In the morning drive down to the lagoon. The ducks are waiting for me again. The routine is back. Put seed down for them. Drive home. Drive to the courthouse. Go sit on a bench in the fourth floor of the Safety Building. Do a couple of hearings on my cell phone over Zoom. Go up to the fifth floor for a live hearing. Drive home. Walk up to the office. Work for a while. Go home and lay on the couch and watch a documentary on the Heaven’s Gate cult on HBO MAX. Go to bed at an early hour.
Like they used to do
In the morning drive down to the lagoon. The ducks are out there waiting for me. This is like they used to do last summer and fall. Put out seed for them. When a jogger comes by they are startled. They all fly off at once. This in turn startles the jogger. She suddenly stops and ducks her head as they fly past her. Hillarious. The jogger and the ducks fear each other – yet they have no need to fear one another. Drive home. Do a hearing on my couch over Zoom. Drive to the courthouse for a live hearing. Go to the jail for a consultation. Drive to the House of Correction. Do a consultation over my telephone while sitting in my car with a client away in a prison up north. Go inside the HOC for another consultation. Drive home. Waves of exhaustion come over me as I drive home. The road is bleary. Get home and take a short nap to re-energize. Go to Orangetheory at night.
Second Impeachment
In the morning drive down to the lagoon. Put out seed for the ducks. They fly around and around all above me. They circle closer and closer. Some land on the ground, others on the ice. It is funny to watch the ones on the ice run to catch up to the others that landed on the ground. Drive home. Walk up to the office. Do a couple of hearings over my computer at work. Walk back home for lunch. Drive to the courthouse. Go in for a sentencing hearing. As I drive in to court, listen to the speeches from the debate in the House of Representatives on the second impeachment of the President of the United States. As I drive home from court, listen to the final vote in favor of impeachment. At night go to Orangetheory.
Sun setting over the lagoon
In the morning drive down to the lagoon at sunset. Listen to Jazz music from the college radio station at Harvard University. Put out seed for the ducks. Nobody is out there this early. Drive home. Put out seed and suet in the parking lot next to my car for the Juncos. Drive out to the House of Correction. Go in for two consultations. Drive to Farm and Fleet. Buy more bird seed. Drive to the downtown jail. Go in for a consultation. Walk around the courthouse over lunch. Go to the Safety Building for a live hearing. Drive home. Walk back down to the lagoon. Put out more food for the ducks. A small group gathers to eat. Walk home. The sun setting over the lagoon is gorgeous. Do some work around the house. Get tired. Go to bed early.
Cobra Kai and Star Trek
In the morning drive down to the lagoon before sunrise while listening to Jazz music from the college radio station at Harvard. The ducks are already sitting under the Bodhi tree waiting for me. Put down the seed and watch them swirl around in the air and dive in. Walk to the office. Work all day. Walk over to the U.S. Bank tower. Make a deposit. Walk to the post office. Send out letters. Go to Orangetheory. Lay on the couch and watch the season finales of “Cobra Kai” and “Star Trek: Discovery”.
Cesar Chavez
In the morning go check on the seed pile in the parking lot. Gone. Several of the Juncos fly over and begin lining up on the freeway wall to watch me. They are showing me their love and friendship for me. Or are they just hungry? Either way, I put down a huge pile of seed with scraps of suet as well. Walk to the lagoon. Put out seed for the ducks and peanuts for the squirrels. Walk home. Do a water change on the fish tank. In the afternoon walk south to Bay View. Walk down to Oklahoma Avenue. Walk west to 16th Street. Walk north on 16th. Get a delcious taco from a van. Stop and take a picture of myself alongside a statue of Cesar Chavez. Walk back home. Listen to three more NFL playoff games.
Dive with their feet first
In the morning drive down to the lagoon. Put out seed for the ducks. They fly around me again. As they descend from the air, they dive with their feet first. Some land on the ground, others land out on the ice. They all converge on the pile of food. Drive home. Walk up to the office. Work on several things. In the afternoon walk north on the Oak Leaf trail out to Capitol Drive. Stop at Culver’s for a caramel sundae. Walk back south on Oakland Avenue. Walk to Brady Street. Walk home as it gets dark. Listen to three NFL playoff games.
Sit on a branch
In the morning drive down to the lagoon. The squirrels are extra excited today. Several are running up and down the tree. They come up to me to grab the peanuts. They run up the tree and sit on a branch and enjoy their breakfast. Drive to the courthouse. Go in for a live hearing. Do a hearing over my cell phone while sitting on a bench outside the coutroom. Drive to Farm and Fleet to get more seed. In the afternoon walk to the office. Do another hearing over my office computer. At sunset walk back down to the lagoon. Put out more seed. Walk home as it gets dark. My feet are very sore. Lay on the couch.
They are definitely still with me
In the morning drive down to the lagoon while it is still dark out. Put seed down under the Bodhi tree. Begin placing the peanuts in the tree for the squirrels. Suddenly ducks begin to fly over head. They circle and circle. They get closer and closer to me. I back away from the tree. The ducks begin to descend. About a dozen of them start eating. They are definitely still with me! Drive to the courthouse. Go in for a couple of hearings. Drive to McDonald’s drive thru for lunch. Very impressed with the fast service. Walk up to the office. Work for most of the afternoon. Walk back down to the Bodhi tree at sunset. Put down more seed. A couple of ducks walk over, a husband and wife. They slowly walk over and eventually start eating. They were very cautious about the whole thing. At night go to Orangetheory.
Barbarians
In the morning drive down to the lagoon before sunrise to put out seed under the Bodhi tree. The food from yesterday was all gone. Several squirrels were waiting for me this morning. Drive home. Do serveral court hearings on the couch over my cell phone. Drive to the jail. Go in for a consultation. Drive out to the House of Correction. Go in for another consultation. At night go to Orangetheory.
The news of the day was the riot at the capitol in Washington D.C. I posted the following on Facebook:
Weakened by plague, endless wars, massive wealth inequality, and incompetent leadership, the unthinkable happened to the Roman Empire: barbarians looted the capitol. Within a few decades everything was lost to the dark ages. Sadly, they didn’t have the Democrats around to fix things. But we do.
