Attribution: Paul, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
By Bill Stokes
Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the Balcony Sparrow was back, perched on the cold steel edge just below the thermometer that showed a new low temperature for the year. The two of them talked:
Kickass: “Cold, huh!”
BS: “Yeah, and a lot more to come.”
Kickass: “You could migrate to warm climes like other birds.”
BS: “No chance. Like your keeper, I have neither the means nor the brains to avoid the Wisconsin winter.”
Kickass: “He pretty much survives the winter by staying inside and complaining and reminiscing about winters of the past.”
BS: “Complaining and reminiscing helps, I do it by recalling the old days when there was much more interesting horse s— on the streets to sort through.”
Kickass: “I hear you. The current level of horse s— becomes increasingly less interesting and more annoying by the minute.”
BS: “I gotta go. I’m checking out a Repub bird feeder up at the Wisconsin Capital.
Kickass: “Sunflower seeds and corn, I imagine?”
BS: “Ha! It will be the usual, but my kind has an affinity for horse s— and we take it where we find it.”
Kickass: “Have a nice flight.”
BS: “Thanks, and chirp hello to the keeper and Phyllis.”
Photo by Bill Stokes