Last weekend,
Nick and Jackie were listening to Nigel talking about our doves and how he had
built an extension to the dovecote for them.
I explained how we had got them through an outbreak of coccidiosis (a
fatal bird disease). Then Nigel showed how we hand-feed them.
“Ah,” said
Jackie, “Child substitutes.”
I’ve been
considering this.
Jackie is
wrong because:
a I cannot tell the doves apart,
whereas I can tell my children apart (even though I constantly mix their names
up).
b I do not expect my children to sleep
outside.
c I do not exchange news and anecdotes
with the doves.
d And finally, the doves are often at home and seem
pleased to see us.
However, it
was Perran and Carenza’s birthday on Wednesday – we were both at work and so were
they (for such is adult life) so we post-poned a get-together until the weekend.
It did
occur to me that if I were to bake a birthday cake and take it out to the doves
there would be no suspicious queries as to whether it was fully vegan or health
worries about the sugar and fat content.
They would be simply delighted and gobble it up.
I still don’t
think they are a child substitute, for me at least, but they do offer certain
definite advantages…
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