It all happened almost three years ago. A couple of pigeons inhabited the balcony of my apartment when I moved to the new home in the golden fall of 2004, which is located on the third floor and southwest of Poirier Street in St-Laurent. Undoubtedly, I thank the pigeons from the bottom of my heart for bringing my family lots
of fun and pleasure. They are the most amazing and cute pigeons I have ever seen.
They were a respectful couple. Perhaps, you may not believe that. In the pigeons’ family wife and husband are equal. It was high time they build their own abode. The couple was working like a horse building their nest on the balcony. The early bird catches the worm. They got up very early every day. They were busy picking up dry straw, grass and branches for their nests. Shortly, a warm and comfortable “home” –nest was finished, which was higher inside than the outside and looks egg shaped. It was very pleasing for them that the female pigeon was pregnant. She laid two eggs in the nest in a few days. During the day, they did what they should do alternatively. The mother was keeping the eggs warm with her feathers until they hatched, while the father flew out of the nest to find food in the morning. When he got full, the husband came back to the nest. He also brought some straw home, which kept their home warmer. Then the husband was responsible for keeping the eggs warm like his wife, while the wife flew out to find her food. After their children were born, they were looking after their babies carefully every day. Their babies took the food from their parents’ beaks. In addition, their relatives and good friends visited their home from different places to celebrate. As their cute children grew up healthily, the parents felt as high as a kite.
The couple was head over heels in love. They often had good communication time to have a heart to heart in their own language and nestled up at night. They never argued. They saw eye to eye on almost everything. It is unbelievable that they all preferred their new home and always keep the home clean. They clean their body (feathers) with their mouths. However, not all pigeons liked the couple. After the couple left their nest, there was another couple inhabiting it, they made their home dirty (mess) with lots of feces and loose feathers. Especially, the male hardly even cleaned his feathers, resulting in a poorly dressed manner (a poor hygiene). Moreover, if there were other unfriendly pigeons who arrived in their “home”, first they would advise them to leave here. Once another pigeon couple invaded their home, they had to make them leave by force.
One day, my landlord dropped in on me at my apartment. She found that there were pigeons and their eggs in a nest on the balcony. The pigeons were frightened of her. They flew off immediately. The landlord had a long face and thought they would make the balcony dirty. Obviously, her argument did not hold water. However, she was not willing to hear my explanation. She had a heart of stone. My heart stood still when she broke their home. As she was breaking their eggs, I grabbed the eggs in the nick of time, so they did not break. Then she asked me to take the eggs to the garbage can in the basement. I had to take them away from the nest and put them in the fridge and promised that I would do it later. I knew that it would drive the pigeons up the wall. The pigeons hit the ceiling when they realized that their home was broken and eggs had disappeared. They felt homeless. They nestled up around the corner on the balcony at night with a heavy heart. It is always darkest before the dawn. My wife has a heart of gold. Next morning, she delicately built a bigger house which was made of strong paper for the couple. Then I put the eggs into the new house from the fridge. At first, they were as nervous as a cat on a hot roof when they saw the new and unfamiliar house. They crept into the house, and then they walked back the corner as soon as possible. They tried to do it again. Finally, they stayed in the house when they realized the house was safe. Day after day, they were satisfied with the special and comfortable house. They enjoyed spending a happy time in the house.
The parents began to teach their children how to fly as the children grew up and their feathers were hard and long enough. At the beginning, their children were afraid of flying. They always encouraged their children to do it. One time, I noticed that the mother did not feed one child or only fed less because the parents wanted their children to gain independence. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. They should feed themselves instead of relying on their parents in the future. The next morning, the child got up early and began to practice flying. Where there is a will, there is a way. Work makes the workman. Time after time, they failed; eventually their children were capable of flying independently in the sky and live alone without their support. The parents were fairly proud of their children.
The pigeons were easy going and made friends with us. One of my daughter’s favorite hobbies was to breed birds such as parrots and little ducks in Guangzhou, China. Soon the lovely pigeons inhabited the nest as our good neighbor. After school, she liked to observe their life carefully and took some photos and videos with our new digital camera. At the beginning, my daughter gave them some food like bread, cookies. Soon, the pigeons were no longer afraid of my daughter. They were accustomed to taking the food from my daughter’s hands. Sometimes, they came into our living room to play with my daughter. The pigeons and my daughter became really good friends. One day, the pigeons took French leave. However, they left a pair of long and beautiful feathers as a souvenir when they left for a new place where now live.
It is one of the most impressive stories of my life in Canada. I can not stop thinking of the lovely pigeons, my good friends. I am dreaming of the pigeons visiting my new home one day. I wish that they would live high off the hog in my new neighborhood.
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