“A Bird Flew in the Window, Dad . . .”

While working in the office one afternoon, I was interrupted by Amani, Abby and Sophia who came running all speaking at once. Breathlessly they told me that a bird had flown in the house and I had to get it out. I went with them to check it out and, indeed, it was true. A local weaver bird had flown in the open window (we don’t have screens on all the windows, somehow it’s not possible, we’re told). The beautiful orange-colored bird was hanging on to our curtains for dear life as my chattering trio burst into the dining room pointing to the obviously scared bird. I opened up the windows as far as they could go. Then I stood on a chair and slowly moved my hand towards it. It had the presence of mind to see the window was open and it flew through the window. Problem solved.

The Flora and Fauna are different here, naturally. But there are some similarities as well. One bird looks like our robin. The weaver birds bear a resemblance to our orioles. And the crows are like ours but with a large splash of white around the collar. There are other fascinating birds I have seen that I haven’t figured out their names yet. A bird that has a crown like a cardinal but with an extraordinarily long tail. There are vultures that look as ugly as they did in cartoons. They seem to be everywhere in town. They circle high above round and round where ever they might see dead or dying flesh. We occasionally have to drive past a slaughterhouse and the vultures are everywhere there. They perch by the hundreds on the roof and all around the where the waste is dumped.

And there are eagles here, or very large hawks, that hunt next door in the open field where a school is. I’ve gotten the binoculars out and the girls have enjoyed watching the eagles sit majestically in the trees watching for live prey. When they spread their wings and take off, it is truly an awesome sight.

The flowers and trees are fascinating too. Wanda recognized flowers from back home but only much bigger. We have a peace lily in our garden but it’s the biggest peace lily she’s ever seen. Some plants grow so big they are almost small trees! There is a cactus type plant/tree in our back yard. And everywhere you go you see Australian Eucalyptus trees, apparently they grow fast and are hardy.

We have a garden space as well. Wanda and I are thinking of bringing seeds of our favorite vegetables and fruits back from North America and planting them here. Will they grow in this altitude? We won’t know ‘til we try.




Recently we were downcountry to Nazret (yes, like Nazareth) and we ended up in a rose garden. It was a beautiful day and I took photos of beautiful flowers. I’ll share them with you. Some you may recognize, some you may not. In addition I saw my first avocado tree (top) as well as a tree bearing fruit I have never seen (bottom). Our Ethiopian friends could not give us the English name. So here’s the mystery, do you know the name of this fruit?

Cheers everyone.