BOOM!

It's pretty noisy here. Barking dogs, blaring music, LOUD vendors (gas, garbage, tamales, you name it), and of course the mysterious booms and bangs.

Around the holidays, fireworks drown out every other noise. They start mid-day (which I don't understand because you can't SEE them) and continue late into the night. Setting them off inside metal garbage cans seems to be a favorite.

Gunshots are also common, something I still can't believe I'm used to. We used to duck behind walls whenever a neighbor fired off a full clip, but now I don't even flinch. I can't always distinguish between gunfire and other loud noises (like a car backfiring) so I just stay away from the windows and continue about my day.

[Funny side note: as I was typing "other loud noises" the dryer buzzed, scaring both me and Owen. Timing is everything.]

But every now and then there's a loud BOOM that makes everyone stop and look around. Sometimes the power blinks afterwards, which prompted Ibis to head to the street and check out what was going on.

He came back a few minutes later with his report. "Pigeons."

"Pigeons?"

"Exploding pigeons."

"Exploding pigeons?"

Apparently, every now and then the pigeons sit on the wrong wire and BLAMMO! Off goes its head.

Exploding pigeons.

The woman who explained this to him said that after one exploded, the others would fly around for a bit, then return to the same wire and BOOM! Another exploding pigeon. She shook her head as they watched them swoop back to the wires and said, "You would think that they'd learn."

Yes, yes you would.