Catchy title for a post, huh? Well I had a very odd experience this afternoon. I was getting ready to make dinner and the racket the kids were making was really horrible so I cast them out into the playground so I could have a bit of quiet. As I was watching them from the kitchen window I noticed a man sitting in a white Toyota land cruiser (not unusual, everyone in Alice springs drives old beat up land cruisers). Well he sat there for some time and was watching my house. Odd....well I marched outside to see what the heck was going on and almost bump into him as he is coming up to the door. He is very excited, which immediately alarms me. Being met by excited men at the front door (who are not your husband) is never a harmless thing. He is very polite, and tells me he lives on the street behind me and has been watching my house (o goody) and have I noticed a large gray bird in my backyard? Well, this catches me off guard because Stu and I were talking about our new bird friend just the other day (we thought it was an eagle). just then the big bird we are talking about flies up out of my fig tree in the back yard. The man gets so excited and wants to film it and study it because so little is known about it...he wants to know when would be to early to knock on my door? I guess the cuckoos are more rowdy in the mornings...I begin to have this odd out of body experience and see myself standing beside this very friendly stranger happily answering all his questions (aren't sociopaths supposed to be very amiable and engaging?). So now I am torn...maybe this really was just an enthusiastic bird watcher and I am being paranoid or maybe he is a crazy man getting ready to kill us all! Strange things always happen when my husband is out of town, I rely on him to keep me out of trouble. In case you are curious about the beast living in my fig tree, it is a Channel Billed Cuckoo. They like to eat figs and lay their eggs in other birds nests and abandon their babies to the care of other mother birds. Delightful creatures, don't you think? Just kidding....another one of Australia's strange beasties. Oh and the tiny colony in Alice Springs is very mysterious....more reason this stranger wants to sit in my back yard with a camera. Would this be odd to you? I am sure I am just being stupid...the bird is pretty neat, and he is massive, it look unnatural for this pterodactyl to come flying out of the fig tree....but at least if nothing else I now know the name of the bird in my backyard. Oh and if you never hear from me again he was a madman and we are all dead...sorry about your bags, my husband will give you your money and uniform back, but for those of you who already have one they might be famous now!XO
Tia
5 comments:
Tia, you crack me up!! I will say a special prayer that the man is a genuine bird watcher and not a crazy madman! In the meantime, lock the doors, pull the shades. :o)
I honestly can't blame you for being paranoid! I think I would be too! Honestly I wouldn't let him in my backyard even if he is honest and just wants to watch the bird, I'd say you can watch the bird from some other place. Of course not intended to be rude or mean, just the cautious, I'm a firm believer in being safe than sorry!
Hope everything turns out all right!
Melissa
Um. That bird looks scary.
And why do these kinds of things happen when the husband is away?
Soooo, I am fine. The man (so far) has turned out to be just an avid bird watcher. I have not seen him all day but I have seen the Channel Billed Cuckoo ALL DAY LONG. That damn bird has been all over my backyard. Weird how when you finally know a bit about something you see it EVERYWHERE. Oh and he does his very not romantic singing at about 0330. I did take some pictures of him this morning, they are on my Flicker set. Thanks for the great wishes!
xo
Tia
LOL So funny, I would have got crazily paranoid too, that is one freaky looking bird though!
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