A bonus to having your wings clipped involves honing a vision for those everyday items that deserve praise. Have you ever been captivated by a small, uncomplicated but useful thing? A bell, a whistle, a match, a clothespin, a key, a coin purse?
What about this tiny metal rain bird? We have two.
I have no memory of how they came into our possession. Wedding gift? I doubt that, though they would have been fitting and as valuable as any other send off.
I have always loved the design. It makes me wonder about the sometimes heinous configuration of items designed today. Groucho Marx had the idea – “A child of five could understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five.”
The portability of these tiny sprinklers is genius. Just put them in your pocket and patrol the yard. No fuss. Screw their stout metal threads onto the hose and gently place in an area of growing green that needs love.
And there is absolutely nothing to repair. Just an utterly simple and brilliant way to reinforce life.
The bird delicately rains to a greater or lesser degree. You choose. The only instructions attached stated: stationary sprinkler – 25’ shower square.
Quite often it comes to me that I might have overcomplicated things before the frenzied pace I kept was reversed. Just like the “bigger, better” sprinklers, we thought we needed to replace the rain birds.
Progress is required we said – moving parts with bigger wing spans, of course. The problem is that in time flash and dash bit the dust. Where was the sustainability in that for the lawn or the landfill for that matter?
The rain bird prevails.
A proviso to the metal minions’ highest calling does entail some human endeavor. A calculated focus on need and then implementation – preferably within a 25’ shower square.
So what else to gain from the rain bird besides a more verdant plot? The simple idea and adopted value of hydrating other humans with endearments like a phone call, a plate of cookies or a look into their eyes.
And so yes, like the rain bird, we are more stationary for now, but remaining closer to home doesn’t mean that 25’ shower squares cannot revitalize a world of friends, neighbors and the businesses we love.
Be the rain bird.