Rain Soaked Feathers

When I use to live North instead of South, I would always have to transfer buses downtown on my way home from work. During the rainy months, I'd watch the pigeons hover under thin awnings while perched upon a stout ledge. It was hard to notice them till you looked up, up, and up some more. Then you would see them there, waiting. They're Seattle pigeons so they are unafraid of the rain, but still bothered by having to have the cold water soak past their feathers to their bumpy skin. But they learned their best tool was to seek coverage where they could find it and to wait. Patience can get a pigeon far in life.

Some pigeons though, have more of a spark of curiosity than others. Some pigeons are ready for adventures or for wanderings or for the daily routine regardless of the weather.

I wish I could get this pigeon a little umbrella he could tuck under his wing and have cover the top of his head. But he is a pigeon, and he has learned to live with the elements in a way that us humans never could. His kind has learned to flock from the forests to the city where they prosper in this landscape that was never built with them in mind. He has made the cement and the window sills and the telephone wires his home, and if he can do all this, surely he can survive a rainy day.