I’m leaving UBC for the day. Had my first class of Biology 427 – ornithology and herpetology. Just the introduction to the course got me excited – I went to the bookstore straight after and picked up the recommended field guide.
I want to learn every bird in this whole damn province. A brown-skinned elderly man with a long braid down his back sits next to me.
“So you really like birds, huh?”
“Yeah, I guess I do.”
“I can tell because you’re holding that book and flipping the pages like it’s the goddamn bible. I love birds too. Eagles are my favourite.”
“I haven’t picked a favourite yet, but eagles are very majestic.”
“You know I like watching eagles fish. This one time, I saw an eagle swoop down into the ocean and pick up a fish with it’s goddamn feet. Right there in front of me. So majestic.”
I tell the story to my husband. He complains “Well I pick up stuff with my feet all the time, and no one calls me majestic!”