Love Birds of Spring

At a brunch last Sunday morning, two friends were holding hands. So I casually mentioned that they reminded me of love birds. In response, the 40-something man became self-conscious and immediately withdrew his hand.

I laughed and urged him to return to the hand-holding, "It was a complement. You both remind me of my two parakeets, who spend most of the day kissing and grooming each other."

They weren't always that way.

I bought Tweety first. He spent long days in his cage, standing on his perch like a stone sentry. Worried about his serious nature, I bought a second bird that I named Sweetie, to cheer him up.

For almost a week, Sweetie jumped around the cage, nudged him, and pushed him around. She was so intent on animating him, that I thought it bordered on abusive behavior.

I was on the brink of buying a separate cage for Sweetie, when to my astonishment, the stone bird melted. The shell that had surrounded Tweetie's heart had been chipped away.

Suddenly, the two birds were inseparable. Now, they never leave each other's side for more than a few seconds. They groom each other, share seeds beak to beak, and parody each others every move. Fed and sheltered, free of predators, they have fallen into a natural state of bliss.

A state of bliss? Bird watching might be one way to catch the message of Spring.