Mrs. Pigeon’s Rainy Day Picnic

We were invited for the picnic and looked forward to it for months. It is not everyday, that the Pigeon family gives a picnic. When I woke up in the morning, it was clear and sunny. The kind of a day that would be great for a picnic. 2 years ago, we would have been sure that it would be on. The drought is far behind us now. The days are not as predictable as they used to be, down here in beautiful North Carolina.


I said to myself, I wonder if Mrs. Pigeon wants me to bring anything. I gave her a call and asked her. "Mrs. Pigeon, I had forgotten to ask if you would want me to bring anything to the picnic. You know that I am coming straight from work."
She became belligerent. This was not unlike her. The city was in her blood and she finds it difficult to keep her belligerence at bay. I told you that you are the guest of honor. I don’t know why you people always are trying to make yourselves into birds. I was sure that she has a real chip on her wing about being patronized. She said that she only became my friend because we could pass for twins in terms of belligerence. If I refuse to listen to her and let her dote on me, she will negate our friendship. Birds, I have found are very funny like that. The things that make people enjoy one another’s company are very, very different for them. They love to tell one another that they have a pet person or other and they spoil them rotten for a season or two and then divorce them completely and you would never see them again. It is their way of getting into your life. Birds are very fickle, you wouldn’t know it to look at them. They love to gab about acquiring and letting go of acquaintances and pet people like the wind.



I couldn’t convince Mrs. Pigeon that I meant any good by volunteering to bring something foreign to her. She was convinced that I was acting patronizing and that she could see that as a poor family, we had special needs to be cared for. I thanked her for her concern and consideration. I didn’t say another word about it and we had the picnic as planned in spite of the rain.

Ms. Viney shakes Mr. Tree's hand

There seemed to be a day of comfort among the flowers. Lady Lunar Moth sunk beneath the sheets of comfort in the Daylilies petals. She drank deeply of the nectar of the flowers and told every secret of her heart to her dearest friend. It seems a shame that they will only be friends for the day. The sadness that Ms. Moth endured seemed to be something that would have lasted longer than the day. But how true it is, that each day has enough, to bear with its own troubles. Ms Moth will wake up to a dead daylily but she bore her heart and tomorrow is sure to be a better day. Still it seems futile that such friends should share so much for just one day. I saw Ms. Moth still asleep when I left.
The hyacinths smoking had outlasted themselves. Their season of smoking and gossip seems so short. Nothing seems to get past their wistful gaze. I miss them and their 2nd hand smoke. They are beautiful as they puff and gossip, but not discreet in the least. They share everything they hear and never spend a moment fixing their own troubles, just gossiping about others.
My attention was struck by a new relationship starting in the courtyard. Mr Tree and Ms. Vine had their first handshake. The earth quaked and quivered at the beauty of it. I was surprised that, instead of the usual sundry spider web donning the august tree, there was a single strand of vine making the acquaintance of his handsomeness. This is their very first handshake and he was obvious in his admiration of her greenery. He has no idea that she has intentions of covering his branches with greenery. He thinks this is a friendly handshake. To her, this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship. She has roots, already covering his feet. Their conversation is civil and polite. She is trying to see how her skills can decorate his barren areas.
He does have leaves and flowers on top that are a royal part of the economic system of the courtyard. He does business with the sun and the flying insects and the birds and has a complete rapport with all of the social elements. He has no idea that he is missing something. He has no leaves on the bottom branches and Ms Viney knows all about this. She knows that she can remain 100% herself and still decorate him. He cannot see the advantage, yet…

The bumblebees don’t even know what is going on. They visit the blossoms and blooms several times a day to buy and sell and rest and have picnics, but nobody guesses that Viney has designs on Mr. Tree, from the first handshake