i just got off the phone with matt, who spent the last half-hour trying to kick an unwanted guest out of the house. he got up this morning, got into the shower, and heard a bunch of barking and growling followed by a big crash. since we got the dog, this is not an entirely uncommon sound to hear while in the shower anymore. but then he dried off and went into the living room, where there was a SPARROW...SITTING ON THE COUCH, PANTING...while gracie-cat prepared her attack and otis jumped around in circles losing his mind. grace launched at the sparrow, who flew directly into the living room window and fell. this started another round of what must have caused the first big crash (which turned out to be the dining room curtains and a chair). grace hunted the bird and otis climbed around on the furniture and the boxes we've packed, trying to make friends with it. the moron bird kept flying into the window and falling on its ass. finally, matt got a hold of the dog and put him in the garage and went about trying to shoo the bird out the front door. the bird apparently thought matt was just another hairy animal trying to attack it, because it kept flying around in a panic crashing into things. after several minutes of everyone flying, crashing, barking, hissing, and flailing around, matt gave up and sat down on the couch, whereupon the bird stopped what it was doing, landed nonchalantly on the ground, and WALKED out the front door!
since we're about to move, and nothing like this has happened since the days louie was a kitten and used to bring half dead birds into the house (and poor jenny had to bring them back out of the house because i am a chicken), i of course thought "oh, this is obviously an omen..." i googled "sparrow symbolism." all i got was stuff about sparrow TATTOO symbolism, but same difference, right? here's what wiki.answers.com had to say:
-"It may not mean anything, but I know a lot of men in the UK who have bird tattoos on their hands and wrists have been released from prison. The sparrows symbolize freedom. "
-"A sparrow is a symbol of finding your true love. "
-"They were to keep sailors from drowning."
-"It's possible it is one very young misguided person so infatuated with Johnny Depps' role in Pirates of the Caribbean that they felt the need to get a similar tattoo. It's a good sign that this is the case when the person in question also incessantly speaks in a drunken British drawn despite being quite sober and never having so much as vacationed in the UK, has greasy dreadlocks and insists on dressing in worn, unwashed Victorian-era clothing. "
-"i dont think that it has its OWN meaning, when i was 16, my first tattoo was different birds flying up my stomach, each one, to me, represented a family member or close friend of mine that had passed away. The sparrow represents my grandpa, because its said that they are wise birds that "resemble" peace, saftey etc.. "
so basically this was a sign that i'm not going to go to jail, i've found my true love, i won't drown, captain jack sparrow is going to come visit me in eugene (i like that one best!), and people who post answers at wiki.answers.com don't have to grammar-check first.
2 comments:
Oh my god!!! I'm just now reading your blog, finally, and I love this story!!! But I have two Jenny-like comments...First of all, I am slightly peeved at Grace, whom I thought was a non-hunting sort of cat and docile in nature, but I guess you can't fight instinct; second, I think the symbolism at least partly depends on the TYPE of sparrow (in my bird snob ways, I have to let you know, that there are MANY kinds of sparrow, or sparrow like birds, and some are native to these-here-parts, and some are not), so you'll have to have Matt describe it (although I'm sure what it looked like was the least of his worries). Overall, I think it is a very good omen, because "native" or not, it is presently native to Eugene, and just wanted you to know Eugene is a nature-loving friendly place, where you and your animals are free to be themselves. Also, the chaos, upsetting at the time, made the move memorable and didn't (hopefully) cause any lasting damage. Lastly, the most likely kind of sparrow is a house sparrow (from Europe), which is an appropriate and welcoming name for the first visitor to your new/temporary dwelling. And if/since it is from Europe, it could be a symbol that your adventuring days (Eugene, Europe, etc) are far from over. However, the Captain Jack Sparrow symbolism works just as well. : )
Sorry, I ahve to amned what I said briefly since I thought you were in your new place when this happened. I guess I didn't read it very carefully, sorry. Anyway, I think what I said still applies, but in a future sort of way, that Eugene WILL be (is) welcoming and nature friendly, etc. Anyway, that's my 2 cents.
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