It was six in the morning, as dark as night, being so close to the winter solstice. I was driving, one of the very rare times I drive to my office – oil change day. I backed down the driveway, and as I turned onto our road, looking through the rear view mirror, I saw a white shape in the distance glide by.

I looked, then peered intently. It wasn’t gliding, it was walking, and sometimes crouching down. It moved back and forth at the end of our street. It looked like it was following a black fuzz, or small black haze.

The apparition appeared to be wearing a white dress, and had shoulder length hair. I could not make out any detail on the black fuzz. The white apparition seemed preoccupied with the black fuzz, sometimes walking behind it, sometimes crouching when the black fuzz was close, then the black fuzz would quickly move away, and the white apparition would follow.

What was it? The safest assumption is that our neighbours have a new puppy, a black one, who was brought out for an early morning piddle trip. Since my eyes lack a tapetum lucidum, as all humans lack, any light colours she was wearing would have appeared white, and a black or dark coloured dog would have appeared as a black fuzz.

Mystery solved.

Then I realized the buzzing was intermittent. As I walked closer to the wood stove, when the buzzing stopped, I could hear a bird. The bird’s calls were coming from within the chimney!

I opened the wood stove. I didn’t expect to see the bird, because there is not a direct wide enough pass-way from the chimney intake to the wood stove. The wood stove is full of paper and wood, because I don’t use it, except in an emergency, and there has been no emergency in over two years. It is full and waiting to go.

I realized that if a bird is trapped inside, we have to get it out. How? Do I leave, and leave a note on the table to cal the SPCA or some such? No, thaought would not be fair. I should try to get it out. That means moving the wood stove. But it has never been moved since it was installed ages ago.

I cleared it off, and tried to move it. Heavy. Too heavy for me alone. All the while, in between the buzzing and rattling, I heard the bird calling. Poor thing. Maybe there is a nest in there?

I decided to go outside and see. That is easier and quicker than moving the wood stove.

I went on the rock and looked up at the chimney. There is a metal cap over the chimney, keeping rain from dripping in. On top of the metal cap was a woodpecker. The woodpecker would peck the metal cap, like woodpeckers do, which caused the buzzing. When the woodpecker stopped, it would sing out, then resume the pecking. I burst out laughing. While thinking of ways to chase off the woodpecker, it flew away. Woodpeckers are not the smartest birds out there.