What does this sign mean?
I don't mean the text: we know what that means -- last year we heard from a friend about the hummingbird, we went to find it, found a hardcore birder (complete with enormous wool socks) staking out the location on the North side of the natural history museum, asked the warm-footed birder if the hummingbird had been spotted -- it had. With some guidance the kids and I were able to see this natural phenomenon -- a tiny flutter that apparently stopped over during the fall migration and decided to stay through the winter. As the birder predicted, once Spring officially came the bird left -- presumably because while the urge to migrate can be quelled, the urge to procreate is much harder to resist.
But all that is neither here nor there. What does the existence of the sign mean? Why did somebody handwrite it and tie it with twine to the museum's fence a year after the event? Today we were walking past and saw it and we all just stood looking at it. "Oh, yeah, we saw it," said The Boy, referring to the hummingbird. Okay. But WHY is the sign there? I don't mean to harp on this, but I'm so intrigued by what kind of larger picture this might be a part of. Did the exploits of that bird get sucked into the Occupy Wall Street machine? I've never seen them with twine... And not to be picky, but I believe it was a rufous hummingbird (is that dot a tiny "o" -- if so, why was it written like that? Is the "us" supposed to mean something?). My mind is boggled. Did some do-gooder create a rudimentary public-service announcement to remind his/her fellow humans to let go of conventions and expectations and be like: hey, if that little rufous could winter in NYC, I can certainly sign up for this tap dance class... ???
The Boy had his friend over for a playdate.
Fortunately, it was a nice-ish day, so The Sister was able to take the wild children to the park while I helped three teenagers/family-friends with research papers. One chose to write on bin Laden, and the other two chose sub-topics relating to WWII. While our discussions on all of the papers made me realize how easy our lives are, coming to that conclusion by way of considering how sucktastic other people's lives have been/currently are/will be is acutely depressing. Sometimes thinking too much beyond, or behind, the moment is spirit-sinking. I find it best for my mental health to focus on right now. Right now nobody is terrorizing our home. Right now nobody in the family has a terminal disease. Right now the sun is not imploding. Right now my kid is not fighting in a war. Right now I don't need to wear diapers.
Maybe that's what that little rufous was thinking: right now I see shelter and a food source. Why think too far ahead and continue migrating? And it worked out. She was lucky. A mild winter. An ongoing food source. If she had taken a poll of her friends: "Hey, I'm thinking about hanging out here..." They probably would have told her she was being dense... because a storm could come, the food source might dry up... But now doesn't she have a story to tell? If I were a male rufous I would totally show off for that resourceful, brave little minx.
Undoubtedly I've accurately figured out the thoughts and intentions of a bird that has a brain the size of a period... I still want to know what the intent was behind posting that sign a) at all and b) a year after the fact???
I hope it was a nice intent.
