#138 Animal hangouts

Neil Pasricha

I have a slow commute.

Living downtown and working in the burbs means I jam through highways and sidestreets coming home every night. Sideways rain and hockey games slow everything down and sometimes I find myself tire-crawling all the way.

I’m a fidgety person so when I’m stuck in the stop and go I find myself spacing out and flipping through the radio. I daydream, pick my nose, and phone friends. I crank tunes, sing along, and snap back again. Sometimes I find myself in my parking garage and come to the jarring realization that I have no memory of my entire drive home. “Hmm, thanks Ghost Me,” I think, slamming the door.

Now it was on one of those traffic-jammy drives last week when I found myself cruising under a rusty old bridge. As I was passing under it, I let my eyes peek up into the crusty cobweb coated rafters and noticed an army of pigeons all wedged together up there. My eyes refocused to make sure I was seeing it right but then, sure enough, there really was hundreds of the fat birds all standing tall on a big rusty beam–slash–their toilets.

When I see pigeons they’re usually solo. I guess I always assumed they led lonely lives picking crumbs from sewer grates and fighting for crusts behind the pizza place. That’s why it made me happy seeing them all hanging together under the bridge. It was like the Pigeon Country Club up there. Membership was tough and you had to come early to score a good seat.

I liked thinking how money had no place in their lives at all. Nobody spent more to get a better lake view or upgraded their spot to one without bird crap. It was just first come, first serve, shove over to let another bird in. They didn’t say anything but seemed happy. They didn’t move but they seemed content.

Animal hangouts are a little reminder we’re all looking for the same thing: good family and friends, cozy company, and fun times that come from coming together. Whether it’s pigeons hanging under the bridge, moths flapping together by the porch light, or crabs huddling near the ocean vent, animal hangouts are a reminder that life’s a lot more fun in groups.

Let’s get together.

AWESOME!

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Photos from: here, here, and here

28 thoughts to “#138 Animal hangouts”

    1. He’s so chill :D
      I feel like if he was human, he’d be saying ‘Duuuuuude, just catching some rays’ or something equally laid-back.

        1. The slouching polar bear is def a fave in this post. And I love giving speech to animals. These are all good options haha =)

    2. I’d love a big version of this pic to hang above my work desk to remind me how to chill. :) Like your pun!

    1. *Funny Mary, and keen too!*
      I vote, yes, but Freddo, JDurley, Bekah, Laura and Lara usually make the final ruling in this dep’t! Way to entice them back into the awesome play ground……..it’s sort of not the same community without their “regular visits”, and this would surely be a really entertaining comment thread:)

    2. Hmmm…good question Mary. At first I thought, “yeah, it has the word toilet in it” but then I had second thoughts, because the list is of “bathroom-related posts” and I wasn’t sure if “Animal Hangouts” was really all that bathroom-related.

      But life is short, you know? So *tick*.

      1. Agreed- life is short AND this was my thought…
        William Shakespeare said, “All the world is a stage”…
        for animals, *All the world is a bathroom!*
        Now for #137 LOL

  3. The pigeon army reminds me of the pigeons in Mirror Mask. Has anyone seen that movie? So weird but awesome…in my opinion.

  4. Seeing the pigeon hangout seems to have had the same effect on you that the time I saw one ant carrying another ant on its back had on me. It was one of those moments when I truly realized that we really are all the same.

    That polar bear looks like he should have a remote in his hand. And an icy cold beer in the other. Such a great photograph!

  6. “Bird’s of a feather flock together…..”
    This one indicates Neil’s spent enuff time on brilliance in the burbs and is hungrily seeking the authenticity of community, found genuine in nature.

  7. The other animals look great…. but pigeon hangouts are not awesome when they include my roof and my pool and they poop all over everything…. not to mention I’m really allergic to them :-/

  10. I live on the BC Coast, and one thing I like to do is find somewhere where I an park near the beach or coastline during a fierce October/November storm, then watch the seagulls playing in the wind. You know, where they ride the wind, then dive down and let themselves get blown away, then turn around and wind surf again. So cool. And yes, I do believe they are totally playing.

  11. “Let’s get together.” I love this post with it’s lessons from the animal world! “Convivencia” is another word that comes to mind – a type of solidarity or coming together to share life and ideas. 1000 Awesomethings is just this.

    1. What a Happy song! Great vid! I don’t think that’s Zappa, though Flo & Eddie did join The Mothers of Invention post-The Turtles. Maybe I’m mistaken.

      1. Holy…Jeeves confirmed my “farmer” was wrong, hence I’ve been telling this story for decades! I can imagine what Frank would say about that!
        Thanks Kathy!
        Now, I hope I can remember to stand corrected! Hahaha!

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  15. Usually I don’t read article on blogs, but I wish to say that this write-up very forced me to try and do so! Your writing style has been amazed me. Thanks, quite nice article.

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