To look life in the face
to know it for what it is, to love it for what it is...
Hello. This post is about Death & Birds1
I have a very special little Sparrow coming to stay with me at home next week, along with his (equally wonderful) siblings, for a ‘soft release’. A soft release is where an animal is gently introduced to the environment where it will eventually be properly released. Usually, Sparrows are released soon after they are seen consistently feeding themselves in the aviaries, but this particular Sparrow had displayed some neurological symptoms, so we’d kept a close eye on him. He’s doing well, though, and after a little adjustment to our garden should enjoy, along with his ‘crew’ (the collective noun for Sparrows) a happy, fully-wild life. There are strict rules in place around not naming wild animals at the rescue centre—he is called Norman.
David, my beloved, built an aviary for Norman & co. It’s beautiful. David is an exceptionally gifted therapist, and is also very good at building things. He is good with his hands. David’s nature is a complex and beguiling one; determined, artistic, sensitive, feral. He has an intelligence that seems to be inherent. He left school long before any child legally should and was working in a gas station at 11 years old and a factory at 15—and yet, when we watch University Challenge, he answers question after question correctly, like some kind of circus freak.