AtoZ of Animals I have met: “C” is for Cididù #AtoZ Blogging Challenge#

Here in the States, when people listen to singing birds, they are usually canaries. That’s what they listen to in most of Italy, too, as far as I know. But, when you arrive in Mistretta, the norm followed by most people changes: the Mistrettesi listen to European Goldfinches. I can fully understand the reasoning behind why they would want to do so. When we were in Bologna, we had a lovely Canary named Contessina. She was a beautiful “canary” yellow. It seems that just about any animal that has come into my presence refuses to be normal, because Contessina could sing and did sing. And yes, she was a female, unless male canaries have started laying eggs.

Before moving to Sicily, we moved into a new apartment building for about a year that didn’t allow pets of any kind, including birds, although it seems that fish were allowed, but that is a story for another time. And we found a new home for her with someone she already knew. It seemed heartless to transfer her again, so we left her with Cristina when we moved to Sicily.

Once we arrived in Sicily with our two-month-old daughter, Nino immediately set to work trying to reorient himself in the town of his birth. And one of the first things he did was find someone who could provide him with a cardito (cardellino or European goldfinch). They were so cute, and they sang divinely. But I felt bad about keeping them in a cage, especially since they looked so sad and tried so hard to get out.

We had a number of them over the years and then suddenly, Nino came home with one that had been born in a cage. And it was love at first sight. It was, basically, impossible not to love him. I think Nino tried so hard because he wanted to find that same chemistry that he saw when the sparrow flew out of the tree at the hospital and land on my hand and then jump onto my head.

Well, we found it, Cididù and I. Nino knew it from the time he walked into the house and heard the two of us singing “The Eagle and the Hawk” along with John Denver. And while he did stay in a cage most of the time (especially when our cat was around), he did venture out of the cage when he felt at ease. He may have been in the cage, but the cage door was always open so he could come out and stretch his wings. And he never left, even when the front door was left open.

Cididù and I stayed friends until the day I came back to the States. But people still talk about how we would sing together with John Denver. Maybe he imagined himself an eagle. And I always thought of him as my tiny eagle in cardellino feathers.

Copyright © Mary Purpari 3 April 2021 All Rights Reserved