Embracing destroyed plans as a blessing

When I was a kid, one of my favorite books (right after "Curious George") was, "What Good Luck, What Bad Luck." For example, what bad luck, I fell out of the plane. What good luck, there was a haystack below. What bad luck, there was a pitchfork in the haystack. What good luck, I missed the pitchfork. And so forth. But it all is fine in the end. And I think that is pretty much a summary of my day.

My plan today was to take the 9:50 AM train to Siauliai. I checked the train schedule last night and it said I could chose from a 5 AM flight, a 6:50 AM flight or wait until after 4 PM. Oh. Okay.... I confirmed that Uber worked in the area and that the Pope-related barriers would be removed, set my alarm for 5 AM and went to the land of nod. I woke up refreshed, had some more coffee from that awesome Chemex device, got ready, ordered an Uber to the Vilnius train station, checked out, and was waiting when my Uber arrived.

The Uber driver didn't speak English, which should be fine, because I had already established the address via the app. And one of the reasons I wanted an Uber versus a regular taxi is that I've heard that, not unlike taxis in other countries, foreigners may be charged a bit more than locals. And then I thought he said something about airport. I said, "No, train station." I thought he confirmed. And off we went.

But I saw him fiddling with the default directions of the app. Okay, maybe he knows a better way. Now, if you back out the time waiting for the Pope to pass, it took me about 18-20 minutes to walk from the train station to my hotel. So I was surprised it was saying the trip would be 12 minutes. Maybe some of the Pop barricades were still in place after all and he had to go around them? After a while, we were parallel to the train tracks, so I thought, "Well, maybe taxis have to drop off on the other side."

And then we turned away from the tracks. Ruh roh And then I thought, "Oh, man, the station I went to wasn't the main Vilius station. I would've gone to the wrong one if I'd been walking. Thank goodness I took an Uber as there's no way I'd've made it this far." But we were fine. We were scheduled to arrive at 6:33 AM and the train wasn't until 6:50 AM so plenty of time, right?

Well, not if he dropped me off at the AIRPORT. I saw just as we arrived that his navigation was set for airport traiin station, but he nevertheless took me to the main terminal. GRRRRrrrr.... By this time, there would be no way to get back to the real train station and catch my train, even if I immediately popped into another cab (or, worse yet, asked for another Uber and got him again).

Okay, so what were my options? Go at the tail end of the day on the train and figure out something to do in rainy Vilnius, or figure out another way to get to Siauliaia. I chose the latter. First idea was to take a rental car. Yeah, the only rental agency that had locations at both Vilnius Airport and Siauliai was Sixt, which is not a US firm approved vendor so no preferential pricing. But how much could it cost? Um, with the drop-off in a different location, close to EUR 300 for one day. How about no?! I'm on vacation and have nothing but time and that is roughly 24,000 peppermint tea bags based on the EUR 0.34 I paid last night for 20 of 'em.

So what about a bus? Figured there must be some at the Vilnius train station, so if I just got the EUR 0.70 train back to the city, I could catch the next bus out. Or not. First of all, the first airport train out was at 08:17, which made sense when I realized the first flights didn't take off or land until well after 08:00. Well, I could take a taxi back to the train station in the city (ignore why I took an Uber in the first place, as that clearly didn't work out as planned) and catch the next bus at 08:20. But that involved a transfer to another bus, which was perhaps a bridge too far.

So, cheapskate that I am (and being on vacation, so my time value of money was significantly decreased), I waited for the train to the Vilnius train station. And what good luck, the conductor didn't show up so my ride was free -- I was also the only passenger on said train, which was kind of creepy. But hey, EUR 0.70 -- that's enough for 40 teabags!

In the interim, I had purchased the bus ticket for the 09:50 bus to Sauliaia online. Upon arrival at the train station I tried to locate the bus "gate." My ticket had a number, but all the stops around the train station had letters. Ummmm.... So I went to the Information desk, thinking someone there might be able to help. Well, kind of. In a mixture of Lithuanian and English, I was told that the bus ticket desk was in the "next hall" with a gesture to the left. Okay. I went outside to find the hall to the left. Nothing. Maybe she meant to the right. Nope. Thank goodness for my 2G unlimited data from T-Mobile, which helped me identify via Google Maps where the bus station actually was -- straight ahead across a rather scary-by-foot roundabout.

Found it and headed to the Information desk there to confirm that/whether my digital ticket would work or if I really needed to print it on paper. In response to my question of, "Do I did to print my ticket or is the digital version okay?" she answered "Yes." Okay..... I decided to throw caution to the wind and just get in line to board -- after a trip to the paid toilets, which distinguished itself by being the first that provided unlimited included toilet paper but only in a common area, so you had to guess how much you might need and take it with you to your stall. Hmmm.....

I watched the type of buses that were in the area. Some seemed very nice, advertising WiFi and spare power plugs and the like. Others were, um, smaller and sketchier. I waited with bated breath to see what bus would show up at platform 24 (play it and win!) I was lucky -- a rather nice bus with decent interior but no WiFi. Seems liked a deal -- EUR 13 for what ended up being a three hour drive versus the EUR 19 for the train that I missed, though the train had a shorter travel time. In the end, though, I got to actually be able to enjoy the scenery and take some pictures that more or less turned out. Though I feel bad for the elderly lady who sat down beside me and then realized I didn't speak Lithuanian or Russian and she didn't speak German. I used my best Lithuanian to say that I am an American, only speak a little Lithuanian and, um, excuse me (for lack of better words since my vocabulary is limited). But I give her snaps for not moving to a different space. And when she got off she turned to me and nodded and I did the same. Felt somehow like we had connected.

So in the end, I'm okay (I'm not ready to say I'm "glad") that I didn't make my train and that I wasted time and money with Uber. I had a lovely day, that didn't end when the bus arrived. But more on that tomorrow.

Point is, when you're too fixated on your plans, you can miss some amazing opportunities. Keep open to opportunity and the benevolent universe will fill your life with beautiful experiences. Sharing a few pics from the journey below.

Vilnius - You can see a lot in 26,000 steps

Today was my first day of tourism in Vilnius; I will spend another day here at the end of the trip, so hope to complete then what I wasn't able to accomplish today. Because even though I put in over 25,000 steps and saw a lot as you'll see below, there were some significant things I am still missing.

Hotel
The day started at my hotel, of course. I'm staying at the Artagonist Art Hotel in Old Town. My room only has a twin bed, but it was comfortable and most of the time I spend here is either sleeping or typing missives like this, so it's fine. It does indeed have some interesting art on the wall and the hotel booklet features a double-page spread describing my room as follows:

"Room 306 welcomes the viewer by asking geometric questions about love. To be precise, it is done by the application of textile work, where the pyramids of glossy and matt [sic] materials form a character of flat surface. Look at them from the different perspectives of a room -- a piece of art is changing while moving as if it was alive."

Okay, but not following how it relates to love. Does its presence in a room with a twin bed signal the absence of love? Longing to fill a love void? You can see why I was up all night pondering this. [Kidding; slept like a rock.]

The room has some interesting touches, including a rather high-tech built-in safe drawer, a carafe of water with a charcoal device lurking in the bottom and, my personal favorite, one of the Chemex coffee brewers. I've always wanted to try the Chemex and made an exception to being caffeine free in order to try it out today. Not bad.

Literatu Gatve
This little street (more like an alley) is right around the corner from the hotel and has over 200 pieces of artwork crafted in ceramic, sculpture, glass and other media mounted into the walls. Each is very unique and represents a valued literary contributor, both from Lithuanian and abroad.

Uzupis
The Uzupis neighborhood is unique in several respects, not least of which is that it declared itself an independent republic in 1997. It's not clear entirely what that means as it is recognized by no governments, has no embassies. But does have a constitution that contains things like, "Don't Fight," "A dog has the right to be a dog," "People have the right to be happy" and "People have the right to be unhappy." They also have a flag, the color of which varies by season (I'll let you guess which respective seasons are represented by green, yellow, red and blue for extra credit). What IS clear is that there are quite a lot of artists and creative types in the area. I noted a few unique things such as a bench swinging beneath a bridge over Vilnia River (for which the city is named), some art installed in said river, and a random bathtub in a crazily painted walkway that appears to have been used in the murder of grapes.

Bernadine Garden and Church of St. Francis and St. BernardJust across the river from Uzupis is the beautiful Bernadine Garden with several fountains, beautiful gardens, lots of benches from which to watch the world go by and even a life size chess board that unfortunately wasn't in use at the time. The gardens are related to the Bernadine monastery and church next door. The church was originally constructed in the 1500s but reconstructed in the early 1600s and incorporated into the Vilnius defensive wall, so there are actually openings in it to shoot approaching invaders. That perhaps wasn't enough, because in the mid 1600s during a war with Moscow, Cossacks killed the monks and citizens who had taken shelter there.

St. Anne's Church
This church is adjacent to the Bernadine church, but couldn't be more different, at least from the outside. It is considered an interesting example of Gothic architecture in Lithuania. The guidebook says that it is a "prominent example of both Flamboyant Gothic and Brick Gothic styles." I'm not sure what the difference is, but will take their word on it. The original church that was built for Anna, the first wife of Vytautas the Great. Unfortunately, it was wooden and burned in a fire in the early 1400s. This brick version was constructed from the mid to late 1400s and hasn't really changed since then though there have been structural reinforcements. Of note, Napoleon saw the church during the War of 1812 (yes, I have the 1812 Overture going through my mind right now, too) and is said to have said he wanted to carry it home with him to Paris.

There's more interesting history. There is a square here where the Lithuanian Freedom League held a rally to protest the ongoing Soviet occupation in 1987, which was put down by the militia in short order.

Hill of Three Crosses
So there's an old story/legend that 14 Franciscan friars came to Vilnus but talked smack about some Lithuanian gods, so angry citizens killed them all -- seven were crucified and thrown into a river and the other seven were beheaded on Bleak Hill. Yeah, so.... Regardless of whether that's entirely true, three crosses were erected on Bleak Hill, likely in the early 1600s, and were periodically replaced due to the wooden crosses rotting. So in the early 1900s, a concrete monument was erected, but it was torn down by the Soviets in the 1950s. During the Lithuanian independence movement, the current monument was created on the same site, but the crosses are significantly larger than the older monument.

As a personal note, if you go there, I can't say I'd recommend you take the route up there from the Bernadine Garden direction. It's a series of neverending wooden steps that really tests one's endurance and stairmastering skills. Gorgeous views, though, so well worth the climb.

Church of Saints Peter and PaulThis one was a bit out of the way, but gorgeous nevertheless. It was the only one that specifically requested a donation, which I was happy to provide. Gorgeous details.

Gediminas TowerOne of the things I have noticed in general in Vilnius are the number of streets and some sidewalks that are crafted from stones set in concrete. It looks nice, but makes you wish for the simple joys of only catching a heel in cobblestones. If you weren't stable, it could be really difficult. And when you add a steep climb the level of difficulty dramatically increases, as I saw on the climb up to Gediminas Tower. Now, apparently they have had enough fat Americans and other tourists to have created a funicular which will haul you up the side of the hill for EUR 1 (return trip sold separately). However, there is a bunch of construction going on and, whether related to that or something else, the funicular was not running today (I would've walked anyway, to be clear -- I'm not scheduled for funicular fun until Kaunas). This trek is nothing to Lithuanians, though, as illustrated by women hiking up there in pumps!

Vilnius Cathedral and towerThe site of this beautiful cathedral was a place of pagan worship (there's some history on Lithuanian and paganism and conversion to Christianity not necessarily coming from a religious interest). There have been various cathedrals built on the site and fires either burning down or damaging them. It seems like the current one was after a rebuilding in the early 1600s. In any event, it is a key element of Vilnius as well as Lithuanian history, with several coronations taking place there and famous Lithuanian leaders and relatives buried there.

This is where Pope Francis addressed the people yesterday, so there was still a lot of activity today to tear down stages and remove barriers.

Palace of the Grand DukesNot unlike the Vilnius Cathedral, the Palace of the Grand Dukes has a long history with various construction phases. There were three castles -- the Upper Castle, Lower Castle and Crooked Castle. The latter was burned down during an attack by the Teutonic Order in the late 1300s and wasn't rebuilt. The others survived in various states until being significantly damaged in the Battle of Vilnius in 1655. There's more history, but essentially nothing really survived intact to the present day except the Gediminas Tower (see above). The current National Museum of Lithuania is built over the ruins of the castle complex that are visible and discussed in detail, which is pretty interesting (who knew they had a sewer system?).

The museum offers four different "tours" and you either shell out the EUR 6 for all four, or buy them piecemeal. I figured I could do all four, but underestimated the historic detail and information provided and I wanted to read all of that, so just barely finished two tours. But here are my favorite tidbits:

Sigismund the Old seems like a ruler ahead of his time as some of his actions seem like something we might discuss today. Specifically:

1. In 1507, the government decided that a register of all the noblemen and their lands should be drawn up in order to calculate how many soldiers each had to provide for the war effort. Penalties for nobles who avoided military service were set.
2. To increase cash needed for wars and other expenses, he issued regulations that reduced the amount of taxes that peasants could pay in labour and in kind. Unclear where peasants were supposed to come up with cash, though. He also tried to make estate managers more accountable and reduce abuse and the misappropriation of funds. Please tell me he also hired forensic accountants....

Sigismund the Old also was the first Lithuanian ruler to marry an Italian and that changed quite a few things. Not only did his wife, Bona Sforza, bring renaissance ideas to Lithuania, she also installed Italian chefs and introduced things like tomatoes and lemons to the country. She was also not one to be messed with. She was attacked by a bear, but was rescued and saved, but it forced her to give birth to a premature baby who did not survive. The animal thing wasn't only her issue, though. A few generations later, Cecilia Renata, Ladislaus Vasa's first wife, was watching a dog-and-bear fight (apparently this was a thing?) and was apparently not the sharpest knife in the drawer as she was mutilated by a bear when she went to look at a bear that had retreated. It caused her to give birth to a stillborn and died herself the next morning. Well, at least that's what the exhibit in the museum said. Wikipedia doesn't mention the bear mauling and says she died the day after her stillborn daughter, "as a consequence of an infection, likely related to her recent childbirth." Or from bear germs. Who can say?

Vilnius University bell towerThe university campus is supposed to be quite nice but it was closed by the time I get there (you pay about EUR 2 for the privilege of walking around). BUT their bell tower was still open for a whopping EUR 2.50. Hmmm. So in I went. The nutshell version is that you can take an elevator up four floors and see some nice views through a wire mesh. Not so exciting. That's because if you want excitement and unobstructed views, you take a slightly irregular wooden staircase up another level or so. And then basically kind of have to haul yourself up out of a hole that would be an OSHA nightmare and lawyer's dream in some other country. But once you got through that, you could venture out on a balcony that went around the tower and allowed you to take some stunning panoramic pictures. While you tried to forget that you'd have to crawl back down that hole. Totally worth the EUR 2.50.

Gate of Dawn
Back in the 1500s, city gates (some sources say 9, others say 5) were added as defensive fortifications for the city. The Gate of Dawn is the only one that has survived. The gates often contained religious artifacts to protect the city from attach and to bless travelers passing through the gates (except, one assumes, those who were traveling in to attack). This gate has a painting by an unknown artist of the Virgin Mary that is covered with a silver gilt setting. The gate and the image have become icons for Vilnius. Pope John Paul II visited here and, just yesterday, Pope Francis passed under this gate (I was on the other side when I took my video) on his exit from the cathedral.

Bastion Hill
In the 1700s this bastion fortification was created as part of the defensive wall for Vilnius. The building that has been reconstructed wasn't open when I went by, but I was intrigued by it and the portion of the original walls versus what has apparently been redone.

I think that's enough for one day. Tomorrow I am off to Siauliai.

...and then I ran into the Pope

Upon landing at Vilnius, I sought out the train to the city.  It's kind of a well-kept secret as you really need to look for the signs.  Clear favoritism for taxis and buses, which clearly would be more and especially with the taxes could be difficult to make sure that you're not overcharged, from what I've read.  But the train is AWESOME.  It's about a four minute walk, costs all of EUR 0.70 (yes, less than a buck), and whisks you to the city in about seven minutes.  What's not to love?  It's also kind of cute that the "train" is all of one car.  Hard to see how that's profitable, but I like it, though would be nice if it came more than about once per hour.

Anyway, on the way to the train stop, I saw this sign, so figured that the Pope was coming to visit, which must be a pretty big deal for a rather small country. And it looked like he would even be here while I'm here, but for some reason it didn't hit me with the jetlag and all that today IS the 22nd.

So the train arrived at the station and I was navigating my way through an estimated 18 minute walk to the hotel.  I turned a corner and saw I was headed straight for a pretty large crowd.  Ummmm....? Using my nascent Lithuanian language skills, I struck up a conversation with a young guy who fortunately understood English and it turns out that this was the route the Pope would be taking in approximately five minutes.  Well, since I couldn't get across the street anyway, I was game to stick around and see what happened.  And here you have it.  Cool to share that experience with Vilnius.

SAS to Vilnius

US airlines could learn a thing or two (or many more) from SAS. Let's start with their lounges. Take a look at this.  When was the last time you saw that much room to move around without spilling your beverage in a US airline lounge?  And note that this was the regular lounge, not the fancy pants limited access one that was upstairs.  In addition to the space, there was a variety of seating options including one area with a fireplace as well as the typical things you'd expect in a club.   You also didn't have to check in with a human -- just scan your boarding pass for the automated gates just like the ones used for automated board (and which was how I learned I didn't get to go upstairs -- a simple message saying my boarding class did not grant me access, rather than some sort of loud and embarrassing alarm).  I should note that there were humans on hand, though, to deal with things like the guy who was trying to get his family of five into the lounge when he apparently hadn't paid for all of them to be in business class (guessing the nanny and the kids were in the back -- classy).  Admittedly, this one was probably designed for connections so there was sufficient volume, but still impressive.

SAS Lounge in Copenhagen

The onboard experience was equally impressive.  First, their bulkhead walls had a blonde wood grain pattern -- made it feel nice and homey.  Second, no-nonsense, efficient boarding.  And finally, the food served to those like me in SAS Plus (yes, this was on a one-hour regional jet flight).  It was a cold salad, but in the coolest cube box with different landscape drawings on each of the sides and internal organization that was like a combination between a bento box and Russian nesting dolls.  But look at the description for what I got.  Wow.  And yes, it tasted good, too.

The SAS regional jet experience

Got a nice picture as we were climbing.  If you look closely, you can see not only a wind farm in the sea, but also the dual-use train/auto bridge/tunnel that connects Denmark with Malmo, Sweden.  Also was nice to see, on the descent, how lush and tree-filled the area around Vilnius  is.  And finally, the Vilnius Airport itself was quite nice with interesting architectural details.

Copenhagen, Malmo, the bridge connecting them and the wind farm

View during descent to Vilnius

A few pics of Vilnius Airort

In Transit

Spending at least a week in 20 different countries could be rather expensive and the point isn't to be fancy, so I decided to keep costs down by flying in SAS Plus rather than business class, saving a few thousand dollars in the process.  I figure I can sleep anywhere, so flying in what appeared, at least online, to be the equivalent of business class seats on American Airlines circa 2005 should be no big deal.  Of course, I was also younger with a more forgiving body in 2005.

I should note that around that same 2005 timeframe, I flew back and forth between Chicago and Stockholm on SAS and really liked the airline.  For example, at least in business class:

• The bathrooms had windows in them.  Because, honestly, who's going to be seeing what you're doing in there at 35,000 feet unless you've invaded hostile airspace and get a fighter jet escort, but that's not very likely over, say, Greenland. And it's quite surreal to have that kind of a view from the not-exactly-porcelain throne.  The bathrooms also had a fresh flower in a secured bud vase.  Because, Scandinavia....
• There was a guide in the seatback pocket on both the features of your seat and the aircraft.  One such feature that aroused my curiosity was the "stretch bar" that was located somewhere near the galley.  So I went to seek it out.  One of the flight attendants asked if she could help me, I explained what I was looking for, and she happily not only showed me where it was but demonstrated how to use it, noting how nice it felt to just hang from it and stretch out your spine.
• The amenity kit included a guide on the science behind jetlag and how to prepare for and counter jetlag when flying east and when flying west.  Very helpful.

Don't even think about using the business class bathrooms

  

Well, suffice it to say, SAS Plus is not business class, but it was still quite nice.  Here's a comparison from the cheaper seats:

• No windows or flowers in the bathrooms, though they are larger than a typical US airline bathroom, I think.  The interesting thing is that there was a special sign hanging from the divider curtain between business class and SAS Plus saying the SAS Plus were aft so, basically, don't open that curtain.  And even the bathroom occupancy indicator indicated the direction of the bathrooms for all of us in steerage and steerage plus.
• The amenity kit was more modest -- no scientific information or guide to aircraft features, but nice to still get a set of earbuds, ear plugs, eye mask and toothbrush/toothpaste in a bag that's designed to be used as a shoe bag after the flight.
• Meal service was efficient, but I was intrigued by the beverage service.  They came through with a cart and noted that the next service would be dinner and would I like to have an extra wine (unlike in business where they would pour the wine, in SAS Plus, they gave out plastic bottles).  What?  No. Just one wine and some water, please.  Well, it became clear later that there was no beverage service with dinner.  Which was fine, but for the boozers out there, take note!

Overall, an uneventful flight, followed by a five hour layover in Copenhagen Airport.  All I have to say about the latter is that my favorite feature is that they have hardwood floors.  Yes, real wood.  It feels like a higher end office building rather than an institutional setting. Creates a very warm feeling.

Look at this gorgeous flooring!

On to Vilnius!

In pursuit of a new goal

"Travel makes one modest.  You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world." -- Gustav Flaubert

As you may have gathered from this blog over the years, I love to travel, explore new places, learn about history and culture different than mine, and see beautiful spaces.  So I've set a new goal -- to travel to 20 different countries/places by the time I am 60 (about 13 years from now), spending at least a week (this is a lot for an American) in each place, and with a goal of as much immersion as possible in that period of time.  This averages to about one trip every nine months or so, which provides time to read about the history and sights (beyond the few pages you may get in a typical travel guide) and, to the extent possible, learn a bit of the language since that always enriches your experience.

My first trip starts in a few hours with Lithuania as the destination.  It was somewhat randomly chosen as I have been there on a quick overnight trip for business years ago, I know some amazing people who are Lithuanian, it's European so in my comfort zone, and didn't require too much time or too many flights to get there.

If all goes well with my technology set-up, I hope to add some posts while I am there.  If not, it'll happen when I return.  I'll also be posting a few pictures on Facebook and Instagram, but they won't capture that interesting stories and background that I hope I will encounter.

So stay tuned!

This one's for the birds

Did you ever have one of those interviews when you’re asked odd questions that one assumes are designed to catch you off-balance and see how you think on your feet? Like, “Here’s a pen.  You have 30 seconds to tell me all the things you can do with it.”  Or, “When was the last time you lied?”  Or, “If you were a bird, what kind of bird would you be?”  I got the last one when I was interviewing for my first job out of undergrad and I believe my answer was “hawk.”  Not as a reference to being a hawk or a dove from a foreign policy perspective (which is a fascinating discussion I enjoy now, but wouldn’t have considered then), but because they seem confident, results-oriented, vigilant and opportunistic, which I assumed might be something a potential employer might want.  And perhaps it was a good answer as I got a job offer, though I went to graduate school instead.


But the question has surfaced in my mind again lately. This is partially because over the past few years I have become fascinated by birds, generally, and have tried to lure as many desirable types of birds (crows, jays, grackles and pigeons need not apply) to various feeders.  This has proven to be fascinating and rewarding as well as endlessly frustrating as I have also battled to keep squirrels, raccoons and, more recently, a bear from raiding or destroying feeders.


After watching all these amazing creatures, though, I think if I were asked the bird question again, I’d choose sparrow because the qualities they exhibit are ones that I would value in friends and colleagues and would hope that they would find in me. So, a few words on those qualities.


Stable. Goldfinches are gorgeous little birds with a beautiful song.  I used to think that they migrated south for the winter as I didn’t really see them around, but it turns out I just wasn’t looking closely enough.  They stay, but they change colors to a more drab olive color for the winter, presumably to draw less attention of predators to them in the stark winter landscape.  Sparrows?  Same look every day of the year.   I’d prefer to know that a friend will always show her true colors, regardless of how uncomfortable that might be.


Adaptable. When was the last time you saw a hawk or a bluebird hanging out in the city?  Doesn’t happen very often.  But sparrows are pretty much ubiquitous wherever you go.  They adapt.  They seem just as happy eating crumbs dropped on a city street as feasting in a freshly harvested field.  Good friends go and grow with you, no matter where life takes you.


Cheery. The song of a sparrow isn’t particularly distinct or pretty, but it’s cheery.  It’s not like the scolding, harsh tone of a blue jay.  It’s hard not to smile when you see sparrows – they’re happy birds.  Who wouldn’t want to be surrounded by friends or colleagues who are perpetually happy, rather than by those who complain or criticize?


Humble. There is nothing fancy about a sparrow.  For the most part, they are drab gray and brown.  They don’t seem to care yet manage to find mates by being who they are, versus flashing some brilliant colors and a cool head crest like a beautiful male cardinal.  I like to surround myself with people who are authentic and comfortable in their own skins.


Non-destructive. Woodpeckers are some of the coolest birds out there.  They’re just different and not afraid to create a little noise while looking fabulous doing so.  And they’re rather creative – I watched a Gila woodpecker last week contort itself to land on a hummingbird feeder and twist its neck around to be able to take a sip.  But they do leave a bit of destruction in their wake (see also the pock-marked wooden trim on our house).  Sparrows are pretty low-impact, leaving behind just a bit of feathers from time to time.  It’s always refreshing to be around people with positive energy rather than those who leave you exhausted.


Hardy. Hummingbirds are fascinating and industrious, but when the first hint of autumn is in the air, they head south.  Sparrows stay in place when the going is tough, just like a good friend is always by your side.


So, if you were a bird, what kind of bird would you be?