Life is for the Birds

Here’s Mr. 83, a racing pigeon. I took this picture several years ago, and I often think of this bird. I don’t know anything about racing pigeons and I don’t want to know. I do know that it’s not good for the birds, too many hazards, and keeps them away from their mates too long. It’s another gambling device for people that they don’t need!

With it being unusual for a racing pigeon to visit our backyard, I found that he just needed rest and nutrition for his strenuous journey. I'm glad he found peace and safety in our yard. While he perched upon our neighbor’s garage roof, he’d swoop down to our yard and came close to the patio where I was sitting. Of course, I took his picture. He became my little buddy. I often wonder what became of him.

In asking a few questions to a racing pigeon expert on Facebook, I found that Mr. 83 was not a male, but a female. How he knew this I have no idea, must have been its coloring perhaps. Its leg bands indicated the number 83, so instead of Mr. 83 it was Ms. 83. Miss those visiting days from Ms. 83. She’s probably in pigeon heaven by now. She's a nice memory.

These days, Pat and I still have birds that visit our home. Pat often heard the Bluejays but had never seen them until last year. I happened to snap a few pictures of two visiting Bluejays. Now, he places peanuts on the windowsill outside the bedroom window. This year, one is back! He's so sly about diving in for a quick peanut snatch. If there's one, there must be others. I’m never fast enough with my phone camera.

This reminds me...how God takes care of the birds (and me) with my husband helping along the way. The Bible says in Matthew 6:26 (ESV) “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

Pat and I love our life with the birds.