Do sparrows breathe?
January 6, 2009
You can’t see a sparrow’s breath at -36 Celsius. I tried. I watched the sparrows in the back yard, in the apple tree, waiting their turns at the feeder. Nothing. I couldn’t see a damned thing. The amount of air must be so miniscule that it just doesn’t register. Just something I noticed. I walk around outside at -36C and there are huge clouds of steam from my breathing. Sparrows? Nothing. There is no empirical evidence that suggests the sparrows in my apple tree, at -36 Celsius, actually breathe...
Ya, I need to start working on a new book.
8 Comments
1. Adam Snider had this to say: Jan 07, 2009 ~ 11:51 ~ #
Thomas, it’s a well known fact that sparrows are actually mechanical. They do not, in fact, breathe. I was, however, under the impression that they’re steam-powered, so this lack of visible steam presents quite a quandary.
I’m not sure how to reconcile my belief in mechanical sparrows with this new, empirical evidence showing a lack of steam.
2. thomas had this to say: Jan 07, 2009 ~ 12:09 ~ #
Professor Rubin Tesky, in his 1953 paper titled: “The respiratory possibilities in North American sparrows,” supports your steam-driven theory but again, he did his study in Florida, where the possibility of minus 36 Celsius is remote. Professor Rubinski, from UBC postulates some sort of naturally occurring cold fusion, a controversial theory at best. I like ornithologist Dr. Carol Fuetes’ suggestion that sparrows are always, only, ephemeral dreams – that somewhere in our human collective unconscious, there is the idea of “sparrow.” That while beautiful, sparrows are not a physical entity on this planet.
3. deb had this to say: Jan 07, 2009 ~ 20:10 ~ #
You obviously have way too much time on your hands, both of you. Go and write!
4. maude l. had this to say: Jan 07, 2009 ~ 22:21 ~ #
Dr. Rubin Tesky was Bunny’s co-star in the beaver picture. For all I know, I introduced them.
Did you know that blue jays aren’t actually blue. It is an optical illusion. I think they are opaque or something.
5. Elena Ray had this to say: Jan 08, 2009 ~ 14:34 ~ #
write ? ... just to stay in sparrow meditation a little while longer, for the poem~
6. Mike Gravel had this to say: Jan 08, 2009 ~ 15:15 ~ #
thaw revelation:
three sparrows
dead on the porch
7. thomas had this to say: Jan 08, 2009 ~ 15:30 ~ #
Goddamn, Gravel!!!
That’s a good poem. Sad, but really good.
Sparrow meditation…has journeyed from observation to outlandishly bizarre, to observational again. Tomorrow’s sorbet will have birds…
8. Adam Snider had this to say: Jan 09, 2009 ~ 08:57 ~ #
I like the idea that sparrows are little more than dreams, fantastic illusions created by the minds of former cave-dwellers.
I also love Gravel’s haiku.