Tweet, Tweet!

CURATING | by ROBIN AVNI

THERE’S A WHOLE LOT OF TWEETING GOING ON outside my office these days. And, no, I’m not referring to Twitter. These are real tweets, the kind associated with a pair of nesting birds who return every spring to reclaim the space above the rafters of my office window for their soon-to-be family. I know spring has arrived when they come home to roost.

SOURCE: AMAZON.COM

But this spring, looking at the birds outside my window isn’t the only place I can birdwatch. Glance about and you’ll see that it’s all gone to the birds, as well as the chicks and the hens. There are accessories for the home, illustrious books, even office supplies all sporting bird motifs.

Then there are the backyard hen houses sprouting up in city lots and suburban backyards across the nation. It’s not just your neighbor who decided to become a farminista and build a chic coop. There was even a feature about the growing phenomenon in a recent New York Times Sunday magazine, “The Femivore’s Dilemma”. Not to mention inventive products like the stylish and colorful DIY chicken cribs created by Rusty Lamer and Andreas Stavropoulos to help you house your hens.

Where the birds are, the egg is never far behind, especially in springtime, when the egg is a symbol of rebirth and plays a key role in the seasonal holidays like Easter and Passover, and even in pagan rituals. Perhaps that’s what this bird frenzy is all about: the idea of renewal and rebirth.

Well, for whatever reason, I find this whole bird thing growing on me as I’ve found myself purchasing stickers, folders and small carvings of birds. Not sure why, but I think it might have something to do with my name.