Nature's Music

           Last evening was unusual for October in Iowa, but the breeze was welcome on the water in the warm night air.  Sounds of music from an anchored sailboat wafted in the wind....and then, what sounded like thunder growing increasingly louder erupted from a dark place on the lake off to our right.  Hundreds of gulls, terns and pelicans who had been resting undetected suddenly took to the sky, their wings beating with a pulse that overwhelmed the soft jazz coming from the sailboat.  Nature's music is always interesting, and often surprising.