Yesterday as Ogre and I walked from the parking lot to the front door of the Harris Teeter, we almost caught up to an older wiry gentleman with a buzz cut and a leather jacket. Right before we pulled even with him, he turned slightly to the right and started addressing the flock of starlings lurking in the cluster of shopping carts. As they suddenly rose and flew toward him he said to them, “Come here. I need to speak with you guys.” Ogre and I continued through the flock and toward the store entrance. As we passed through the automatic doors, we both looked back to see him addressing the flock that had settled on the ground in the grassy area beside the parking lot. They appeared to be listening intently. I can only assume he gave them good advice.
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Comments (13)
It was not disturbing that the man talked to the birds. There’s a lot of that kind of behavior in the DC Metro Area. It was a wee bit disquieting however , that the birds immediately assembled on the ground — more or less at parade rest — and gave him their close attention. It’s the sort of thing that makes you wonder if you are missing some important piece of information about the universe.
That video you linked to is waaaaaaay groovy, maaaan!
Those lyrics are pretty insane, too. A monkey riding a buzzard??!? WTF?
Ogre: I felt exactly the same way.
Erik: The video sucks but the song rocks.
Yes, but the video is somehow right on with the psychoactive paranormal of the tale. A very odd and interesting combination.
You do realize that this is my kind of story, ridiculously so, down to the ending. Thank you. It’s a salve.
You’re story’s touching… but it sounds like a lie
My favourite version of that song – and the first I heard – is by Diane Reeves, on the Good Night, and Good Luck soundtrack. She’s got a gorgeous, warm voice, and gives the song a very different feel.
“If I could talk to the animals,
Just imagine it,
Chatting with chimp in chimpanzee….”
Everybody sing!
Great little short story, Ms. Jag.
Enough to keep me thinking the rest of the day. Short to allow for quick reading at the place of my employment where managers like the old guy talk to us birds in the exact same tone. Too bad they’re not good singers.
Harris Teeter. A name I haven’t heard or thought of in the eons since I moved from NC. There’s got to be an “Ode to Harris Teeter” somewhere out there in the Internet soup.
DarkoV: Harris Teeter, arguably my favorite grocery store ever, is making its way up the east coast. I was so ridiculously pleased when it infiltrated the DC metro area market.
Ms. Jag,
While I loved Harris Teeter back in the day in NC, I’ve got to say that Wegman’s rules. Unfortunately, it doesn’t rule in Delaware, where we tend to be the last jar of honey that attracts the bearish retailers.
That said, I am not firm in my opinion on Wegman’s, as I haven’t been to a Harris Teeter in a generation of years. They were always on top of all things food and retail back then and I hope and assume that their crack admin staff is still of that same mindset. So, Harris Teeter may still be the best grocery store ever. I hope that they opt to come up a bit further north, say around Wilmington.
I would be a most happy man.
Correction.
Thanks to your link, it seems that there will be a Harris Teeter in Delaware although it may as well be in Baltimore for how far south in the state it will be. This is pretty embarassing. The southern rural part of the state will be trumping its fellow citizens in “cosmoplitan” Wilmington yet again.
DarkoV: I’ve heard nothing but raves about Wegan’s, of which the there are a few around here that I’ve yet to visit. Trasherati, for one, swears by Wegman’s.
Harris Teeter rocks even more than it used to in my opinion.
DarkoV: As HT has crossed the state line, expect it to make its way to your neck of the woods fairly quickly. It is an assertive franchise if its infiltration of the DC metro area market is any indication.