"Birdland" - Weather Report, 1977

I live in a barn. Really! It's a "barn conversion", actually, typical of a lot of dwellings in England. It's remarkable. The building dates back to the 1700's, according to my neighbor and the former owner of the entire farm.

I was very lucky to find such a special place to lease. But some people are amused by where I live. My friend Joel in Houston once quipped, when writing to me, "Janet, just because you were born in Oklahoma doesn't mean that you have to live in a barn!" Ha Ha, Joel...very funny!

One of the features of my end of the building is a row of sort of "cubby holes", for lack of a better description. We suspect that they had something to do with air flow/ventilation in the barn. White doves live in those cubby holes, and they've become our friends. Their cooing is very soothing, and it's fun to watch them raise their families. They've been such prolific breeders over the past year that the end of the house became a sort of white dove tenement building for awhile. But recently we suspect that some of the youngsters have been told to grow up and move along and not live with mum and dad (and, we suspect, grandparents and aunts & uncles, too!) anymore. It's much less overcrowded now, but I have to wonder how far away the young doves had to go to find suitable new homes.

The doves are one of the features of the house that's most special to me. I worry about them when the temperature dips below freezing, but they always seem to find a way to all keep warm and have shelter.

"My birds" can be seen all over the village as well. Sometimes they almost seem to follow me when I walk to the bus stop in the center of the village, as I can see them perched on buildings in the Market Place as I'm waiting for the bus to take me into Oxford. I'm sure I'm exaggerating...but it's fun to think that perhaps they might be tracking my movements.

Below, you'll find photos of the building I live in (with the village's beautiful church tower in the background...parts of the church building date back to the 1200's, but the tower was rebuilt in the 17th century), of the inhabited cubby holes in the end of the house, and of one of the white doves on the nearby brick wall...a wonderful portrait that John took last year.


Janet