Our Hmong Neighbors Call Us The "Crow People," I Discovered..

[thbobby]

17. Kinda non non related story...

My parent were avid bird watchers. Fed them daily and would spend hours watching and learning about them. I gave them books from National Audubon Society to help them recognize different species.

My father grew very interested in purple martins. They lived on a smallish farm. This was in early internet days. My first purchase from Amazon was "Attracting Purple Martins". I do not remember the author. It was his favorite gift that I ever gave him. He called it his "Martin Bible". He did succeed in getting Martins to settle in houses he had built for him. At one time, he had several hundred birds that nested in the houses.

Martins are a migratory bird that spend half their time in South America. They are considered a major pest there. But they are carnivorous and help with insects. More importantly, they brought my mom and dad much pleasure in the later years of their life. I enjoyed teasing him about how much trouble he was causing in South America. He had very close and dear Hispanic friends who lived in Southern Mexico. Good times!