One morning 10 years ago...

I was reminded today of an incident that happened one beautiful spring morning some 10 years ago. I was walking into work and was aware of a Collared Dove, perched out in the open on a branch that hung above the pavement, singing it’s heart out. As I walked towards it, with the sun highlighting the bird and somehow intensifying its rhythmic song, a woman was walking towards me, pushing a young child in a buggy. The child had seen the Dove and was looking up at it, pointing, with a look of wonder on her face. We all met directly underneath the singing bird. The child turned around in her buggy to carry on watching the Dove, still totally entranced by it. I was taken in by this innocent acceptance of the beauty and wonder of such a simple thing. The girl turned to her Mother, and with unbridled joy said to her,

“Look Mummy, a pigeon!”

And do you know what words of encouragement, what utterances of shared wonder came from her Mother in return - and I am not making any of this up...

“It’s not a pigeon, it’s a fucking Cuckoo!”

That three-year old kid didn’t stand a chance.

Comments

Derek Faulkner said…
Although you were right, that did make me chuckle.
I suppose in the mother's defence, the Collared Dove doesn't exactly "sing it's heart out" but does make a lot of repetitive cooing noises that could, to the uninitiated, sound a bit like of Cuckoo.
7 July 2019 at 06:03
Jonathan Lethbridge said…
An excellent short snippet
7 July 2019 at 11:02
Paul Trodd said…
Superb, Steve. Unfortunately, I can confirm that there`s `a lot of it about`; you only have to walk around a supermarket, or pick a kid up from school to hear that kind of thing from parents, often at a high decibel level.
31 July 2019 at 07:26
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