Bye Bye Blackbird

During the past few days the police have stepped up patrol in our neighborhood. It is an older neighborhood and many old people live here, so it is a very quiet place. It is very unusual to see police cars going up and down this dead end street with sirens wailing and lights flashing and the spotlight shining in various places throughout the area.

It was rather unsettling so Katie called the police station to find out if there was reason for concern. I was thinking escaped convicts? robbery investigation? I wasn't sure, I just wanted to know if there was any danger.

This is what she found out. People have been calling the police because of the blackbirds. For some reason this winter the town has been overrun by millions of blackbirds and the police are driving around sounding their horns, wailing the sirens and flashing their lights in hopes to make them go away.

This disturbs me.

I don't know what disturbs me more, that the police are taking time and energy to try to scare the birds away (which is having little or no effect) or that people are actually calling the police about this!

I guess I should be comforted to know that nothing more exciting like mayhem and murder is going on, and that the police have time to chase birds.

Only in TN! (It is one experience after another living here!)