Have you ever stepped into a movie?

"There is no terror in a bang, only in the anticipation of it"  - Alfred Hitchcock.

I am not Rod Taylor, my name is Robert.  And the stretch of Interstate 10 between Houston and San Antonio is a long ways from Bodega Bay, California.  But on this eerie evening, near twilight, you could not have convinced me of these things.  I had been on the road all day, trying to get home to my San Antonio Rose, a pet name for my pet sidekick.  About sixty miles east of the Guadalupe River my fuel light came on separating the murkiness of the cab with streaks of amber and as I fought to keep my eyes open, the lights of a Shell station appeared over the next knoll.  Perfect timing, maybe even divine timing - or as I would soon second-guess myself; devilish timing.

I eased the truck down the exit ramp and as I approached the Shell station I thought it a little eerie that, with it being just early evening, there were no other vehicles in the parking lot.  No I-10 bound semis soaking up deisel, no weary travellers (other than me) with empty tanks and empty stomachs and no family of four popping into the adjoining McDonald's for some beef-tainted, addicting fries.  Noticeably weird.  But then I exited the cab of my truck, noticed a purplish tint to all around me and silence so thick it felt like Barnabas' cloak draped over my bones, and the word 'weird' no longer held enough essence for the scene.

A shadow past over me and a shiver run through me.  I looked skyward and when I did I could almost hear the old sound of 8mm film running through a projector.  In my head, I could almost hear old Hitchcock laughing and somewhere off in the distance Rod Sterling was awakening from his slumber.  Somehow, I had become Rod Taylor and this stretch of I-10 had become Bodega Bay........  And overhead, "The Birds"

  {True Story and Photos by Robert B. 01/29/2008}

more birds (from Tory) http://www.gather.com/viewImage.jsp?fileId=3096224744543759&nav=Namespace&memberId=391578