Mockingbird Story

WARNING: SOME OF THE FOLLOWING PHOTOS ARE GRAPHIC.  YOU MAY NOT WANT TO VIEW THEM, IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH.

This weekend, Harper Lee passed away.   You know her- the author of To Kill a Mockingbird, and Go Set a Watchman.  She was a lifetime resident of Monroeville, Alabama.
Oh, Al-a-bam-a! A true southern state.

Mockingbird eggs

I have wondered for a while if it really was wrong to kill a mockingbird, and what the title of her book really means.  The answer I always find is that it’s audacious and a sin to kill this bird that sings so pretty and entertains us so.  I observed the mockingbirds closely on our farm in Tennessee on a yearly basis, so I knew their habits.  It’s not pretty, folks.  I’ve wanted to tell this story for a long time, but put it off til the right time.

There’s mockingbirds here too, at the Mason-Dixon Line.   I observed them closely in the south, and knew their habits.  It’s quite gross.  I guess you wouldn’t believe it.  I hate to put these pictures up- because I know some will just protest and turn away, but these are the facts.   Mockingbirds hang up their dead prey in trees to come back later and eat them.  I have found frogs, and snakes, and even a poor bluebird or indigo bunting.   So I guess, to kill a mockingbird is supposed to be a bad thing (?).  But in truth, they must kill to eat.  It’s just a fact of life in the wild.

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An unexpected turn has been feelings of sadness of leaving the south.  I can not explain it, but only can say it is a closed phase of my life that I grew to love.  I will not miss the tornado weather, or the unbearable summer heat, the dusty roads that made me cough all night, and some other things.  I think I will just miss the slow pace of life, the musical vocal accents, the BBQ, which is plentiful, and the mild winter.  I like the feeling of the south, knowing that you’ll be getting good biscuits for breakfast, and some pretty good lemon pie for desert, and Red Velvet anything.  I guess I’ll just have to create my own southern everything, here in my new/old home!  I will be alright–“You alright?”   “Bless your heart!” and rest in peace Harper.  No matter how mockingbirds really are, you made a difference in the world with your books.  Thank you.