Hello, there.
Don’t be alarmed: you’ll spook my dear friend, here. Do you like birds, youngster? Because this bird seems to have taken a real shining to you. His name’s Erasmus. Have you met Erasmus?
Erasmus and I go back years. Every day on my lunch break from the country store I come sit on this bench and feed Erasmus and his friends. Boy, Erasmus and I must go back 80 years or so. We’d play stick and hoop and eat bird seed by the fistful. Isn’t that right old friend? Very well, very well. Play coy, why don’t you good fellow.
You’ll have to excuse Erasmus, he’s always been a bit shy. That is until you pull a handful of bread crumbs forth from your pocket! Ha! Oh, lighten up, Erasmus, you know it to be true.
Erasmus might not be the jester he was in his youth, but he’s as reliable a boon companion today as he was the day they constructed the Hoover Dam. Ah, the Hoover Dam, we were sure it could never be done, but I suppose that exhibits our callow grasp of hydroelectric irrigation projects, does it not, my feathered playfellow!
Yes, yes, Erasmus and I have been quite the match over the last four score. We’ve led simple lives as man and bird, but was it not Alicia Keys who said simplicity makes me happy? A stick of taffy and a game of marbles will be just fine by us to pass the time.
Well, look now, this old fuddy has droned on well into the fisherman’s hour. I won’t be long for this world and it’s time Erasmus will need another cully for amity in the new century. Of course, I’ll miss the old warbler, but remember friend—I’ll always be in your heart.
