The Best Thing That Happened This Week: Hey, What Was That?

You can hear birds singing again. Photo: Getty Images

They’ve been waking us up every morning with their goddamn racket. Robins, finches, sparrows, chickadees — yada yada yada! Those mourning doves with their Whooooo whoooo whooooing. The crows, so uncanny, calling back and forth from the church steeple to the pine tree like they’re having an actual conversation, like they’re yentas sipping coffee at the kitchen table, trading tales. That blue jay — such a bully, always chattering at the littler ones! They’ve been there all this time, most likely, but who could hear the birds singing with the cars always coming and going, the kids shouting back and forth to school, the trash trucks, the sirens, the planes flying overhead? Now, in the silence, they’re solace, outdoor Muzak, the background patter of everyday life. Hark, hark! the lark — who knew their songs were so varied, so loud?