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Offline Baruch Menachem

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an odd evening's entertainment
« on: September 05, 2008, 11:55:24 PM »
When Chapman school was built in the 1920's it was heated by a sawdust burning furnace with a huge smokestack.  During the summer, migratory swifts began roosting it the smokestack, and people got in the habit of watching them roost.  The furnace has since been converted to natural gas, a conversion paid for by the audobaun society, which also paid for the sismic refit of the chimney. 

Anyway, for about 3 weeks in the spring, and three weeks in the fall people watch the migrating swifts roost at sunset.  It is a weird and wonderful thing.  they make a dark cloud over the school and they fly back and forth, and when they finally go to bed around sunset the pour into the smokestack like a reverse cloud of smoke.

Anyway, my kids and I went to watch this evening.  It was really lots of low key fun.
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Offline Lord Undies

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Re: an odd evening's entertainment
« Reply #1 on: September 06, 2008, 12:18:57 AM »
That is interesting.  I feel sorry for the chimneysweeps of old.  It was a shitty job.
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Offline Flame

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Re: an odd evening's entertainment
« Reply #2 on: September 06, 2008, 08:56:23 AM »
Cool...looks like something I would do with my kids!
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Offline Baruch Menachem

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Re: an odd evening's entertainment
« Reply #3 on: September 06, 2008, 10:18:55 AM »
Well, it is an Oregon thing.  Even the migratory fowl are kind of strange.  Must be something in the water.
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An optimist sees the glass as half full, a pessimist sees the glass as half empty, an engineer sees that there is twice the glass required to contain the beer

My name is Obamandias, King of Kings, 
  Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Offline Wineslob

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Re: an odd evening's entertainment
« Reply #4 on: September 08, 2008, 02:04:43 PM »
      "If you like watching birds fly into a smokestack............."
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