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SCENE AT ELLIS’ RESTAURANT

    LT COL NOEL ELLIS   04/XI/2024   Every morning the scene in the Ellis’ restaurant is so refreshing. The notes birds sing sounds like ‘reveille’ being sounded by the buglers. The ‘scenario’ keeps varying with arrival of different birds at different timings.   It is like being a restaurant owner, working solo with minimum help. Yours truly is the waiter, housekeeper, cook, receptionist, barman, purchase manager, accountant, and storekeeper of this shack. Imagine!   Foremost thing in the morning is housekeeping of the garden area, followed by watering the pots. This gives the plants a nice bath, like kids being readied for school.   The first set of ‘clients’ called the ‘Tailor Birds’ appear. They love to hunt for insects which get disturbed by the watering ritual. They sing and dance, hop and skip and carry on chasing moths and worms, without bothering about my presence.   By then the Bulbuls and the Sparrows start lining up around the trees, urging me to ‘o

LOCUST WITHOUT A “L”

  LOCUST WITHOUT A “L”   LT COL NOEL ELLIS   14/IX/2024   They say if you wish for something with a noble heart, it gets fulfilled. Had I asked for the moon, I would have got it today. Was it a coincidence? I am not sure. To find out please read on.   A friend of mine had asked me about ‘good’ and ‘bad’ insects in a garden, on which I wrote an article. In that, I had mentioned a kind of grasshopper called the ‘Locust’. It is a bright yellowish green insect. It is sometimes seen in our garden. They create havoc if found in swarms, but one or two do not harm much.   After writing the article, I wished I had a photo of the Locust. Digging it out from the archives could add colour but that would have been time consuming.   Having posted the article, I walked out of the house to check on the blooms of the day. There was a large variety with vibrant colours gracing the garden. A treat to the eyes and soul.   Just then my eyes fell on a bamboo stick supporting a vi