Both of my grandfathers kept birds down their cellars. I have no independent recollections of it. I did not know until family members told me so.
I do remember that my maternal grandfather kept catfish in a tank in the house, had a large goldfish in a small "pond" he dug outback, and watched Gunsmoke on television. Later on in years, I discovered that he really liked John Wayne and Johnny Cash.
I didn't know my paternal grandfather. He died when I was very young. I know that he came from Italy, that he wore overalls, that there was a family farm, and that he kept birds in his cellar.
I am allergic to birds and that keeps me from having my own. I especially admire African Greys and Macaws and Conures. I remember learning about carrier pigeons as a child. In petshops, I whistle and talk to the birds to see which ones respond.
I feed the birds in my yard and in return have been dazzled by little miracles hatching from their nests in trees and birdboxes. I've been buzzed by chickadees and hummingbirds, sung to by rose-breasted grosbeaks, and awed by pileated woodpeckers. I have birds all around me like my grandfathers did. The birds just don't live in my cellar!
~life sapphoq
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