the rarest bird
i grabbed this book quickly from the new release section of the library as a "to kill time" filler before i got to my real pile of summer reading. i sort of dismissed it as potentially boring, but the writing is beautiful! the book is, "the rarest bird in the world: the search for the nechisar nightjar".
while the portland "put a bird on it" phase has made them a bit kitschy, i do love birds. i think it is because they are so free, so unrestrained. flying is their superpower. they are also unpretentious. and, as a species, joyful--what other animals sing near-constantly? one of my first chores that i remember was cleaning grandpa's bird bath and filling it with fresh water. my dad took me to audobon meetings and we drew them together. i remember him saying he could never bear to see a bird caged and it stuck with me throughout the years. i always hear canadian geese before i see their characteristic "V" in the sky.
bird types can tell you a lot about the health of the climate and what environment you are in. one of the first things i did, for example, when helping to spruce up my friend's beach cabin, was to climb a bush to put suet in the feeder by the kitchen window and watch to see which birds would come to it. (blackbirds and a very greedy bluejay).
so, before you judge this book by the topic (bird watching) it is really about adventuring and journeys throughout the world. the author, vernon head, was born in cape town, south africa and is an award-winning architect. (i like that he has other professions and interests, he seems well-rounded and doesn't take himself too seriously).
consider his opening sentences (which i actually read slowly out loud to savor the consonants), "eyes are for searching, and sometimes the search is for eyes in the night. i blinked, turning my cheeks to the dusty mud. shapes slid before me, slicing like the shadows from a tent, stealing bits of shine."
while the portland "put a bird on it" phase has made them a bit kitschy, i do love birds. i think it is because they are so free, so unrestrained. flying is their superpower. they are also unpretentious. and, as a species, joyful--what other animals sing near-constantly? one of my first chores that i remember was cleaning grandpa's bird bath and filling it with fresh water. my dad took me to audobon meetings and we drew them together. i remember him saying he could never bear to see a bird caged and it stuck with me throughout the years. i always hear canadian geese before i see their characteristic "V" in the sky.
bird types can tell you a lot about the health of the climate and what environment you are in. one of the first things i did, for example, when helping to spruce up my friend's beach cabin, was to climb a bush to put suet in the feeder by the kitchen window and watch to see which birds would come to it. (blackbirds and a very greedy bluejay).
so, before you judge this book by the topic (bird watching) it is really about adventuring and journeys throughout the world. the author, vernon head, was born in cape town, south africa and is an award-winning architect. (i like that he has other professions and interests, he seems well-rounded and doesn't take himself too seriously).
consider his opening sentences (which i actually read slowly out loud to savor the consonants), "eyes are for searching, and sometimes the search is for eyes in the night. i blinked, turning my cheeks to the dusty mud. shapes slid before me, slicing like the shadows from a tent, stealing bits of shine."
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