Passover ends today, and I will say that this year it certainly was the harbinger of spring in San Francisco. The weather has been fabulous--bright sunshine with the cool ocean breeze that keeps the air from getting too hot. And this morning I heard the symphony of the birds, sounds that never cease to amaze me.
I've lived in cities all of my adult life--first in Manhattan and now in San Francisco. Even on the quietest of days you will be hard pressed to hear many sounds of birds in a New York apartment--not counting, of course, any you might have as pets :) When I first moved to San Francisco, we lived right across from a small park but still, not many chirps.
But here in the SF neighborhood of upper Noe Valley I get serenaded each spring and summer morning by all sorts of birds. Often in our backyard I see sparrows and bluebirds and hummingbirds. But the loudest sounds come from the parrots that live on our hill. The birds are probably part of a flock of wild parrots originally imported as house pets. You can read about the San Francisco parrots in Mark Bittner's The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.
It's a beautiful cacophony. I don't usually see them en mass, though I often spy different varieties. But in those early hours with the sun newly risen, listening to their songs, I lay in my bed and smile, reminded of another reason why I love living here
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