Pigeons in the Park... and on my Head

by Nicole
At a vacation house, San Juan, Puerto Rico
written December 14

While visiting old San Juan, we came across a park full of pigeons.  There were a couple of men feeding the pigeons by pouring a pile of corn kernals into their hands and letting the pigeons land on them to eat.  They were also going to up to strangers and offering to let them do it also.  Cash and I had the privilege of doing this. My grandmother Henrie also did it, but I am not sure that she liked it so much.

The man would pour the corn into my hands and all the pigeons in the park would fly over to me.  As many pigeons as possible would land on my arms, and a few times some would climb up to my head and shoulders.  There, the pigeons with access to my hands would eat the corn, while the ones without access to my hands would just sit there until the food was gone.  Most of the pigeons would disperse, but some would just stay there.  The thing about the pigeons was that they were so stupid, if you just held out your arms like you did have food, a few pigeons would fly up to your arms and sit there anyway.

It was an amazing experience, and one I would never get tired of, even if I did it every day.