The Swallows

For two days now, hundreds of swallows have been swinging through the air around my house.  The birds have been feasting on shoaling swarms of insects.

Swallows fly gracefully and swiftly and sometimes seem to turn inside-out as they bank abrupt turns, or swoop upward.

      

I have taken to walking out and standing on the open prairie while the birds are falling from the bottom of the sky and shooting through the billows of insects.  The birds sometimes elevate their feeding to such a frenzy, I cannot pick out and follow just one from the disordered whole.  At times I feel as if I have stuffed me head inside a giant popcorn maker.  If I stand still, some of the birds will fly within arms-length of my face.

Honestly, I would be happy to watch a show such as this every night.

--Mitchell Hegman