The last month of the year, December is a favorite mostly because it brings the brood home to roost for a week. There are some other things about December too that make it stand out.

The rains having stopped, the sunrises get more gorgeous by the day in December. Not so much this year though as we had more of cloudy days than sunny ones. The skies get bluer and bluer. But this year we had intermittent rain, the light showers kind almost the whole month, and blue skies were rare. In fact it rained just a while back. What I like best about the month is waking to the calls of the White-cheeked Barbet. The Asian Koels too can be heard singing their sweet song. Kuhoooo, kuhoooo. Not to be left out, the Southern Coucal joins them, going goop, goop in its deep voice.

While walking with Luci in the backyard today, I saw a Loten’s Sunbird – back after a long time – on the orange ixora bush. It was quite close, just a foot away, and quite oblivious to my presence. The sight galvanized me into action. I rushed inside to get my phone. But when I returned, it was no longer there. Bummer. The best part of the day had been a Chocolate Pansy trying to give Luci a kiss on her nose. Taken aback by this brazenness, Luci took a step back, shaking her snout this way and that, and the butterfly flew away, laughing I bet, and eager to tell the story to its mates. I kissed the dog, guys and gals.

We have come to the end of the last day of a horrendous year which successfully locked humanity away indoors for most of its tenure, the likes of which we have not seen in our lifetime, While I sit here typing, I can hear people bursting crackers much ahead of the formal year end which is still an hour away. I cannot help but wonder, what are they celebrating? If they are welcoming the new year, do they know what it holds? The same time last year we had no clue how this one was going to turn out. But hope lives on, I guess.

And… I have come to the last day of my blogathon. Twenty nine out of thirty one. Not bad, really. Or at least that’s how I am going to console myself for skipping two days. Yeah, I am a harsh task master to myself and only now learning to go easy. It doesn’t matter that you missed two days. Let it go. Umm okay. Will do. Done. So Happy Twenty Twenty-One all of you! See you next year.

© Shail Mohan 2020