A bird, a bird, a bird, and a duck…

[I'm listening to The Avalanche by Sufjan Stevens]

A Bird

La was ill – not in the sense that she was angry at me, but in the sense that she had a fever of 102.8 F at one point followed by days of stomach problems. In the midst of her tears and despite her infirmed situation she looked at me and said, “I have a surprise for you.”

It was all a bit surreal. “Oh yeah, what’s that?”

“A couple of months ago I bought you two tickets to the Sufjan concert in Atlanta. I’ve already talked to your manager, he said everything would be fine for you to go. I also rented a room at the Marquis.” She said this with a beaming and simultaneously sickly smile.

This just wasn’t registering. Partly, because I just did not know if and when she would be better. Partly because I was so much more concerned with how she was doing. A couple of days later she was in the hospital with an IV strapped to her. It wasn’t – just some Salt, Calcium, and antibiotics for her stomach. But it was – the IV being changed often, seeing my wife in a hospital bed, praying and feeling like a good Father was giving me stones instead of bread.

Progress ensued.

We went into the hospital on a Friday afternoon. We left on a Monday morning. Sufjan was playing on Wednesday night and we were going on a road trip.

God was merciful to the undeserving.

A Bird

It was exciting to be in a situation where I really didn’t know what to expect. The stage was sparsely decorated with a large projection screen hanging and adorned on either side by what seemed to be the longest streams of tinsel I’ve ever seen. During the opening act of My Brightest Diamond I admired the architecture and detail of the Fox Theater in Atlanta. I followed the curves of the crafted wood into the reaches of the cavernous ceiling that was painted to resemble a night sky.

After some time, Sufjan came onto the stage with his musical entourage. Violins and a standing bass were on his left after the two trumpet players and the trombone. There was a grand piano directly behind him and a drummer behind it. No one was yet on the piano. To his right were the electric bass player and the lead singer for My Brightest [she was on guitar]. The stage was filled with fifteen two eighteen musicians.

The stage was filled with musicians who were wearing blue jeans, grey shirts, masks, and both butterfly wings and bird wings. They refused to take them off throughout the course of the concert. It didn’t matter; this gift from my wife was the best concert I have ever been. Sufjan utilized video [mostly textures as my video-editing friend put into words for us] to accentuate the themes of his music [as if the composition wasn’t already detailed enough]. All together, I had the opportunity to listen to one of the best story tellers I’ve heard in a period.

Sufjan, like my wife is afraid of birds.

He became what he feared – adorning birds’ wings and singing his beautiful and sometimes enigmatic songs.

An Annoying Bird

He was playing The Transfiguration.
She was telling her date about her siblings.
I was trying to tune her out.
I was thinking of how I could cause offense without insinuating that I meant it.
“No offense, but my wife didn’t pay for us to come and listen to you in Atlanta, we’re here for the concert.”
In my mind I said, “After this song…”

Halfway through one of the worst screeching sounds I’ve ever heard in my life occurs – to the cheers of the audience and the well handled consternation of Sufjan.

When I look back, the awful cawing buzzing bird behind me has left [or moved] with her three friends.

And a Duck

This is a bit disjoint, but I thought it fit with the theme.

I was on my way out for a morning run yesterday – too lazy to put on my contacts and too concerned to put on my glasses. I walked down the steps with a bag of garbage in my hand trying to wake despite the dark. At the bottom of the steps, I sidestepped to avoid what looked like a bundle of rags in the dark.

Coming back from my run, I crouched to look at the rags [I am fairly to quite nearsighted]. To my great astonishment, there was a medium sized deceased duck in front of the house we live in!

I have nothing to say upon this as it is altogether strange.