Providence of A Sparrow: Lessons from a Life Gone to the Birds - Hardcover

Chester, George C

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0874807425 ISBN 13: 9780874807424

Publisher: University of Utah Press, 2002

Synopsis

In the years since Chris Chester and his wife Rebecca rescued a featherless baby bird—a creature with all the initial appeal of "a testicle with a beak" —they’ve had plenty of time to consider and reconsider their eccentric lifestyle. The upstairs floor of their home in Portland has become an indoor aviary. There is B’s room, which he shares with a varying number of finches; the canary room; and the room housing the three subsequent foundling sparrows they’ve adopted: Baby, Pee Wee, and Seven. There are screen doors mounted in the doorways, congruent with "the Appalachian-themed decor." They’ve learned sparrow games like "War Bird," "Love Bird," and "Hit the Cap." Since the birds’ bedtime rituals alone take an hour or more each night, the couple’s social life has suffered a decline.

But along the way the Chesters have also learned a great deal about the natural history of birds, and even more about that maligned avian species, the House Sparrow. And with this knowledge has come gratitude. For it is through B and the rest of this unorthodox family that Chester has discovered a renewed capacity for joy and wonder and an expanded realization of the consciousness and intelligence in living things. A book filled with acerb wit, frequent references to literature both high and low, and genuine reverence for the life around him, Providence of a Sparrow is Chris Chester’s beautiful meditation on life with B.

 

About this title

From the Inside Flap

“There’s a special providence in the fall of a sparrow.” --William Shakespeare, Hamlet

B fell twenty-five feet from his nest into the life of Chris Chester. The encounter was providential for both of them.
B and Chester spent hours together playing games like bottle-cap fetch or hide-and-seek. They learned “words” in each other’s vocabularies. B developed a fetish for nostrils and a dislike of the color yellow. He grew anxious if Chester came home late from work. At bedtime he would rub his sleepy eyes on Chester’s thumb and settle to sleep in his palm. Chester ended up turning part of his house into an aviary and adjusting his social life to meet B’s demands. This was a small price to pay, though, for the trust and comfort of a twenty-five-gram friend who brought joy and wonder back into his life.

About the Author

Chris Chester is an electronics technician and writer. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Utah Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0874807425
• ISBN 13: 9780874807424
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 296