Good Morning Mr. Magpie

Slipping into a gift shop at Edinburgh airport on our way home I began a friendly chat with the proprietor.

“Well hello, is that bird on that tea towel a robin?”

“Why yes, it is!”

“Oh, I saw a robin like that in the botanical gardens the other day! But our robins are quite a bit larger.”

“Really?”, she responded. “I didn’t know that!”

“Neither did I,” I retorted.

And then I asked, “What is the black bird I saw, with white on its wings?”

“Oh my,” she said. “That is a Magpie. You must watch them they can be a bit cheeky!”

“Cheeky?” I asked.

“Yes, a bit naughty. They like shiny things and have been known to steal jewelry.” 

Magpies, a member of the crow family, are highly intelligent and fun to watch. The common magpie is one of the most intelligent animals to exist. Their brain-to-body-mass ratio is surpassed only by that of humans. It may be easy to make friends with a magpie because they are able to recognize and remember human faces for many years. They can learn which humans are friendly and which are not. They are able to remember someone who was kind to them as well as someone who is unkind.

And then she suggested that when you see a Magpie you should greet him by saying, “Good morning, Mr. Magpie, how are Mrs. Magpie and all the other little magpies?” Apparently, this is said for good luck.

I piled my remaining coinage onto the counter where she counted it carefully and kindly told me how more money I needed for my purchase. It is good to let go of your extra pounds at the airport (though I must say I picked up a few extra in the fine restaurants there). How wonderful she was to help me with that small transaction-I almost wished I was staying.

I began to wonder why it was that I learned all of that in the airport on my way home from Edinburgh. There is just so much to discover in these far-off places and even in the town next door. The birds, the bird calls, the traditions, and customs.

The gentlemen checking our documents at the check-in line stopped and asked us what we enjoyed most about our time there, what we saw and how we liked their country. We were a bit taken back. “Aren’t you supposed to be rudely shouting at us to move along?” “Why are you smiling and initiating a friendly conversation?” It seemed perhaps as if we had fallen through the rabbit hole. 

I drag my feet when it comes to travel. At times I suggest that I have seen enough. As a confirmed homebody, it’s sometimes difficult to light that fire under me. But had I stayed home           I would have found myself folding laundry, organizing closets and washing the kitchen floor. I never would have seen Edinburgh Castel, the Royal Mile, Loch Ness or that smart little Magpie and I may not have been reminded of the kindness that still lies in wait in our world.