The Birds

 I saw this picture on one of the New York Times Picture of the week, which reminded my of alfred Hitchcock's The Birds and could not pass up the opportunity to relate my own Bird-like experience. For those of you who have not seen the movie, a small coastal town is plagued by avian attacks. They start out small but soon the birds are massing huge flocks and terrorizing, even killing people. 

Last Sunday evening at dusk as I walked to the School of Public Policy for a group meeting I noticed the silhouette of what had to be hundreds of black birds in the trees lining the road. Then, for no reason but to instill terror in my heart they simultaneously took flight and circled above me. I contemplated what to do. Do I run and let the birds know of my fear or can their beady eyes already sense it? I decided to play it cool. The school was only a block away and I was confident I could make it. After the initial terror that a classic horror film was about to be reanacted with me at the tributary sacrificial cast member vain side kicked in. 

I wondered what my odds were of being pooped on with hundreds of birds circling my head. I thought how my group would react if I showed up to our meeting with bird dropping splattered on my clothes and hair. Then I wondered if bird droppings may have any beneficial conditioning properties to hair. After rejecting that thought I am sure some other equally dramatic, absurd though entered my head and I forgot the whole situation until just now when I happened upon this picture.