This is a sticks and bricks story, hope that’s OK (I promise not to make a habit of it). So the apartments in my complex face onto a courtyard with a couple of trees. Most days, a paraplegic guy and his caretaker sit out and enjoy the sun for a couple of hours, accompanied by two small dogs and a bird in a cage. Aside from “hi, howzit going” we don’t talk much b/c he has a really hard time talking (and I have a really hard time deciphering what he says), but we smile and make eye contact.
A few days ago I saw the caretaker putting a birdhouse high up in the tree. When I walked by a few minutes later, the gentleman in the wheelchair was alone and more chatty than usual. He kept saying something that sounded like “…ow…” and I kept cheerfully saying “birdhouse, cool, right!” Haha idiot. Later the caretaker explained: they had discovered a baby owl living in the tree.
I feel bad that I tend to avoid chatting with him for any length of time because I can’t understand what he says … and I know how much I hate it if someone asks me to repeat myself multiple times. You must have to have an awful lot of patience, including with your fellow well-meaning humanoids’ awkwardness, to survive as a paraplegic.
Turns out there is in fact an owl. I never in 100 years would have seen it on my own. When I’m counting my blessings I definitely count this cute little courtyard!
PS I'm still not sure if they're hoping the owl will move into the birdhouse or just wanted to provide a good roost for other birds. There's a ton of birds here.
