I've had a number of largely positive responses to this year's seasonal e-greet but there seems to be confusion as to what the image actually consists of.
Let me explain.
I spotted this singular group of weathervanes on the top of the stumpy steeple that graces the Saumur Hotel de Ville. Are they storks? Their tail feathers are all wrong, but that's it, you see, – they need those atypical tail feathers to turn them to point into the wind, just like the weathercocks that top-off many a church, chapel and cathedral. They appear in profile because I took their likeness with my box-brownie against a blue sky. But they are by all appearances, pretty much two dimensional.
The two calling birds (on the right of the group) don't recognise these creations as birds at all of course, hence their indelicate perches on the convenient tail 'feathers' of two of these stork weathervanes. The 'calling birds' are real birds and flew off after a few moments of rest and recuperation.
The higher stork is bigger than the others. They all appear to pivot on what looks like a third leg. I have been unable to discover if storks have a particular significance to Saumur and conclude that, whoever designed and made this avian group, was thinking creatively and wished to be original in their output.
I like them.
See if you can spot them next time you saunter in Saumur…
I hope this clears up any confusion.
Here endeth my 2025 posts.
Bless!
