birds are nature's alarm clocks

Unfortunately, they don't come with a snooze button.

Across the street from our apartment, there is this tree we refer to as The Tree of a Thousand Birds. During the warmer months, starting at about four in the morning, these birds raise up such a cacophany that sleep, should the windows be open as an un-airconditioned apartment in summer demands, becomes impossible. And we've learned from bitter experience that one should never, ever park one's car under The Tree of a Thousand Birds, unless one wants to drive around in a car that's coated in bird shit.

So I'm here in Rani & Joy's apartment, in NYC, after finding out yesterday afternoon that I did, magically, get the whole weekend off work (amazing! I'm still in shock). They live right across the street from Inwood Hill Park, which is like, the biggest park in Manhattan after Central Park. And apparently, instead of just one Tree of a Thousand Birds, they've got a whole park full of them to wake us up bright and early on a Saturday morning - nevermind that I didn't get here until 12:45 a.m. after taking a wrong exit and getting lost in New Jersey, or that I didn't get to bed until 2 and then couldn't fall asleep because I'm allergic to feather pillows.

Damn birds.

Of course, it doesn't help that there are no window treatments in this room yet, either. Damn sunlight. It's not even sunny or anything, but it's ludicrously bright for being so overcast.

Well, I have no idea what the itinerary for today is, aside from the baby-showery-things, so I don't know what to tell you to expect from my posting this weekend - just that, with any luck, I'll be able to do a fair bit of it (for a change). Yay!