Day 360 - Four For The Boy

dump and run

I knew the morning was going to be a struggle when I arose to find this large concrete mixer dumping its load on the new drive they're installing next door - and completely blocking the only way out onto the road.

By the time it had been and gone, I was late leaving for work, although in truth I was a bit behind schedule anyway.

I had a relatively clear run up to Bretford, the halfway mark of my journey, and figured I might make up a little time for a change...as I zipped along the Fosse Way, I considered whether leaving a little later could in fact be a good strategy...

As I approached one of the usual bottlenecks, which was much less busy than usual, I spotted a buzzard sat high in what is becoming one of my favourite trees.

tiny buzzard

I took this shot with my phone as I waited for the lights to change, and I quite like the desolate feel of it...it's the same tree that the cormorant sat in a couple of weeks ago.

Even cropped to see the buzzard a little better, it retains some atmosphere I think:

big buzzard

Leaving Bretford, traffic in the opposite direction was significantly heavier than usual, and I wondered if there was a problem on the motorways...

In any case, I was glad to be travelling north...and then I ran into stationary traffic leaving Brinklow, where I knew I was probably a mile from the roadworks that have been up ahead for some weeks.

It took half an hour to cover said mile, and when I eventually got to the lights, I realised they were stuck on red...the other end of the lights were a few hundred yards away, round the corner and out of sight. 

Every few minutes some brave soul would say "sod it" and just go through the red light, catalysing a stream of followers who jumped right on the bandwagon. 

Drivers coming the other way were doing the same, so there were a few snarl-ups, but somehow we all gradually made it through.

As I sat near the lights, almost ready to take my turn, four magpies alighted in the tree next to me...

death or a boy

Seriously, there are four magpies in this shot - find them yourselves, if you can!

According to the popular kids TV show of the 70's, four magpies is for a boy...but in the older, original versions of the lyric, four is for death...

But what does that even mean?  

The death of the person who saw the four of them together?  Or the death of someone the person knows?  Or a death in the vicinity of the person?

But in what time frame?  Within how long of seeing them...a day, a week, a year?

Does it have to be a human death?  I'm fairly sure some poor creature will have died in the area around me today...but how far around me?

You see, if they're going to give these portents of doom any credibility at all, they're going to have to be a bit more specific with the prophecy. 

I mean, "four for death..."...am I supposed to be scared?

Even if it was more akin to, "Four for Death!!! Mwahahaha!", it still isn't at all clear on exactly what the threat is supposed to be, or to whom it's supposed to be threatening..

I think I'm inclined to go with four for the Boy (Wonder)...he'd like them, having had some early gun dog training, which involved being encouraged to be interested in birds.

He wouldn't find them in that photograph any more than you will, though...

:-)