"Feeding the Swans"

My covivant, Pat, and I recently spent just over six months living in Galway, Ireland. We resided
in the heart of the city, in a flat beside the
River Corrib a couple of blocks upstream from where it empties into Galway Bay. The three-mile river is the watershed for Lough Corrib, the second largest lake in Ireland. The lake and river host a colony of more than 2000 mute swans.
On most days, even the blustery and damp ones we
experienced our first few months, Pat would don
her big red sweater, buy a loaf or two of bread
at the corner shop and go feed the swans. When the swans would stand up and stretch their necks,
they and Pat would be at eye level. Big birds.