One of those Odd Things That Happen...

So yesterday afternoon I'm running errands. I'm rushing home to beat the thunder storms that are building, and so I can get to work at the library. I went to a warehouse store, one of those membership dealies that don't give you shopping bags, so the back of my car is filled with random stuff.

I get home, and the dog and cat are both cavorting around my feet as I unlock the back of the car and load myself with industrial-sized shampoo bottles and whatnot. As I fumble with the keys and the door I hear something like a large moth hit the screen on the window just to my left. My peripheral vision picks up that it's much bigger than a moth. It's a warbler-type bird.

She (I think it's a she) scrabbles a bit at the window and then stops, hanging there on the little ledge of the screen frame. And she just hangs there, about four feet from me, staring at me. By now I have the door open, but I stop, since I don't want a small bird in the house. My living room has this huge cathedral ceiling, like twenty feet tall, and when small birds fly into the open door (as they sometimes do) it is very hard to get them out again.

So I tell her, "Bird, if you know what's good for you, you'll skeedaddle." Or words to that effect. She just stares at me. So I put my keys away and start the slow pokey finger towards her. That should scare her off for certain.

She does not move. Eventually I touch her breast. She still doesn't move. I am quite freaked out. So I bring my finger under, toward her legs, and she steps right onto my hand like she's a trained parrot.

So now here I am with an arm full of shampoo bottles and a bird perched on my hand. Sometimes I just don't think ahead. I bring her up close and suggest in a very loud voice that she fly away. She just cocks her pert little head at me. She's there to stay. And I have to be careful where I put her because the dog and cat are still vying for attention and jealously wondering why I am ignoring them.

The bird, for her part, appears to be perfectly healthy. She just won't fly away. After a while I walk the bird over to the car and perch her on the side mirror. I then go in the house and wash my hands and put away the shampoo. I then thought to get the camera and take a picture of her. Here she is:

If for some reason you wish to see a much bigger picture, here's a link.

After I took this picture I thought I would get one with her on my hand, to prove my story. But this time she flew off. Again, she seemed perfectly healthy. Just stupid.

So if I am dead tomorrow with the bird flu you'll know the culprit.

Mojo