{"id":44160,"date":"2016-12-09T07:03:35","date_gmt":"2016-12-09T14:03:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=44160"},"modified":"2016-12-09T10:44:13","modified_gmt":"2016-12-09T17:44:13","slug":"the-little-things-that-change-our-lives-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/09\/the-little-things-that-change-our-lives-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The “Little Things” That Change Our Lives"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve been blogging for over six years now and many of my favorite posts are so old that few (if any) current blog followers have ever seen them. Besides, I had very few readers\u00a0back then so I was largely speaking to a nonexistent audience. For that reason I occasionally recycle one of those older posts and hope that current followers might enjoy it. This is one of\u00a0them, originally published almost six years ago. I’ve\u00a0rewritten\u00a0much of the text and even tried to improve the ancient images by reprocessing them.<\/em><\/p>\n

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I recently received an email from blog follower Ingrid Taylar that has caused me to\u00a0pause for some serious reflection. Ingrid had noticed in one of my posts my mention of the fact that I had raised pigeons as a youngster in southern California. She loves pigeons and when she and her husband rescued and fostered two homing pigeons, \u201cChauncey and Clive\u201d, they became deeply attached to them. In her email Ingrid asked me if I \u201cretain any similar affections for pigeons\u201d left over from my childhood.<\/p>\n

Do I ever!\u00a0When I think back on just how much those few years with my pigeons changed my life for the better I\u2019m simply astounded.<\/p>\n

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\"me-dennis-and-pigeons\"<\/p>\n

Photo taken on the patio of our home in Poway, CA in about 1960<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

When I was in 6th grade and living in Poway,\u00a0California\u00a0my friend Dennis Ehlert\u00a0(on the right in the photo, that’s me on the left) introduced me to the joys of raising pigeons. Notice my filthy jeans at the knees – the explanation for that\u00a0will be\u00a0forthcoming…<\/p>\n

We each kept a variety of breeds – Homers, Tumblers, Rollers, Fantails, Tipplers, Helmets and others.<\/p>\n

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\"me-and-pigeon-coop\"<\/p>\n

Photo taken in the back yard of the Poway home in about 1959<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

This is the pigeon coop I built from scrap lumber and chicken wire at age 12 in 1959. At that age I wasn’t much of an architect so in an effort to save wall space for nest boxes the entrance door was tiny and low (it can be seen at lower left) and I had to crawl in the dirt on my hands and knees to enter the coop. Needless to say, my mother was constantly patching and mending the knees of my jeans…<\/p>\n

I spent countless hours in that coop with my pigeons – caring for them, watching their behaviors and reading and then re-reading the\u00a0book you see in my hand – “The Pigeon”, by Wendell Mitchell Levi. It was a huge book, presented in a scientific (for its day)\u00a0and mature manner but I devoured it again and again as I sat in the coop and watched the behavior of my pigeons.<\/p>\n

My parents supported and even nurtured my pigeon obsession, largely\u00a0for a reason I found out about\u00a0from my mother many years later –\u00a0it (mostly) “kept me out of trouble”. When\u00a0we moved back to Montana in 1961 they even allowed me to bring most of my pigeons and I built a new, larger and fancier\u00a0coop – the pigeon coop of my dreams.<\/p>\n

It was with my pigeons that my interest in animal behavior germinated. Most days I would spend hours inside that coop with my birds,\u00a0learning the nuances of their\u00a0behavior and the very real personality quirks of each bird.\u00a0It was with my pigeons that I\u00a0became what I call a “watcher” (that word always reminds me of the book and movie “Never Cry Wolf”) – someone who revels in the tiny details of the natural world that are most often missed by others.<\/p>\n

That interest in nature and science began to\u00a0grow in high school and truly blossomed in college where I had\u00a0the dual majors of Biology and Zoology.\u00a0Then\u00a0after college I spent the next 33 years of my life teaching those subjects in high school and enjoyed it immensely. And my\u00a0“pigeon legacy” didn’t end there – since retirement over 13 years ago my passion has been bird photography and avian\u00a0behaviors.<\/p>\n

So, what do I owe to my pigeons?\u00a0– only 58 years of\u00a0personal and professional joy and satisfaction. Perhaps that sounds a little dramatic but I’m convinced it’s true. I often wonder what my life would have been like if Dennis hadn’t introduced me to pigeons almost six decades ago.<\/p>\n

Yes Ingrid, I certainly do retain my affections for pigeons!<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

Note: Thanks to Mia’s diligent efforts\u00a0the technical issues with our blogs have finally\u00a0been resolved so there should be no more problems on your end. I’ve been badmouthing Comcast for the problems but it turned out to be something else so I thought I’d own up to my error (although Comcast certainly has had other shortcomings their feet should be held to the fire for…)<\/em><\/p>\n

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I often wonder what my life would have been like but for a small quirk of fate 58 years ago.<\/p>\n

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