My great-great-grandparents moved here from Africa. If you live in the United States, chances are your ancestors moved here from another land just like mine did.
The European Starling, which one sees with great frequency here, was brought to this continent by a Shakespeare enthusiast in 1890. Shakespeare was a human who wrote plays a long, long time ago. English-speaking humans revere him and apparently Shakespeare mentioned starlings in one of his plays.
European Starlings have flourished here and they now live from sea to shining sea. You have probably seen one yourself: they are about the size of an American Robin, but are a glossy black with a metallic sheen that, depending on the light, looks green or blue or purple to my eye.
The other day, just as the sun was going down, I passed a massive flock of European Starlings settling down for the night in the branches of neighboring oak trees. What a cacophony they made! I rarely hear such a ruckus. They seemed to be having quite the party and they sure did look like they were having fun.
Their camaraderie put me in the mood to go have fun with my own friends and family and so I asked Hector if he wanted to go to my parents’ place for dinner, which is just what we did.
Capital Giraffe - adventures of a washingtonian 
3 responses to “Immigrants Just Like You and Me”
Hi, Bernice. Your blog reminded me of the stories my grandfather told me about the savannas of his youth in sub-Saharan Africa. He talked about the Serengeti in east-central Africa; I believe he was raised in Tanzania before being shipped to a Zoo here in the States. My grandfather told me that Serengeti means “endless plains” and the total area is some 30,000 square kilometers. He liked to talk about his favorite trees for eating – the Acacia tree, Baobab tree, Candelabra tree, Jackal Berry tree; he also like elephant grass. Would enjoy going to the Serengeti savanna with Mom, Louisa, you and Hector some day and bringing to life our family’s past. I miss my grandfather and my father. But nice to reminisce. Time for a snack. Enjoyed seeing you and Hector last night for dinner. Enjoyed the race with Hector. At 35 mph, we passed some cars for our short race! Also saw a bunch of European Starlings. Thank your friend, NuNu, for the great drawings of the birds.
Love,
Dad
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Hi Dad! 🙂 Thank you for the comment! I miss Granddad too. We should definitely plan a trip to the Serengeti! I love you.
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I would LOVE to go on the trip to Africa with you all! Thank you so much for thinking of me! 🙂
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