Sometimes a reader has trouble figuring out when a writer is telling the truth and when she (or he) is making things up. I thought I would help you with that by labelling what I am and am not making up.
I’m not making this up!
Allen and I went to the “Saxy Music” production that is part of Hattiesburg’s month long Festival South. A saxophone quartet did most of the music – a soprano/alto, an alto, a baritone, and a tenor sax – with the addition of a bass to make a quintet for one number. Eager listeners filled the Osher Lifelong Learning annex and the saxophones began to play. Then an additional music lover appeared. I wish I had been quicker with my camera. A bird lit on the windowsill just outside the far right window, cocked her head, and stayed a while to listen!
I am making this up.
Mama Bird heard music happening at OLLI and instructed her four babies to stay right in the nest and behave themselves while she went to check it out. She sat and listened on the windowsill, not distracted by the beauty of the shiny gold instruments. A music savant, she took in the four voices, storing them in her memory to take back to her babies.
Knowing their singing ranges, she assigned each baby one of the voices. One by one she taught them their parts. The babies, having inherited their mother’s talent in music, quickly picked up their assignments and became their own vocal quartet. Soon Mama Bird was the director, winging their entrances and keeping time. The treetops quieted as other animals stopped to hear the beautiful quartet.
The next time their mother left with instructions to stay in the nest and behave themselves, they concocted a surprise for her. They would make up new lyrics for “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” the song she had sung to them when they were but eggs waiting to hatch. The quartet could hardly wait for her return when they sang,
Notes came from our Mama Bird.
Now we add for each a word.
We have learned to peep and sing
in our praise for our first spring.
From our nest up in the tree,
soon we will be flying free.
Of course, Mama Bird swelled with pride in this bittersweet moment with pride for their accomplishment mingled with wistfulness at the thought that they would soon be grown up and out of the nest.
I’m not making this up!
You probably didn’t even need my help to know which part of this story I was making up, but I would add one more true statement to this fantasy. If you happened to be near Hattiesburg this month, Festival South has more outstanding events with more talented musicians and artists than most people have time to take in. You can check out https://festivalsouth.org/ for details.