The answer seems obvious. I mean, my name IS Polly, after all. So if I were a bird… the first thing that comes to most people’s minds is the parrot. I may have heard this line a few times in my life: “Polly want a cracker?” which is typically followed by boisterous laughing, mixed with an air of accomplishment.
I typically just laugh a long, and say something cute like… “I would LOVE a cracker. What kind do you have?”
The frequency of the Polly Wanna’ Cracker Jokes has subsided with age. Another benefit of getting older, I suppose.
Back to birds. Oh, how amazing it would be to spread your wings and fly through the sky. To soar freely, high up above, and see sky, so up, and close. If I were a bird, I wonder what I would be. I have a few that I would like…. and would not like….. I think.
My first choice as a bird would be the Crow. Either the American Black Crow, or the English Raven. I love to read articles about how smart they are. Crows remember faces; they fashion tools, and use them at will; they reason and problem-solve; they adapt behavior if threatened; and on and on. They seem to have a language of their own, with regional dialects. They like bright shiny things. They are smart. I would want to be a smart bird. Besides that, my last name is Kronenberger. Phonetically, I could keep the first part. Polly Crow.
Now, I love Woodpeckers. I think they are beautiful and very cool to watch. But I would NOT want to be one. If I had to eat every meal, by incessantly beating my head against a tree, I would be loopier than I already lay claim to. Woodpecker is out.
I love Penguins too. Certain varieties mate for life. So do Swans, Vultures, Albatrosses, Turtle Doves, and Bald Eagles. I like this about a bird… just because I am faithful like a dog. Or a Turtle Dove. But I don’t think any of these birds would be “me” either. Especially the Penguin. It is too dang cold in the Antarctic. I’m WAY out on that.
Some of my favorite birds at the feeders are Nuthatches, and Tufted Titmice.
Okay. NO to both of them. The names. The names, the names. I don’t want to be known as a Titmouse. Or a Nuthatch.
Bluebirds are too timid. Bluejays are too bossy. Cardinals are too Catholic. And Orioles are too Baltimore.
Maybe a Wood Duck. I love their helmets. Very coolio. And… since I’m always quacking myself up.
Oh. There are just too many to choose from, and too much to consider.
You know, when I consider the whole of it…. I’m just thankful tonight… to be a human. And, if we try… we can spread our own wings and fly. If we try.
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I believe that if one always looked at the skies, one would end up with wings. Gustave Flaubert
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There is nothing impossible to him who will try. Alexander the Great
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Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start. Nido Qubein
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