Chicka, I don't know if they've flown yet, because each time I've checked lately, the camera is pointed at some blank place on the roof. The last few times I've seen the chicks, they were up on the tall ledge, though, so maybe the camera pointed at that blank area means they've taken off from that place! According to the link I posted above, they usually don't hunt on their own until about a month after their first flight. I thought I read somewhere that they stay at the nest sight (or with the parents) for up to a year after they hatch...but I'm not sure now. It's said that "the only time that a female would lay more than one clutch of eggs in a year is if the first eggs are lost or damaged before hatching or the chicks die in their first few days." Hope I get to see one of them fly SOME day! Brenda

I'm in San Francisco on holiday and brought SWMBO to Cookin’, the amazing jumble of vintage French cookware on Divisadero St that I posted about at the start of this thread. The door was locked with a hand-lettered sign: "Knock", which I did. A man opened the door and explained the store is no longer open to the public but only admits "the trade". Before I could break down in tears he said he'd give us ten minutes in the shop. We entered and I said I was looking for a 25 mm carbon steel Sabatier chefs knife (yes, I like my first one so much I want another one). We wriggled through the forest of enamel pots, vintage advertisements, hanging racks, small appliances from the 1970s, cases and boxes and reached the glass case holding thousands of knives. He rummaged around a bit, and then went to fetch the owner Judy. She looked exactly as she had last time I was there, and we started talking about French knifemaking, blade profiles, her trips to France, and where the best markets were. I don't have any reason to think she recognized me. There are people you just click with right away and for me, she is one. She showed me a collection of vintage mochi molds and Japanese pastry branding irons, and we talked about her desire to find a collector or museum to keep this set intact. We went into the back room and she explained her plan to install a kitchen for cooking demonstrations. By now I'd been in the shop for a hour and I hesitantly asked if there was a way to become a "trade member" to have access to her shop in future. "No problem, I'll give you a card.". So a little later I left with a business card that signifies something that I'm not sure what, two 25 mm Sabatier knives, and various pots and forks that SWMBO, who had been talking with the man, had decided I should buy. Oh, and three recommendations for hole in the wall food joints in San Francisco that I promised to visit. I love shops and people like this. I hope Judy and Cookin' last forever.

Astrokath, I have never read a Cormac McCarthy book that I've enjoyed. That one sounds a bit different than his usual fare but, I bet it doesn't have a happy ending. I was about to pick up where I left off in my Hungarian bank robber book when the library informed me that another ebook I had reserved months ago was available, The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen. It's an entertaining fantasy novel. My book club has chosen Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts for next month's discussion.

Bears due to encountering a problem bear on my first backpacking trip many years ago. I still go but sleeping alone at a campsite can sometimes be nervy. My little dog helps; I figure if he's not barking, nothing is out there. :-) I didn't use to think of sharks but probably would now if I still swam in the ocean. And rip currents. Not really heights. Unless I'm standing on an unstable surface that might give way and cause me to slide toward a precipice, or just a painful bouncy slide. (Loose slate or shale) Once it was snow. Probably just abundance of caution though, not paranoia. Driving on snow didn't used to bother me but after sliding back down a steep hill that I didn't make up with four locked wheels doing a 180 into the ditch, I've been known to sit at the top/bottom of a hill trying to work up the nerve to start down/up. No snow covered black icy hills here though. :-)