Birds dead and alive, grounded and flying
This is about a group of things I’ve noticed. Specifically, birds, in various forms and functions.
I noticed something about the Emerald Coast and decided before I moved I WOULD record the aberrations.
Case #1.
The bird mailbox. Friends of the Martin’s will recognize this, as it was the “landmark” for finding their house in Shalimar. Who wakes up one morning and thinks “I need a new mailbox. Perhaps a metal bird in purples and pinks?”
I don’t think I want to have lunch with that person.
Case #2.
This sucker caught my eye one day while driving HWY 20 home from Freeport. I usually drive that way in the dark, so it’s no wonder it escaped my attention until just several short months before we moved. But once it did…oh my.
First, this thing is HUGE. Those are large palm whatevers in front of it. It’s at least 9, perhaps 10 or even 11 feet tall. And it has girth too. The way it is situated behind the bushes quite literally makes it look like it’s sitting in a giant nest. Clever of the owner, no? The symbolism gets better, because BESIDE this monster, is…get this…
It does INDEED have a baby!!!!!!!
I know, right?
The thought process behind this display is just….wow. I don’t even know. Granted, I know some people wind up with weird things in their yard through no fault of their own *cough GIANT lighthouse cough* but still. This is proudly on display next to a busy highway. It was intentional, and thought out. And you can tell they really, really like it.
More recently I had a day of bird watching. I will illustrate with carefully placed and artfully crafted arrows.
We had a stormy day last week, and while driving home along the river I noted seagulls were taking shelter on the docks. It wasn’t that it was unusual to see some birds on a dock. But that there were millions (my arrows don’t do justice) and they were on EVERY dock for the stretch of a mile was, in fact unusual to me.
Along the same road, on the same day, I stopped for this little gathering several times in the stretch of 20 feet…they couldn’t make up their minds which side of the road was better.
dumb birds.
And to top the week off, tuesday I met “The Flying Penguin.”
Meet Sister Mary.
I can’t make this stuff up. She’s the real deal…full on habit, rosary and crucifix, wimple and all.
She stayed with us for three days, en route to Haiti. We got to know each other fairly well. She doesn’t like to be called “The Flying Penguin” but accepts the term as an endearment from a select one or two. So we settled on “Sister Mary” and all was well. Of the people I’ve met in the last 5 years, she’s going on the “most interesting” top 10. She’s lived everywhere, gone everywhere, speaks several languages, knows her church history down to the exact dates by heart, thinks the current papal system and pope is a joke, 9/11 was a conspiracy, was friends with Dr. Atkins since the 70′s, loves onion bagels and was born and raised in New York city.
Did I mention she has the gift of gab? And is hard of hearing. Go figure. She’s in Haiti right now, finally found a flight for her. From there she’s going to Argentina or something. She’s a flyer.
Godspeed, sister.