i remember seeing a "nature" program on pbs...it showed a male bird who not only built his nest on the ground, but also meticuluously cleaned & decorated it to court the female...i was wondering, would if we got it all wrong and they just LIKE TO DECORATE.
this whole series of birds is INSPIRED by my dad...we were never as close as my mom & me...he was a quiet intellectual scholar caught in wartime situation that left him not valuing what he had loved as a child...art, literature, poetry. years later, when the wounds had healed & i bought my dad's house i found in his garage, several boxes of his; one filled with his poetry, one of his calligraphy...and one filled with wonderful wood carvings of birds...so many birds...i found out later that when he had been sent to the internment camps during WWII, he was taught how to carve wood...he chose birds..they reminded him of "home"...but more importantly of his "freedom" lost.when he returned home...he never carved another bird again.
4 comments:
Ellen, I was deeply moved to read about your dad. Just last night my husband & I watched "Come see the Paradise". It showed what an awful thing it was, for our government to take away all your freedoms over night; by sending families to internment camps! I'm so sorry.
On a cheerful note.. I too remember the PBS special on birds courtship. How amazing it was to see the bird decorate with colorful things & make everything pretty for a possible mate! Wish it would be on again, it was a wonderful program! :)
thanks so much for your comments & remembering the decorating birds..they still make me smile...and don't be sorry about my dad's situation...he lived thru it with his honor intact and an inner courage i so admired...the story was meant as a not so subtle reminder that imprisoning a person just because they look like the "enemy" is insanity & immoral at best.
touching, and sad story. but the piece is really gorgeous. <3
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