More crow crap, this time by Ira

Don, you'll be happy to know that the other night I accidentally left two garbage bags outside our house in prep for the morning's garbage pickup and found one of them riped open by the local crows. Fortunately it was a dry nonburnable load, but annoying to clean up nonethless. The garbage pickup locations have large green netting under which we leave the bags so that the crows can't get at them. Still, these guys always seem to figure out how to gain access, and walking the streets of our neighborhood I often see garbage strewn about.

Speaking of crows and their raven cousins, little known fact about Edgar Allen Poe - he lived the last few years of his life in The Bronx, up in the Fordham section on Kingsbridge Road. My folks would take me to Poe Park, where his cottage still stands. Back in the mid-1800's it was very bucolic, now it's a slum. But the cottage is still there ungraffitied, with period furniture inside, and as far as I know the Irish bar Poe Cozy Nook is still across the street. (My parents never took me there, though.)

Lastly, having these huge birds around inspired me to rent Hitchcock's The Birds a few weeks ago to scare the kids. It worked, and of course now I can't help keeping an eye on the crows when I walk past them. It's there in the back of my head, like the Jaws music when I'm swimming in the ocean...