The Girl in Pajamas

Today I went out for a walk on a trail surrounded by wild bushes. Not by choice.

So my mum is visiting for the holidays and she has a reverential regard for feeding birds.

The practice itself is harmless save for the birds that she began attracting by leaving out the trails of bread trimmings. It started out with the harmless but territorial Indian myna which is a known avian scavenger.

Later, we attracted beautiful parrots which was always a rare sight around here at which point I was considerably impressed. This was followed by a lone magpie who on his own was quite harmless. Then one warm sunny afternoon, a white cockatoo flew in to join the feast.

And then worry set in. The first two days of this, I watched with caution at the lone cockatoo stealing a piece and eating calmly from the neighbour’s roof. The third afternoon, the usually loud creaking, grating squawks that woke us up in the morning from a safe distance was sounding dangerously close! With trepidation, I walked towards the window to find 9 cockatoos swooping in for the remaining bread trails in my yard!

That was the afternoon where I had to curb my mother’s bird feeding activities to a complete stop! Even if the birds had a conscience and were not there to deliberately peel off my roof tiles and window nets, I had to act to prevent a bird war in my backyard.

Now my mother is not one to lose spirits no matter what. She decided, if preservation of mine and my neighbours’ yards was my sole concern then she proposed we feed the birds in their territory, the bushes yonder, hence the walk.

As we walked back home, I watched in amusement as my mum strutted in a her brand new walking shoes under the cool cover of the trees declaring, in a childlike glee and animated hands, her love of being in nature and how it was better than artificially manicured lawns (after days of ignoring my suggestion of going for a walk in favour of weeding my yard!).

Upon return, as I rested my protesting lungs on my still unmade bed, I thought, instead of nature, I too prefer the privacy and limbs of one person. Myself!

Till next time
The tired Girl in Pajamas 👩🏻‍🦱