Salty Lemons

pigeons in front of The New Mosque (Yeni Camii)
Istanbul, Turkey from my 2011 archive

boy proudly holding a captured pigeon on top of the City Walls in Edirnekapi
Istanbul, Turkey from my 2011 archive

pigeons in Taksim Square
Istanbul, Turkey from my 2011 archive

pigeons roosting on The Column of Constantine (Çemberlitas Sütunu)
Istanbul, Turkey from my 2011 archive

pigeons at Topkapi Palace (Topkapi Sarayi)
Istanbul, Turkey from my 2011 archive

October 20, 2011

Pigeons

Many urban dwellers equate pigeons to rats, referring to them as "rats with wings." Pigeons like rodents and roaches are adaptable, resilient, pesky, and have the ability to survive severe conditions. I have come to feel more affection for pigeons than I have in the past, but to say that I really like them is a stretch. I see them as another entity in the background of urban life, similar to taxis, shouting persons, or fire truck sirens. More despised on my list are seagulls.

(Years ago, one actually had the audacity to swoop down, brush my shoulder, and take a bite from my ice cream cone, while I stood observing sea lions at Pier 39 in San Francisco. My fingers remained intact but my cone did not and that annoyed me. It had been Häagen-Dazs. Unforgiveable.)

The people of Istanbul seem to embrace, rather than reject the massive flocks of pigeons that congregate on and around every major monument. Pigeon feed is sold and purchased outside many mosques and buildings noticeably lack anti-roosting spikes. Mary Poppins and the song and scenes from "Feed the Birds" runs through my mind and so does the threat of being hit by pigeon poop.

Italians say it is good luck to get pooped on, and my brother-in-law once received a dose of "good luck" while we waited to get a glimpse of Pope John Paul II in Saint Peter's Square in Rome. My brother-in-law thought it was double the luck, being christened by a "papal pigeon."

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