Chirp Chirp

Smoke alarms are a great invention and I'm glad our house is well equipped with them. We have seven sensors in our house and they are all connected to the house wiring so if one goes off they all do. One just cannot sleep through the alarms blaring nor get away from the screech. They also have batteries and if I don't replace the batteries on time I hear that annoying chirp that we all love so much.

Our smoke alarms have been touchy lately. They have been going off at the slightest perturbation. That's probably because they are 12 years old and overdue to be replaced. It doesn't take much to discourage me from cooking, really, I'd rather go out to eat, thank you very much, but showering? Come on. A little steam is not something to get alarmed about. Really. We now walk nonchalantly to the whole house fan switch whenever someone is in the shower. And we don't cook, but that is nothing new.

Yesterday was such a pretty day. The sun was shining and the breeze was clean. Someone was either cooking or showering so we had the doors and windows wide open as a preventive effort. Besides, it was a nice day. Leaving the front door open is all fine and good except we have no screen on the front door. We do have the three dogs to let us know if anyone is approaching.

Well, we had an intruder and no one noticed. It started getting cool so we shut the windows and doors and went about our business. I heard a bird singing a stupid song, very monotonous. It only partly registered in my thoughts. Then Da decided to close the windows in the living room. I told him they weren't open, but he was sure they were. They weren't. But the intruder made him think they were.
There on the upper window trying to get through the glass was a very frantic House Finch. He was a male in all his spring splendor, very bright and intense. And very intent on getting out again. He was fluttering around the upper window and singing a very boring song like a dead battery smoke alarm. Ahhhh, so that was the stupid bird song I had heard. Poor thing.

I don't know how long he kept at it but it was hours. I quietly opened the window below him and took the screen out, but he would have nothing to do with the lower window. He wanted out the unopenable upper window. What to do? I got my long handled duster, which I obviously don't use for cobwebs and such, and carefully prodded him over to a corner of the sill and then he just stuck his little feet into the long fibers and held on so I lowered him to the open window and he happily flew away, but not very far.



He was so tired that he just made it to the fence and then stayed there resting for quite a while.


I know they are called House Finches, but I didn't know why, now I do.