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The Fly Away Birds
By Administrator | May 6, 2008
I live in an oasis of sorts. In the middle of Montpellier, a mostly cobble stone downtown and concrete metropolis, sits my house, which is a guesthouse that the owners rent to me in the backyard of the main house. They also have two small apartments on the side of their house that two Swedish girls are renting as well. In the backyard is a pool laden with palm trees, bamboo and plants, a gazebo, pool seating, bbq area, and a large birdcage with a bunch of colorful song-birds that wake us up in the morning. It’s a beautiful place. The owner is outside several days a week beautifying it, trimming the trees, cleaning the pool, and feeding the birds.
He takes obvious pride in his gardened oasis and it shows. The other day, I was sitting out by the pool with my roommates and noticed a colorful bird flying overhead, one that was not local and resembled the green back, rainbow stomach song birds from the walk-in birdcage.
I looked over at the cage and notice the door had been left ajar. I went over and shut it and counted the remaining birds. I think 3 of the 7 were missing. The first concerning part of the story is that the owner has been out of town all week, so whoever was feeding them must have left it open by accident. He’s not going to be happy.
In addition, two of the green birds were hanging out in the trees by the cage. I looked at them and thought of the wild possibilities of catching them and returning them to their ‘home’. I got the pool net and put some seed in the webbing and extended it up to them, taking a flying chance they would actually bite. No go. But one flew over to the ground and starting walking toward the cage and I.
He looked conflicted. I stared at him and thought to myself, does he really want to return home or take his freedom. He walked closer and I paused. How in the world would I open the cage and allow him to walk right in without giving the remaining birds a chance for escape? He waddled about halfway over and then flew back up to the tree.
I went back to my sunning spot and let it be. I couldn’t help but notice the birds in the cage chirping at him, and him chirping back. This went on for a good 30 minutes. I could only image what complex or simple thoughts were going through both sides’ minds.
I know, this sounds really cheesy, but it was pretty interesting to witness. This bird had his freedom but his buddies did not, and he was now lost in a big world. I saw him fly around the yard the rest of the afternoon.
The next day I went out to see if the escapees were still around and they were not. They must have flown away. I wondered what was going on in both sets of birds’ minds. I imagine birds don’t have a terribly acute memory, but that afternoon I did witness an interesting connection between the two groups and wonder what each was thinking.
Now every time I hear the birds in the cage chirping, I wonder if they’re longing for their buddies or freedom, or if it’s basic animalistic sounds. Either way, a couple of the birds are free to venture out and take on their world. I wonder if they will return at some point to take respect to their caged friends.
This sounds like a children’s story, or maybe one that many of us have experienced.
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May 6th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
HellOo! Hope u’re r doin’ well! Actually i’m a Moroccan gurl livin’ in Montpellier and This is my 2nd year here!
^^
Hope to hear from u!!
Here’s my e-mail adress: dasweetyamy@hotmail.com
Peace!
May 7th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
You need some more friends!
May 7th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
What do u mean?
lol
June 14th, 2008 at 5:24 am
I love this post by you Matt. To me great art captures an idea or an emotion that the artist is trying to express, while still being open enough that lots of different people can identify with the work…I’m sure lots of other people will read this and appreciate your thoughtfulness and empathy.
It’s funny to me to read the comments by your friends, because to me, this is what makes you special and really lovable. I guess some of your other friends can’t relate? As always, I feel blessed to have grown up with you.
xoxo, Deb