Saw a pair of Canada Geese in front of my house this morning, and they got me thinking about sex appeal.
Why are these two together for life? She must’ve seen something in the guy.
Females look for things…
In my teens, I was in a softball game on a sandy field surrounded by woods. A lucky pitch came my way and I nailed it. The ball went over the trees and disappeared. People cheered.
After I rounded the bases, a cute blonde girl put her arm in mine. She said something about going for a walk, getting to know each other. I hadn’t noticed her before.
Something dawned in my teenage lizard brain then: “Hit ball good, get girl.”
Females are always out there, sizing up males. Ask the pretty Canada Goose on my lawn why she’s with her cranky mate. She’ll have a reason.
The good-at-baseball move might work for some, but there are interesting girls who look for other things.
Years later, in college I met a willowy, brown-haired girl. We went for a walk in the woods and I stopped to look at a bird. She asked me about it.
I said it was a Chestnut-sided Warbler, or maybe I was looking at a Great-crested Flycatcher, don’t remember. I’d seen a lot that day.
I told her about birds, and how I’d rather be in the woods instead of back on campus where college life could be corny. She said, “A Chestnut-sided what?”
There was a look in her eye that the blonde had after I’d knocked the crap out of a baseball. And a new thought dawned in the lizard brain: “Know cool stuff, get girl.”
This girl grew to enjoy wild places, and we walked in the woods a lot. I pointed out the birds by name. She liked that. A million years later, my wife still likes it.
great…
You’re lucky it was a “chestnut-sided warbler,” you spotted. If it was a “fluffy-backed tit babbler,” I might never have been born because she would have thought you were nuts.
Do Canada geese really mate for life? Or does it only seem that way because they look alike, varying degrees of girth notwithstanding. Maybe each has a unique fragrance. But that’s a question for mavens in all things aviary.
And of course you’re right, that knowing cool things gets girl. Gets a lot more, as well, some of it unwelcome. Arcane knowledge is the key to happiness and riches, misery and despair – so I employ it judiciously, and don’t pursue more of it too vigorously. Ciao.
Still lucky and still impressed!
A classic tale of the birds and the bees, without the bees.
Must be your anniversary! Helluva lucky guy (and girl, from the content of this site)
How impressed is she now? Otherwise a charming tale
My innocent girlhood took place in the woods on the lake in Chetek, WI. My grandfather taught me the mysteries of the forest and its creatures. The woods were full of wonderment and excitement.
Please tell me that as a “college” man, you were sharing more than the names of birds with your future wife…..you’ve got to give me that…..