...

Things are picking back up after the holidays, it seems. Today, people actually returned a few of my calls and replied to my emails. I take this as a sign that people are coming back to work both mentally and physically.

It’s unusual outside for this time of year. Normally, we have some form of ice or snow on the ground. On New Years’ Day it’s not unusual to have several inches already. This year on New Years’ Day, it started out as a 50 degree day. All the snow and ice melted and it seemed positively balmy. Since then, it’s got colder but it’s still snow/ice free out there.

It’s strange to look out into my backyard and see the yellowed, flattened grass which, prior to my leaving for my parents’ for the holidays, was covered with almost a foot of puppy-trodden snow. Now, the grass is completely clear although you can see the marks where I dug a path for the puppies as well as the paths they themselves made to burrow through the snow.

It’s strange especially as I know they had snow in Southern California yesterday and the day before. Now that’s an interesting thing. During my time there, it got cold. It got rainy but the only time I saw snow in L.A. was when I drove up to the mountains. You could see it glittering on top of the mountains from a distance but unless you drove up there, you didn’t actually feel the cold of snow. Thus, it’s weird to think that my friends in California are having weather that’s more like ours and we’re having weather that…is not like ours.

Of course, that’s not the only odd thing that’s happening. I’m currently intrigued by the state of Arkansas. According to the news, 5,000 birds literally fell out of the sky shortly before midnight on New Years Eve in Beebe, Arkansas. This was preceded by about 100,000 fish showing up dead in the Arkansas the day before only 125 miles away from Beebe. According to MSN, yesterday, another 500 birds fell from the sky just over 300 miles away from Beebe in Louisiana.

I don’t know about you but I’m intrigued. The scientific theory on the birds is that they had a mass trauma. Since it occurred before midnight on New Year’s Eve, scientists are stating that fireworks were being set off and this terrified the birds.

My question is this: Aren’t fireworks usually set off after midnight on New Years’ Eve? Also, what about the fish? That’s a lot of fish.

Naturally, with this kind of weirdness comes the non-scientific theories. The, uh, ‘crazies’ are declaring it as a sign of the apocalypse. Me, personally, I’ll wait for the four horsemen and the locusts to show up before I start worrying.

Seriously, more than anything, the writer in me is jumping up and down with her hands raised saying, “Let me try! Let me try!” and then my brain begins to come up with scenerios that could mystically cause the death of the birds. The easy solution is aliens. I hate aliens. I’m fed up of aliens. If something weird happens, after people start thinking it’s an apocalypse, the aliens are blamed next. It’s an easy way out.

Also, I find aliens a little boring. I mean if they were responsible for killing birds and fish, I find that a slightly dull thing to do to another planet. Granted, I suppose that’s better than any of the following scenerios which are cultivated by the Hollywood idea of aliens:

* They have no water on their planet. Thus they need ours.
* They come in peace to study us.
* They come to destroy us either in retaliation for something or because they’re aliens and according to Hollywood, they don’t really need a reason.
* Their planet is dying and they need ours.
* They’re bored.
* They like earth so they decide to take over it.
* They get stuck on earth because they’re spaceship abandoned them/broke down.

I’m sure there are plenty of other alien scenerios from Hollywood but those are the ones that come to mind.

I don’t want to think aliens are killing our birds and fish. I’d prefer to think of it as something more…exciting. Maybe the fish just had a suicide pact. Maybe theirs was a fish cult and they all drank the fish equivalent of Kool-aid because they were fed up of being bottom feeders (note: the fish were ‘drum fish’ which aren’t usually caught for food). Maybe the birds dropped out of the sky because they ran into a strange, invisible wall that only appears every 2011th New Years’ Eve. Or there was a skyquake which we didn’t feel because humans don’t have wings.

Who knows? My ideas are silly but it’s interesting when such phenomenon’s occur. They’re the kind of news stories that pique my interest because they’re not the normal depressing tales of murder, mayhem and tragedy that often bookend the news. They’re unusual. As a writer, they get my imagination flowing.

It’s just interesting that this is how the new year begins. I’m sure in a few short days, we’ll have someone who’s done the math based on either Nostradamus or Revelation and they will declare that 2011 is predicted as the end of the world. Then they’ll start infecting people who formerly were only a little paranoid and turn them into ‘crazies’ who start buying books called, “2011: YEAR OF THE APOCALYPSE.”

People fascinate me. Mass bird deaths and fish deaths fascinate me. I know this makes me slightly twisted and disturbed but, well, if you read my blog regularly, I make no apologies for that.

I’m going to be keeping an eye on the news. In the meantime, since I’m looking for story ideas, if anyone out there hears of any other interesting news stories (or “News of the Weird”, as it’s called), pass it along. I can always use ideas.

Oh, and if you spot four horseman riding by, let me know that too. Now that would REALLY make for an interesting story. If there’s time, of course.

Happy Wednesday!

Summer Dog Days

Well, I'd say it was a better day because at least it wasn't Monday. Maybe that's true but it could, in its own way, have been a Monday.

Our impromptu meeting today was short. There were no bagels, awkward or otherwise. There weren't even any doughnuts. I was quite disappointed. If you have to sit through a staff meeting first thing in the morning, at least provide sustenance!

Nevertheless, we ended up being in our meeting for less than 15 minutes. It was scheduled in order to tell us that our president, aka Marcel Marceau, was resigning.

I have to admit, I wasn't shocked. I wasn't even that surprised. When you merge two companies and one is dominant enough to force us to rename everything after them, you have to see where the power lies. We'll never know why our president decided to resign. He's not the type to tell us that. My guess is that, like us, he's tired of the changes and since he'd lost some modicum of power, he was ready for something new.

He then announced that he'd be staying through the end of the year. People were already crying. They continued to cry. I, Captain Monkeypants, had the insensitive thought of "well, he's not going yet! We're stuck with him for four more months!"

I am obviously not the majority, I'll admit. I think there are things our president has done that have been smart. I believe those people in our company who tell me how different he used to be. I, however, have only known the stressed-out, moody, favourite-playing president who, up until recently, barely gave me the time of day. He can be fun, I'll admit that. Yet there was this teeny voice in my head that said, "Well, maybe it's for the best. Maybe the new president won't favour the same people and things will change."

For the rest of the day, following the meeting, there was a somber air about the office. I'm not sure why since it's not like he's leaving tomorrow. The regime is changing but...not yet. We still have work to do. I, especially, have work to do since my coworker is skipping out on her project and it's fallen on me to do it. It's a lot of work to get done in two days which is why I was infuriated when the same coworker whose work I am doing hosted a loud gossip session at her desk with four people for about 40 minutes when I'm desperately trying to keep on top of 'her' work. I tried to convey that I was working but they were oblivious.

I think I'm just grouchy. That's really what it comes down to really. It's the hot oppressive summer heat. It's hard to have the energy to do anything. Everything feels stagnant and the air is heavy. Normally, I wouldn't let my job get me all crotchety like this because it's just the way things are. Yet, at the moment, it feels good to glare and snipe. Well, not good but better.

I don't think it's just me. I know lots of people who are feeling similar. Even the puppies seem to be sniping at each other more. They play but they get annoyed with each other far quicker. The annoyance lasts just long enough for one to cross the room and the other take a flying leap to pounce on her but its definitely there.

Though Sookie is feeling better. She proved this to me last night by the fact that I took her temperature and it was normal. Of course, having to take her temperature was not fun for either of us. The ear thermometer was $39.99. The rectal one was $7.99. Payday isn't here yet. You can put the equation together. Hmm...that may explain her short temper. I suppose if someone did that to me, I might be waspish.

Still, she managed to prove even more that she felt better later on last evening. I happened to look out of the window and notice she and Rory were tossing something around. Curious, I went outside to investigate. Somehow, my fearsome hunters had stalked and captured a bird. It was dead and still mostly intact. I confiscated it and threw it away. They were not happy with me and proceeded to spend the rest of the evening stalking other birds. They gravitate towards the chirping and they watch. One thing about dachshunds is when they're on the hunt, they're dedicated. They sit very still and just wait. And then, when the moment is right, they pounce.

I have to admit, I didn't expect them to actually catch a bird. After all, birds can fly. I wasn't sure whether I should be impressed or horrified. However, since the bird was dead, I settled for an impressed shudder as I put it in a plastic grocery bag, double wrapped it and threw it away.

The dogs were very annoyed for the rest of the evening. Normally, when they decide the day is over and it's time to sleepy, they get up on the sofa with me until it's time for bed. Last night, the both slept on the floor, side by side, their backs to me.

Perhaps there really is a reason why they call them the dog days of summer.

Happy Wednesday.