Report and thanks

Not well today, though it is as beautiful as an early spring day can be.   I spent part of it finishing Michael D. O’Brien book Island of the World.  I received mail from Rome of offprints of scholarly articles penned by a friend of mine. 

But I was lifted up today by the arrival of the UPS truck bearing a copy of The Quest for Shakespeare by Joseph Pearce and Ancient Rhetoric and Oratory by Thomas Habinek.  Both are items from my wish list.  I thank you.  On dismally beautiful days such as this, these surprises help.

ADDENDUM:

A remarkable thing happened on my long trudge out to the mail box. 

As a neared a small landscaped area with some shrubs toward the end of the drive, there was a swift assertive THWIP sound past my ear as a falcon or perhaps harrier swooped upon its prey, in this case a sparrow pecking on the ground.  The sparrow did an incredible tight circle of avoidance and thus lived to chirp a while longer.  The falcon, probably to small to be a hawk, thus thwarted, did not linger.