Life's a Stitch

The Laura Nyro version of Up On The Roof was my favourite song in the early 1970's. It represented an island of calm in a time of turmoil in my teenage life.

Currently there's a lot going on up on the roof of the condo building across the street. We've been watching a family of gulls, from the time they started building their nest to the now weeks-old hatchlings exercising their wings in preparation for their first flight to come at around eight weeks of age. 

They are a messy noisy pain, but living near the ocean and whining about seagulls is like moving into a house near the airport and complaining about the sound of jet engines. Their lifespan is 20 years, so we might as well accept them as part of the landscape.

It started with three chicks, but one day there was a mess of feathers on the roof and we were down by one. It was probably attacked by a crow – sadly, crows and gulls steal from each other's nests. That, or taken as dinner by an eagle or raccoon. Gulls can lay eggs sequentially, so a while later, the remaining two were joined by a smaller sibling. They are quite cute all fuzzy and spotted and are fun to watch.

Their condo association had fake owls installed on the roof to deter the gulls from landing, but it obviously didn't work.

We've had a good view of them while working on our upper floor back deck. C had a vision of deck tiles and fake grass, transforming the vinyl coated deck into an inviting outdoor room. It ended up working well thanks to Craig's List, which he monitored diligently for the materials.