Welcome to Litsy!

Today is World Parrot Day, so I made a short video to celebrate:

#WorldParrotDay: books and birds on May 31
https://youtu.be/5JU_I-2yw64

Brian Brett was born with Kallmann‘s syndrome, a genetic disorder that makes him look androgynous & made for a difficult life. In this memoir/natural history, he gracefully ponders what he has learned through his lifelong fascination with birds. Darker moments are lightened by hilarious anecdotes about his rescue parrot, Tuco. Warm-hearted wonder, lateral thinking, and praise for the beauty of diversity. #CanadianAuthor

Like the story of all life, we can be beautiful and monstrous simultaneously. Born mutant, I understand why this thought is painful to live with.

Hope is what drives our world, our inventions, and our lives. It fuels our intelligence, but what even is intelligence? And why does our species need to deny that parrots are intelligent?

I didn‘t fully understand how much I was an outsider, an outlier, until I met Tuco. He taught me how to understand the thinking of the Other, how our world is becoming an Other, and how to respect the Other.
(Internet photo)

Pugnacious reactions to the Other are not only a human fault. They‘re an evolutionary behaviour, evident from earwigs to eagles. One doesn‘t have to do much thinking to realize how “a stranger came to town” can be considered a threat.

In the early days, hardly a car went up the road, so it thrilled Tuco if one drove into view. He‘d start shouting: “Hi! It‘s party time! Party time! Yooohhhooo? Come in!” Then, if the car continued up the hill, there‘d be silence and maybe a sigh and a long “Awwwwww” of sorrow. Tuco lives for the party.

Birding has evolved into what we call ecotourism. According to a 1996 study, there were 51 million birdwatchers in the US alone. A more recent National Audubon Society survey estimates there are now 71 million.