Collecting, however, is definitely a thing you understand. For you, it’s bird sightings. Some people may laugh at that. Some laugh at stamp collecting, too.
What’s the need for collecting all about?
As a kid maybe you collected baseball cards or Star Wars figures. We know a rich guy who collects classic cars. Two-fisted birdwatching is not a hobby, or a science project, or a competition—not really. You know it for what it is: collecting.
The first time you saw a rare bird, that was fun. You added it to your collection, a growing, private life list. A kick. Maybe you’ve wondered about the arcane passion of stamp collecting. It’s big for some people, a mere curiosity for others.
What triggered this musing is a postage stamp with a bird. When you saw it recently, it stopped you cold. It features a favorite old painting by Monet. Not bad art, maybe, but the coolest thing about this painting is its title: “The Magpie.”
Cool because the expansive winter-scape shown does not feature the bird. Its magpie is merely a quiet small dot off to the side. Yet Monet knew—and we know—that this dot dominates the whole snowy scene. It’s both tiny and huge.
It names the painting!
Apparently the country of Monaco thought so much of this awesomely titled painting that they put it on one of their postage stamps. You saw it recently, and it stopped you cold.
You get it—you get that Monet got it. And that Monaco gets it. Next time you see a Magpie you’ll collect another sighting and think of the stamp. Does that make you a stamp collector?
Hey, Magpies — listen up. It never snows in Monaco. Check it out this winter.
The magpie–on the top rung of the fence–or am I seeing things?
Collecting–absolutely, and incomparable for those of us who do.
What a gorgeous piece of work.