I have. In fact, I saw a bird carrying a sugar packet this afternoon. I walked out of a Japanese restaurant, a very good one for those of you in Phoenix, AZ, Shiro at Shea and 32nd. As I was walking to my car, I noticed a small brown bird (not a really tiny small bird, but much smaller than a crow). So anyway, I notice that this bird is hopping around with a natural sugar packet in his or her mouth. I know it was a natural sugar packet, because that is the kind that I like to use (the brown ones with ”raw” sugar). I stop walking to watch the bird. My business and life partner, Jeff, is with me. He notices that I have stopped to watch the bird. I say, “hey look, that bird has a sugar packet in it’s mouth”. He is not nearly as interested in me, but he also stops to watch the bird. We notice that the bird has now put the sugar packet in water and is turning it over and over in the water. Jeff says, “he is doing that on purpose to get the sweet out.” I say, “really, do you think so?” I keep watching the bird and sure enough, it starts pecking at the sugar packet to break it open. If definitely looks like the bird got the packet wet on purpose, so it would open more easily. Seeing this, Jeff says, “that isn’t the first sugar packet he has had.” I am not quite ready to leave, but I walk away then.
So, a few things happened. It felt good to connect with the bird. Even though she didn’t notice me, I noticed her. For a moment in my day, I was aware of my surroundings. Secondly, I thought to myself, “birds must be smart.” You know, I have never thought of the brain functioning of a bird until today. I was going to come up with a third point, but somehow two seems sufficient for a story about a bird and a sugar packet.
Have you seen anything in your environment that you would like to share? I would love to hear about it.
