The past few days have been very stressful thanks to a leaky hot water heater that set in motion a ridiculously difficult time in getting it fixed. It started with a trip to the hardware store where I had to wait for nearly two hours to get my order filled and loaded. The only saving grace for the afternoon was that there is a large pond near the store and it was quite busy with bird life that afternoon. Among the birds there was a flock of American white ibis (Eudocimus albus). They were wandering around along the pond edges picking through the grass and the muck hunting for invertebrates to snack on. At one point a truck full of teenagers went by and they threw out some popcorn to the birds. Everyone seemed to enjoy that. So while I sat, waiting on my order and getting more and more irritated, at least I could watch and photograph some birds. It’s probably the only reason I didn’t get more annoyed than I did and sooner than I did. You don’t realize how much you take hot water and daily showers for granted until they’re not available.