November 24, 2009

Bird Burials

The in-laws have been in town for about a week now. My father-in-law (FIL) always brings me a bouquet of flowers. They're gorgeous lilies that smell so wonderful.


Was sitting in the breakfast nook visiting with my mother-in-law (MIL) and we could hear the birds outside the window. She said they've talked about getting another pet bird -- probably a canary to fill the house with singing. And this reminded her of when hubby and his two older siblings were little and would hold bird burials when one of their pets would die.

They were raised in parochial school and taught by nuns so this heavily influenced their play. The bird funeral would be a processional with Oldest Brother walking first, acting as the priest; then hubby (the Baby) as the pall bearer, carrying the bird in a shoe box; and, last but not least, Middle Sister walking along behind crying -- the mourner. The unfortunate bird would be buried near the fence under the rose bushes.

Speaking of birds, in just two days we'll be tucking into a big one for Thanksgiving dinner, which I am really looking forward to. I have always loved Thanksgiving and the ritual of  cooking the feast. There will be 9 or 10 of us this year and I have a 20-pounder to ensure several days of turkey sandwiches beyond the holiday. Yum!

6 comments:

Kelli said...

Happy, happy Thanksgiving to all! I am deeply thankful for you - thanks for being a light in my life. Have a glorious feast in your "new" home! (p.s.: your whiplash transition from dead canary to Thanksgiving turkey made me laugh. : )

jayaycee said...

Happy Thanksgiving to you, too! Next time we get together, we should do a turkey dinner, whether it's Thanksgiving or not.

Hubby said the same thing -- how did you get from dead pets to Thanksgiving dinner in one paragraph? That's just the way my so-called brain works!!!

4badbill said...

I loved this story of the bird funeral! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Sara said...

Not that you asked and you might already know, but the large flower is called a rubrum lily (roob-rum) and be careful with the pollen at the end of the stamen -- it stains easily. You might want to remove them with a tissue before they drop off. The other flower is alstroemeria, also called a Peruvian lily or Lily of the Incas. At the end of my 4-year stint as a floral designer, these are the two flowers that came out on top as my favorites. Lucky you for receiving them! What a sweet, very tasteful guy.

From birds as pets to birds as corpses to birds as food in one fell swoop -- AMAZING!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!

jayaycee said...

Hope you and your sweetie husband have a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!

jayaycee said...

I am so bad at flowers, I was lucky to know they were lilies! Happy Thanksgiving to you and BF!