Birds of a feather
I used to be a little freaked out by birds, by the flap-flap-flap of wings as they whoosh by your head, by the stick legs upended in a cage after the poor captured thing dies, by their divebombing your head to get hair for their nests ....
Yes, that happened to me once. I was working for a canvassing job -- either for a Rape Crisis Center or Oregon Fair Share, whichever it was at the time -- and was walking down the middle of the street in a dark, isolated, strange neighborhood, away from the thick bushes lining the sidewalks. Out of nowhere this bird swooped down on me and grabbed at my hair with its beak, then swooped up again. I ducked and looked around for the source, thinking I surely must have hallucinated it as I looked around in embarassment (as one does when a "guffaw" happens). But here she came again! And again and again. So now I'm running down the street with my hands over my head, craning my neck to catch sight of my attacker, laughing at how ridiculous I must look in my own personal Hitchcock moment. So, yeah, birds and I have had "issues."
Somewhere along the line my attitude changed as I learned more about birds and their intelligence, communities, and even humor -- or, at least, their amusing personalities -- not to mention their beauty. Now my encounters with them uplift me beyond my hair, such as the one I mentioned in reply to one of mystic's posts:
I love when birds have "meet-and-greets" like this. One time I was walking back from Wichita State in the rain, listening to a beautiful Hungarian song on my Walkman. As I neared the park near my home, I suddenly noticed that the skies and trees ahead were full of crows chattering and flying from branch to branch, their wet feathers sleek and iridescent. The music picked up the pace right then into the almost surreal portion of the song where guitars/mandolin dance in light counterpoint to these non-verbal, strange human vocalizations, the cawing of the crows above it adding to the effect. I was mesmerized. I try to recall that moment every time I hear that song.
The same day I replied with that, someone sent me a video link to a bird singing and dancing to a Backstreet Boys song. OMIGOD did I laugh and laugh at this bird! Talk about personality! Maybe it won't tickle anyone else quite to the same extent, but I recommend a look-see if you're fond of birds.....or maybe esp. if you are not.
http://birdloversonly.blogspot.com/2007/09/may-i-have-this-dance.html
Yes, that happened to me once. I was working for a canvassing job -- either for a Rape Crisis Center or Oregon Fair Share, whichever it was at the time -- and was walking down the middle of the street in a dark, isolated, strange neighborhood, away from the thick bushes lining the sidewalks. Out of nowhere this bird swooped down on me and grabbed at my hair with its beak, then swooped up again. I ducked and looked around for the source, thinking I surely must have hallucinated it as I looked around in embarassment (as one does when a "guffaw" happens). But here she came again! And again and again. So now I'm running down the street with my hands over my head, craning my neck to catch sight of my attacker, laughing at how ridiculous I must look in my own personal Hitchcock moment. So, yeah, birds and I have had "issues."
Somewhere along the line my attitude changed as I learned more about birds and their intelligence, communities, and even humor -- or, at least, their amusing personalities -- not to mention their beauty. Now my encounters with them uplift me beyond my hair, such as the one I mentioned in reply to one of mystic's posts:
I love when birds have "meet-and-greets" like this. One time I was walking back from Wichita State in the rain, listening to a beautiful Hungarian song on my Walkman. As I neared the park near my home, I suddenly noticed that the skies and trees ahead were full of crows chattering and flying from branch to branch, their wet feathers sleek and iridescent. The music picked up the pace right then into the almost surreal portion of the song where guitars/mandolin dance in light counterpoint to these non-verbal, strange human vocalizations, the cawing of the crows above it adding to the effect. I was mesmerized. I try to recall that moment every time I hear that song.
The same day I replied with that, someone sent me a video link to a bird singing and dancing to a Backstreet Boys song. OMIGOD did I laugh and laugh at this bird! Talk about personality! Maybe it won't tickle anyone else quite to the same extent, but I recommend a look-see if you're fond of birds.....or maybe esp. if you are not.
http://birdloversonly.blogspot.com/2007/09/may-i-have-this-dance.html