The Birds!

When I was child, one of the scariest movies to trouble my safe little world was Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. Today the movie just seems hokey; then it gave me pause. Every time I saw more than a bird or two roosting in the towering maples outside our home, I was certain what I'd seen in the movie was about to be realized in my front yard. ;o)

It's amazing how childhood memories stick with us through our adulthoods.

Earlier this week, when it was in the 70s here in SE PA, I felt like enjoying a few minutes with the doggies out on our back deck. The sun felt good; the air smelled sweet with the promise of spring. My revelry in the pleasant outdoors lasted about three seconds; then the birds came.

They were just starlings, I believe. And they meant no harm. But thousands upon thousands (I kid you not) flew in droves over our backyard.

Sometimes a few would stop to rest in the trees on our back hill. But mostly they just flew over, cackling as they flapped overhead.

That's how I knew they were coming: I heard them first--just like in the movie.

Talk about a throw-back to childhood memories. The BIRDS! ;o)


My gut reaction (childhood fear) gave way almost immediately to fascination. And I wasn't the only one intrigued by the birds' arrival: Baxter, Elsie, and Ridge stood fascinated, silently tracking them in the sky.

Elsie has the strongest hunting and retrieving instincts of the three. Baxter and Ridge soon grew bored. But Elsie could've stayed and watched for hours.

Thankfully, after literally tens of thousands flying over in several, punctuated waves, The Birds phenomenon stopped.

It was quiet again. And still.

Amazing, isn't it, how noisy nature can be! I never really thought about it before. But nature can create quite a ruckus.

It's a ruckus the canine kids enjoy. This was one ruckus, however, that my childhood mind can live without!

'Til next time,
Joan