Studying the Bird

I don't watch BIRDS as closely as our CATS study them.
From the other side of the window, the felines mentally catalog every feather, the minutest twitch of the head and the tiniest bite of seed with beak by the diners at the bird feeder.
Sitting outside this afternoon, my bird-watching efforts only progressed to the stage of my eyes following the birds as they glided from telephone line to tree, to ground, to bush and back to clear blue sky.
I studied the "BIRD" on my iPod much more closely.
This afternoon, I listened to the clutch of brilliant records CHARLIE PARKER cut for the Savoy and Dial labels between November 1945 and May 1947 -- almost certainly the peak of his extraordinarily creative powers.
"Now's The Time," "Orinthology," "Lover Man" and "Relaxin' at Camarillo" are only a few of the highlights from this epic period in JAZZ.
I'd watch some birds fly overhead as I sat in the backyard, then close my eye to follow the complicated course of Parker's solos.
I couldn't keep up. Parker remains a towering genius, even 66 years after the release of these records.
His music is as timeless as the flight of the birds over my head.