(no subject)
Inspired by hearing Anatsuno's lovely voice, I intended to wax nostalgiac about the time I lived in Orleans today, but have decided to put that off for another time. Instead, I will share the encounter I had outside my door. For the last year and a half, assorted birds have used a nest on my front porch (originally built by robins) to lay their eggs and raise their brood. The latest batch of chicks took to flying today sometime between 12:10 p.m., when I stepped out to my car to get a notebook I needed, and 1 p.m., when I left for the afternoon.
When I emerged the second time, they were on the lawn just past the steps, while the mother was perched on the garage roof. As I descended the steps, the mother fluttered down and started the whole "wounded bird" routine, intended to draw me away from her chicks. It was a most impressive bit of acting, and would have been a complete success (assuming I actually intended to eat her chicks, of course) had it not been for the fact that she drew her kids' attention. As she hop-fluttered away from me, the two chicks followed her. Another hop. They followed her again. She stopped and looked at them, and if ever a beady eye set in a befeathered face could show annoyance, hers did. After the pause, the chase continued as she frantically tried to lose her kids, hopping all over the yard despite the fact that I moved nary an inch and many of her hops actually brought her -- and her kids -- closer to me. This went on for 3 minutes or so before I just grew too embarrassed for her and quietly snuck over to my car.
In other news, I'm struggling to figure out in what world anyone could consider this an appropriate response to the problem. Singling out an ethnic group -- whose woes you and your ilk are largely responsible for -- and restricting their rights without restricting those of the rest of the country seems a bit...questionable. Surely there are less-repressive ways of dealing with what I'm certain is a very real problem. Like, say, fixing the underlying issues rather than the superficial ones.
When I emerged the second time, they were on the lawn just past the steps, while the mother was perched on the garage roof. As I descended the steps, the mother fluttered down and started the whole "wounded bird" routine, intended to draw me away from her chicks. It was a most impressive bit of acting, and would have been a complete success (assuming I actually intended to eat her chicks, of course) had it not been for the fact that she drew her kids' attention. As she hop-fluttered away from me, the two chicks followed her. Another hop. They followed her again. She stopped and looked at them, and if ever a beady eye set in a befeathered face could show annoyance, hers did. After the pause, the chase continued as she frantically tried to lose her kids, hopping all over the yard despite the fact that I moved nary an inch and many of her hops actually brought her -- and her kids -- closer to me. This went on for 3 minutes or so before I just grew too embarrassed for her and quietly snuck over to my car.
In other news, I'm struggling to figure out in what world anyone could consider this an appropriate response to the problem. Singling out an ethnic group -- whose woes you and your ilk are largely responsible for -- and restricting their rights without restricting those of the rest of the country seems a bit...questionable. Surely there are less-repressive ways of dealing with what I'm certain is a very real problem. Like, say, fixing the underlying issues rather than the superficial ones.