Mockingbird

It had to be 20 years ago, by now. We lived on 4th Street, East Greenville, PA. It was 2am on a Saturday. I was awakened to the unmistakable sound of a construction vehicle back-up beeper! It continued, intermittently through the night. That day, I was going to go over to the development, three blocks away, where they were doing site work, find a phone number, and give someone a piece of my mind. As I was heading out the front door of our half twin, I heard the back-up beeper at full volume. I looked up toward the source of the sound. Here it was a Mockingbird! That was the last time we heard that bird sound a back-up alarm. At that moment, an ice cream truck came into the neighborhood, and he began to learn a new tune.

I have never read To Kill A Mockingbird and don’t really know what it is about, but I can feel the motive part. I wonder how they handled the opportunity and the means.

The Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos), as it is formally called, to distinguish it from the less widely distributed Bahama Mockingbird, is the state bird of Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. I painted it in flight, about to alight on the top of a pole. The red, green and orange in the background is an abstract representation of leaves and/or flowers. This is now our granddaughters’ favorite bird painting, so far. Just after I finished painting it. I came inside, settled into my recliner and looked out the front window. What do I see? A real, live Mockingbird, in exactly the same position in flight, about to land on our phone line! Amazing! Do you suppose he was just mocking my poor attempt at portraiture?

Family: Mockingbirds and Thrashers