Biological Tuesday |
November 05, 2002 |
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Wow, what a bizarre thing to
happen to me.
I was sitting in a Kinko's in Memphis, late at night, updating my web
site and sending out email messages. I had parked my bike just outside
the window, directly in front of me, so I could keep an eye on it. I
was working away at the computer when I began to doze off to sleep.
For a brief moment I fell asleep but was suddenly and abruptly awoken
by a loud thump on the window directly in front of me. It startled me
and I rose to my feet to see what was out there. I was afraid that
somebody might have been tampering with my bike or that somebody was
just trying to get my attention.
I looked outside and saw nothing. I was a little perplexed having
thought surely that I had heard something and not dreamed it. But
there was still nothing there. After several moments I started to sit
back down when this little sparrow rose from just below the window and
flew over to the center of the parking lot where it remained almost
motionless. I quickly grabbed my camera and went outside to see if I
could get a good picture of the bird. I reached my arm out to try to
touch the small bird. The bird didn't appear to be totally alert or
even fully conscious. It did seem to notice my hand reaching out for
it and, much to my surprise, actually wobbled over and got on my hand
all on its own. I held and pet it and took a few pictures of it for a
while and eventually set it up on top of the back of the bike, where
it stayed, while I went back into Kinko's. I kept a close eye on the
poor little bird and watched it as it nestled down further into a
wedge, on the top of my gear bag.
I watched from the window and could tell when it started feeling a little better and actually managed to walk, and then fly, on his own.
The little bird finally flew away never to be seen again. But it did leave me with a very warm and special feeling.