Airborne Bluebird

I had to spend most of today indoors writing and, in truth, it was not an especially onerous burden. The spring storm that I had hoped would give me one last day on cross-country skis failed to deliver any snow—Cape Cod and Downeast Maine actually had a blizzard—but it did bring strong gales and intense cold. It also brought a yard-ful of Bluebirds, which, of course, were literally blowing in the wind. The gorgeous birds, which we see from time to time all winter, were not interested in posing, so I had my best photo ops observing and taking their pictures through the house windows. This is not optimum, and the insulating qualities of the glass made for soft photos. As if this wasn't bad enough, the camera's autofocus mechanism is often fooled by the through-the-window situation and focuses on the wrong thing—in this case, the background area just behind the bird. So, while the quality isn't the best, there's something I like very much about the spread of those wings in flight as the bird jumps into the air from its perch on the ground. And how could you not be cheered by a Bluebird, even a less-than-optimum image of that harbinger of happiness?