I have a catalpa tree in my back yard. It is beautiful, but high maintenance. All year long, it sheds something or other. Leaves, flowers, bark, and long sharp pods that will (on occasion) impale themselves in the lawn and stand vertically, at attention, until I get around to tidying the yard. It’s slightly disconcerting.
I saw what I thought was the end of a catalpa pod on the roof of my shed and knocked it off and to the ground. Only it turned out to be a banana in jerky form.
How the hell did that get there? I still can’t figure it out. My best guess is that a magpie stole it from a picnic and then left it on my roof when it realized it wasn’t a corn dog.
Wily little buggers, those magpies. I don’t mind them, but if they were much bigger – I’m thinking beagle sized – I would never leave my house.
I am a writer, ceramic artist, knitter, and stepmom. As a playwright, I had six short plays produced in showcases and festivals in Manhattan, Salt Lake City, and Austin. My full-length play, Locking Doors, was presented by Wordsmith Theatre Company in The New Lab Theatre (University of Utah) in 2005. I co-wrote a teleplay titled “Thank God I’m Atheist” which won the 2015 “No God But Funny” contest founded by the Center for Inquiry. My short nonfiction essay, “It’s Coming Down,” was published by the online literary magazine Halfway Down the Stairs. My essay "The Red Rock Chronicles" was published in Contemporary West magazine. I currently work in pharmaceuticals professionally and write recreationally, but dream of making the transition to write professionally and do pharmaceuticals recreationally. I am a Utah native and live in Salt Lake City with my family and our Goldendoodle. I am working on a collection of humorous non-fiction essays and a second full-length play.
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This is the second reference to magpies I’ve heard today. I like the post 😊