"Keep on keepin' on like a bird that flew...."

I had ankle surgery in April which necessitated me being in a cast and on crutches for 9 weeks. The couch in the living room was where I spent most of my time. It's prime real estate really, nearly equidistant from the kitchen and the bathroom, you just can't beat that. Boomer was rather put out that my leg occupied the space on the couch usually reserved for him and took to glaring at me from his pillow pallet on the floor. I spent a lot of time reading but in between books I would spend an inordinate amount of time staring out the front windows. If it weren't for the fact I live at the very end of a dead-end street where there is virtually nothing to actually watch, I could have given Jimmy Stewart's performance in Rear Window a real run for its money.

While there wasn't much in the way of people watching the bird feeder hanging on the crab apple tree provided a steady flow of entertainment in its own way.

Starlings, Robins, Cardinals, a slew of virtually indistinguishable (to me) small brown birds and the occasional ballsy squirrel who would attempt to land on the feeder (only to miss his/her target and fall into an undignified heap on the ground) One day there was a break in the monotony of usual suspects, a gorgeous yellow and black bird. I had never seen such a brilliant shade of yellow on a bird before. Never having been anything more than a casual viewer of warm-blooded, egg-laying, bipedal, vertebrates from the class Aves, I didn't have a clue what this bird was called. Google google, what would I do without you? Turns out the bird is a Goldfinch, pictured here to the right.

I've learned a lot about these little buggers, when I lack knowledge about a certain animal, vegetable or mineral I like to research it within an inch of its life. The almost day-glo yellow of this Goldfinch is his "breeding plumage" (you knew it had to be a male bird right? Boy birds seem to have all the colors, Cardinals, Robins...must be something to do with the fragile male ego)
Goldfinches molt twice a year, unlike most birds that only molt in the fall.

Once a male Goldfinch woos a female goldfinch, knocks her up and builds a nest, he molts and turns into this decidedly less flashy version:

How brilliant is this?! Breeding plumage to initially attract a mate, then once the deal is sealed, morphing into an utterly nondescript guy (I'm sure what they lack in color they make up for with a sparkling personality).

Then it hit me. This isn't SO brilliant, humans have been growing and molting "breeding plumage" since the dawn of time. Men and women spend a lot of time and effort showing off their plumage to available (and sometimes unavailable) mates. However, human males (and to be fair, females) breeding plumage doesn't fade as quickly as a Goldfinches. The high-school stud muffin can take a good 20 years (30 if nature is kind) to molt into a beer gut, balding visage. Although when you factor in the life span of a Goldfinch vs. Humans, it's probably equal.
Internet dating too, I suppose, could be a good example. A man initially writes he is a 6'4", flaxen haired Chippendale with excellent conversation skills who loves to listen, cook, clean, and snuggle really turns out to be a grease ball with cloven hooves.

More deep thoughts from the shallow end of the pool, bet y'all wish I had never laid eyes on a Goldfinch....