Birdseed to bombs

Birdseed to bombs – are they connected?

 Sitting watching the birds in the garden I was struck by the seeming inefficiency of the blue tits feeding methods. Hop about in the hedge a few times, fly to the feeder, one seed and back to the hedge. They all appeared to be programmed with the similar actions, from trees to bird table or fat balls. Surely all that hopping about and flight must use up most of the energy from that one seed? Far better to stop for a few more grains, have a proper snack, don’t they get indigestion?

Of course they do it for a very good reason, safety. For theirs is a far more precarious existence than ours. Death is but a shadow away, a rush of air, the razor sharp talons reaching out to enclose their little feathered bodies, the cruel curved beak the last thing they feel.

 But, then I got to thinking, is our life so different? We can be snatched from existence at any time, a car accident, plane crash, heart defect, stress, cancer, alcohol. And some of these are because we didn’t heed the warning and stayed too long at the table, didn’t do enough exercise.

Then there are whole nations that veer the opposite way, spending such a great deal on defence that they suck the pool dry of scientists who could have made discoveries to benefit the lot of humans and creatures across the world.

These are important thoughts that need to be widely known, as many older, experienced people around the world are probably thinking in their individual cocoons. But just as they feel able to put their revelations on paper, they fall asleep in the afternoon sun, or they are needed for the shopping trip, or to pick up the grandchildren. The moment has gone, the wisdom that they could have imparted to the next generation is lost in the rush of life.

Is this the natural progression, the wisdom of one generation failing to be passed on to the next? Does it mean that each new set of thinkers has to make their own decisions without the benefit of other’s hindsight? Does this result in the liberation to have innovative ideas and solutions to life’s challenges? Or does it ensure that they make the same mistakes as the last lot?

That trip to Sainsburys for birdseed might have a lot to answer for.