15 January 2010

The Birds of Fairway


I was standing in the organic-food section of the Red Hook Fairway, when I heard a bird tweeting. "I hear a bird," I said to The Wife. Being a good wife, she ignored me. Nutty husband. Hears bird in grocery stores.

Something definitely was twittering. But it was the organic section. Maybe it was a machine, one of those kind that are supposed to put you at peace and send you to blissful rest. Someone was offering a demonstration of the device.

But I couldn't find a machine. And the twirps sounded too authentic. What's more every time I zoned in on the bird, the source of the sound changes. It was here. It was there. "There's a bird in here," I said. A Fairway clerk busy sorting a shelf stared at me blankly. Crazy customer. There are no birds in Fairway.





The Wife was taking a long time picking out her purchases, so I had time to slowly roam the aisles, following the cheeps. They got louder near the center aisle, by the environmentally friendly toilet paper. I looked up to the lighting fixtures and duct work (pictured above) There the buggers were! Two little birds, having a fine time perched above the organic goods. I saw them. They saw me. They flew away, before I could take their picture.

Now they knew I was after them, so they shut up. No more tweeting. They were silent as the grave. I trod silently, looking for them. They gave no aural hints of their location. But through patience, I discovered one of them once again. I aimed. I shot.


A couple minutes later, I found the other and took a much better picture of him (or her). The flash sent the fowl flying away.

There's a set of metal loading doors near the organic section. I have to imagine the birds flew in that way. And it must be impossible to coax them out. They're not pets. Look like ordinary birds.



4 comments:

Bull said...

All big box stores, and this is a big box store, have birds in the rafters. Leave the city and go to a Wal-mart once and a while and you'll know.

Beth in the Bronx said...

Bull is right (although somewhat unkind). I have even seen birds in larger stores, such as a Lowe's in New Jersey. But I have also seen them in the small A&P in my neighborhood. I think they fly in when the loading area doors are open.

Brooks of Sheffield said...

I'm not saying the birds are unusual. I'm just saying I saw them. And, however common the occurrence, birds inside a store is still surreal experience.

Teri Rogers said...

Several years ago during our family's failed suburban experiment, I noticed these birds in a NJ Costco. I guess I overempathized (I was a struggling writer mom "trapped" in my own Big Box) because I couldn't bear to shop at Costco anymore, not even for the paper towels and diapers.

Teri Rogers
www.BrickUnderground.com