Palm Sunday
Yesterday evening, after the No Kings Day gathering had come and gone, the quiet of nature called. I found a spot close to the Long Beach marina just as the sun was setting..seagulls and pigeons in herds…yes…beyond flocks.
Perhaps my relationship with birds began with my mother. She was a scholar. There was not a creature or greenery or artifact or geological formation that did not intrigue her, and she expounded comprehensively on every observation or discovery. Among these, birds.
India presented us with fantastical extraordinary plumage quite regularly, and perhaps in this she got spoiled, because if a pigeon crossed her path, she would wrinkle her nose with a squirmy expression and say ‘Pigeons!” as if they smelled bad…and if a seagull swooped in, she would frown and say ‘Go away!”.
Oh Mom.
So yesterday I watched this herd….and what a gift. All mixed in together, maneuvering around each other while discussing with squawks and shrieks, and clearly different from each other.
And so I investigated! Yes, our parents do live inside of us.
They are both highly intelligent in different arenas.
Pigeons’ have phenomenal spatial navigation, abilities, extraordinary memory of patterns and images, and the ability to distinguish between faces and photos, and recognize words and letters of the alphabet!
Seagulls’ cognitive ability compares to dogs and cats…they can problem solve, use tools, and they support their strong social structures through complex varied calls.
Pigeons and seagulls…working together behind the scenes right in front of us.
How beautiful!
What a gift on this particular day of fighting to keep our world moving forward in unity.