Old people like birds. I've known this since forever, because my grandparents had all sorts of cockamamie home-made birdfeeders strung up all over outside their large picture windows. When my grandpa moved away, we took one of those birdfeeders and added it to our own assortment of home-made and store-bought feeders. each morning before heading off for school, I'd sit with my parents and enjoy the bluejays, robins, woodpeckers, thrush, canaries.. you name it, the birds would grace our front lawn and provide plenty of entertainment and breakfast discussion.
I was never particularly thrilled by the colorful clumps of feather and disease, but I didn't mind watching them, and listening to my parents was mildly amusing until it got annoying. Sort of like listening to an infant learn to talk.
And then I went to college, got a house with a nice hedge and began plotting death and revenge against the birds outside my window. Cardinals are a beautiful, strong and cocky bird (definitely my type of creature) but they wake up around 5 a.m. and let the world know of their presence. For a college student with 18 credit hour semesters, a newspaper to run and a job to hold down, anything that needs attention that early in the morning is akin to the devil. I would sometimes stumble home from the newspaper office at 4 a.m. only to be roused by these bastard red birds and their calls. If there's anything I've taken from the year I spent in that house, it's my hatred for birds. Ok, not necessarily a hatred of birds themselves, but of their call. As for birds themselves, I've been soured on their entertainment factor to no avail.
And now, I don't live at home anymore, so I don't have this type of "entertainment" at my disposal, but I certainly don't have to hear about it that much. Being home though, has reminded me of just how bitter I am against the feathered fauna of Northwest Nebraska. I wonder if at a certain age I'll regain or develop a newfound respect for these flying feats of biological construction, becuase my parents, my aunt, my other relatives-- they're all crazy about the Bluejays or the sparrows or the whatevers. I'm always amazed at how they coo and carry on over the winged visitors on the lawn, and I hope to God my life is never so boring as to invite birdwatching as a sport or pasttime. But I gotta admit: I do enjoy the dodo watching...
I was never particularly thrilled by the colorful clumps of feather and disease, but I didn't mind watching them, and listening to my parents was mildly amusing until it got annoying. Sort of like listening to an infant learn to talk.
And then I went to college, got a house with a nice hedge and began plotting death and revenge against the birds outside my window. Cardinals are a beautiful, strong and cocky bird (definitely my type of creature) but they wake up around 5 a.m. and let the world know of their presence. For a college student with 18 credit hour semesters, a newspaper to run and a job to hold down, anything that needs attention that early in the morning is akin to the devil. I would sometimes stumble home from the newspaper office at 4 a.m. only to be roused by these bastard red birds and their calls. If there's anything I've taken from the year I spent in that house, it's my hatred for birds. Ok, not necessarily a hatred of birds themselves, but of their call. As for birds themselves, I've been soured on their entertainment factor to no avail.
And now, I don't live at home anymore, so I don't have this type of "entertainment" at my disposal, but I certainly don't have to hear about it that much. Being home though, has reminded me of just how bitter I am against the feathered fauna of Northwest Nebraska. I wonder if at a certain age I'll regain or develop a newfound respect for these flying feats of biological construction, becuase my parents, my aunt, my other relatives-- they're all crazy about the Bluejays or the sparrows or the whatevers. I'm always amazed at how they coo and carry on over the winged visitors on the lawn, and I hope to God my life is never so boring as to invite birdwatching as a sport or pasttime. But I gotta admit: I do enjoy the dodo watching...
1 comment:
You're writing's so wonderful that I won't hold it against you that you think birdwatching is boring.
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