No warmth, No sun. No cheerfulness. No comfort in the wildflower garden. No shade. No butterflies. No fruit. No flowers. No leaves. No birds. November. The first real weekend where it is now looking barren and grey. With winter on the horizon. The weekend came and went, and it feels good to be getting out of my funk with the passing of Buster. Looking back at the many pictures of him helps. And last week a picture of pigeons of all things made me feel good. Most people don't realize just how incredible pigeons really are. These are gentle birds, brilliant and complex. Tucked inside their beaks are tiny magnetic crystals which act like nature's GPS. With them pigeons can sense the Earth's magnetic field and travel thousands of miles with stunning precision. They can also hear frequencies too low for us to detect, and they can read polarized light patterns in the sky. And high intelligence. Studies have shown they recognize their own reflections, understand abstract ideas. They see three colors and a fourth-ultraviolet. They also form lifelong bonds with their mates. History has seen their courage too. During wartime a pigeon named Cher Ami delivered a message that saved 194 soldiers- even after losing a leg. Sadly, despite all this, we've forgotten our connection to them. Pigeons were once our companions, messengers and helpers- but like so many other things when we humans are done with things they are quickly forgotten when we no longer need them. But they stayed close to humans in cities because that's what they knew. They don't need much. Some seed, some oats and clean water. David Attenborough once said-" They deserve our empathy, not disdain. Pigeons are not pest. They are intelligent, emotional social beings. They remember us. It's time we remember them."
Awwww, the lovey-dovey pigeons! And wow, that double bee photo -- it deserved the best photo of the year award!
ReplyDeleteNice green suit! Jx
ReplyDeletePS Pigeons carry more diseases than rats.
PPS I hate this time of year, too. I'd like to hibernate. In Spain 😎
Make room...I'll join you!
DeleteJ’adore les house boys, les décorations et Snoopy et Woodstock :)
ReplyDeleteJ’aime les abeilles à miel qui ont besoin de protection.
-Beau Mec à Deauville
J'adore juste les garçons de maison bien dotés. Et Snoppy et Woodstock rendent tout heureux.
DeleteYou're absolutely right about pigeons being very intelligent and great navigators! There was a new episode of "Nature" on PBS last week about urban pigeons that worth watching if you've not seen it already. Unfortunately, they're also prodigious breeders and their excrement is so acidic that it damages statues and limestone buildings -- which is why Trafalgar Square became a pigeon-free zone.
ReplyDelete"they're also prodigious breeders and their excrement is so acidic that it damages statues and limestone buildings" I hear the Trump administration suffers the same thing.
DeleteAHAHAHAHAHA!
DeleteDarling Mistress,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the information about pigeons, most of which was entirely new to us. We now feel slightly guilty that the thing we both recall about these birds was a pigeon dish served many moons ago which was absolutely delicious. Perhaps our minds are still on the goose we ate this last weekend....but, maybe, with a cost of living crisis, pigeon pie should make a comeback on dining tables worldwide?
Pigeons are pretty and smart, but I don't know I'd one to eat one. I can be picky...but a goose yes!!!! I hope you and Jane are keeping well.
DeleteHappy Monday to you too, Mistress..... Tis a lil bit Chilly down here in the Deep Deep South
ReplyDeleteWe're getting a real cold snap ourselves up here too. Time to light all the candles at night and take a nip of bourbon as a nightcap before bed me thinks.
DeleteI loved your first line. No ... no ... November!
ReplyDeleteWe, too, are headed into a cold snap for a few days but I look forward to it.
It is hard to get over the loss of a pet; that unconditional love, the unbridled joy when they see you. It's missed. I still miss The Great Tuxedo but every so often I feel him around the house, or spot him on a windowsil, or, like just last night, I'll have a dream where he comes running to me.
Thos memories will nev er go away.
It does seem so odd to not see him around, and knowing more pictures won't be coming. He was the oldest dog I ever had. And such a good temperament and personality.
DeleteI knew somebody who trained pigeons and they took part in contests and stuff like that.
ReplyDeleteI thought he was full of it, but one day I saw the messages he exchanged with people hundreds of miles away. I could not believe it.. The messages came in the pigeon's leg!
And that man in the green suit... well. Yes.
XOXO
Some of this planet's animals are mind blowingly smart. Oh was the suit green? I didn't notice, LMAO!
DeleteI swear every mood board you do is always so awe inspiring. And a nice piece today about pigeons. I had no idea. I'm glad to read your healing a bit over the loss of Buster. I couldn't even imagine the feeling after 19 years of having him. Glad to read time and memories are helping.
ReplyDeleteI'm very impressed with the young man in the suit, I'll take two, please. Pigeons are not native to the new world, all the ones here are feral and descended from stock the colonists brought as food.
ReplyDeleteThe native American passenger pigeon was hunted to extinction, so the Old World ones had a free reign... Jx
DeleteA fact....use it as you wish.
DeleteIn Devon we have grey skies and endless rain - the mud is back, so your mood board is most welcome.
ReplyDeleteSx
Actually, I don't mind Mondays, they're always a new beginning.
ReplyDeleteI don't really mind them, I just like the bitching about them and hate the getting out of a warm snug bed, which is no easy feat. After that the week's downhill quick.
DeleteSoon it will be time to plan Thanksgiving, time for you to snuggle in front of a gentle fireplace, on a bearskin rug, with a lumberjack or someone like that.
ReplyDeletePigeons are quite dirty, though, and make quite the mess.
ReplyDeleteMondays....yuck! And I don't have to get up and go to a job.
Your grey skies have only just started? Here the greyness went on all last month (the most sunless October since records began in the 17th century (IIRC) and is still ongoing. I hate pigeons, they crap all over my car.
ReplyDeletePigeons are cool, but all I get are a murder of crows here.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're feeling a little bit better.
ReplyDeleteWinter doesn't get super depressing until after New Year's here. But it even in the South Carolina climate it was really cold today. Before the sun came up it was 25 f
ReplyDeleteIt got cold here too! Time to get out the woolens me thinks.
DeleteMy love, I'm so sorry about Buster. Princess and I talked about Franklin and Penelope yesterday. I've avoided using their names around her, but when I brought them up I could tell she understood and wasn't upset at the mention of their names.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Thank you, Janie. It was a hard post to put up last week. It took me over a week to muster a post. I wasn't going to post anything, but how could I not. He has been a part of the blog since it's inception. He will be missed- hard.
DeleteWhat a glorious mood board for this time of year. The pies!!!! And who knew about all that about pigeons?
ReplyDeleteYou always were fond of men in suits, wink!
ReplyDeleteAfraid I was away from the blogosphere for a few days and did not know of Buster's passing. Let me say now how sorry I am.
ReplyDeleteThank you Kirk!!!! Not a day goes by he is not missed.
DeleteYou know I love all the ceramic turkeys in the nook. Otherwise a excellent mood board as usual.
ReplyDeleteLove the way you put together a collection of photos. It is an art form in itself
ReplyDeleteI have never found Olive green lounge suits attractive but I will make an exception this time.