goldfinch

Goldfinch - Awakening to the natural spirits, summer solstice and season

a few posts and many weeks ago, i wrote about the strange little highlighter bird who came knocking at my kitchen window.
well, he's still here. and now he's brought a bunch of friends with him.

after about three weeks of him knocking on the window, i had resolved that on my next trip to petsmart, i would pick up a cage and bring him inside. with that much determination, the poor little bird needed some reward for his efforts. but after doing a little research on what to feed him, i realized he was not an indoor bird when i recognized his mugshot online. my little friend was a goldfinch and probably not used to having his wings clipped by living in a 24" cage.

so my next trip to petsmart involved wandering into unfamiliar territory - the bird aisle to look for seed and a feeder. the trip was supposed to only involve dropping the monkeys off for their late spring / early summer bath with the saintly groomers at petsmart.

how do i know they are candidates for sainthood? first, they bathe chloe, the only golden retriever on the planet to abhor water.

second, they manage to get her back into the bathing area without choking her. i watch through the large plate glass window as they gently pull ms. gandhi who has now gone utterly limp, legs splayed out like a giant dust mop towards the same swinging doors that sadie happily tromped through only a few minutes before.

without a doubt, chloe made a friend with another groomer along the way into the back and manages to not only ensnare the second groomer's legs with her leash, she also attempts to hop up on that groomer's table to get away. all of which shocked the shit out of the poor little bichon already on the table, who since he was already tethered to the table could only assume that naturally since he had nowhere else to go, that he claimed dominion over that 2 foot by 2 foot space. the poor guy had half of a haircut before an 75 lb golden retriever tried to make him a pancake by jumping on him. the fact that she landed on another dog did not faze chloe in the least bit.

meanwhile i stood there with my hand over my mouth watching this comedy of errors take place. like a mama watching her child go off to school for the first time -- i laughed at little, i wanted to cry a little, too. all as i sensed her fear and mental pain she would endure of her upcoming bath, until finally mam leans over and tells me, "c'mon, she'll be fine, let's go get the birdseed and get out of here.

so with forty dollars worth of birdseed under my arms, we head back to casa mc-clotsky to install the new feeder under the tree outside my kitchen window where finchy appears. (what you don't name your goldfinches who visit?)

mam managed to install the feeder with relative ease and which minimal advice offered from me as to location, location, location for which branch it should be hung on. while i was warming to the idea of having an outside bird as a pet, i grew cold at the idea of having bird poop on my car parked nearby.

so finchy and i made a deal -- i promised to supply food, he promised to not poop on my car. all of which worked swimmingly, he kept his promise and i kept mine.

except i failed to make similiar deals with the rest of the birds who hit the roadside diner outside my window.

we went through two large bags of seeds before the bombs started. first they started small and relatively unnoticeable. then they began drop them in clusters around my sparse garden, everywhere but my car. and as the pack of finches, robins, and woodpeckers began to show in droves, they also acted more and more like frat boys -- complete with all their cleaning habits as well.

but you think after all the hassles i put myself through that finchy would be happy. not only have a i provided food for him, i feel like a pimp with all of the female finchies who have stopped by the feeder. i'm not sure but finchy may have even gotten lucky if the little nest nestled high in the tree actually has baby finches in it.

so why would finchy continue to knock on the friggin' window?

it's not just the kitchen window anymore. he knocks on the window of whatever room i happen to be in. at first, i believed it was a coincidence that he knocked on the kitchen window when i was in there. when he began knocking on the windows in the family room, i thought he merely needed a break from the rest of the crazy females hanging out at the feeder.

but when the little sucker began knocking on my bedroom window as i was putting away laundry the other day, i figured enough is enough. it's bad enough i am now talking to the birdies like the crazy neighbor, "don't get too close to my car" and "keep it down out there".

figuring there must be some reason why the cosmos is stalking me with a 3 ounce bird, i checked "the google" for an answer for what symbolism lies behind finches flying into your windows like something out of a hitchcock film.

the result? goldfinches symbol an awakening to the natural spirits, summer solstice and season. the freakiest connect? the little brown finches who've been pooping all over my garden symbolism multiplicity. after the chills stopped running down my spine, i thought to myself am i doubly lucky if this bird who is reminding me to post to my blog also poops on me on my way out the door?

in anyway, i tell you what, if i find a yellow highlighter outside the bathroom window, i will know my life has really gone to the birds.