Ginny & Flo Go Out Catching Birds

When Maya's Great-grandmother, who is Granny's Little Mama, was a little girl called Ginny, and Maya's Great-great-aunt Flo was a little girl called Flo, they lived in the country right outside of Ceres, California with their Mama and Papa, who later became Granny's Grandmother Lillian and Grandfather Percy. Now, this story happened when Ginny and Flo were old enough to play outdoors while their Mama cleaned and cooked and their Papa was at work. But they were still little girls.

So, it happened that one day Ginny and Flo had been playing and playing. They played hide and seek, although it is a little boring to seek only one other person after a while. They played dollies. They played jump rope. They didn't climb any trees, although Ginny wanted to, because Flo was a little lady, and ladies don't climb trees (which makes it pretty boring to be a lady, and explains why Granny never wanted to be one). But after a while they couldn't think of anything else to play, so they went into the house. "Mama, we don't have anything to do. We're bored," they said. Their Mama was mopping the kitchen floor, and she didn't have time to play with them. But, because she was a resourceful person, she did have time to think about keeping them busy. She thought about it and she thought about it and then she had an idea.

"Well," said Lillian, "would you like to catch a bird?"

"Yes, yes, yes," answered Ginny and Flo, who thought it would be wonderful to have a bird.

"Well," said Lillian, "here is a salt shaker for each of you. Now, the way to catch birds is to creep up behind them. When you get real close, pour salt on the bird's tail and then it will let you catch it."

Oh, how exciting! Ginny and Flo took their salt shakers and they stalked birds. When they would see a bird on the ground they would creep up, ever so slowly and ever so quietly, to put salt on its tail. When the bird saw them coming, it would fly away and they would run ever so fast to try to catch it. Oh, how they crept! Oh, how they ran! Oh, how they plotted! "We will name it Brownie," said Flo. "We will keep it in a cage," said Ginny. "We will catch a mate for it and build it a nest in the cage," said Flo. "Then it will have babies right in our bedroom," said Ginny.

All day Ginny and Flo chased birds with the salt shakers. All day they plotted. All day they planned. All day Lillian was able to clean house and cook uninterrupted. Of course, no bird would let a little girl (or even a big one) get close enough to pour salt on its tail, but Ginny and Flo didn't know that. They had a wonderful time in the sunshine and fresh air, and when it was time to go to bed they slept as sound as a couple of bells. It was a wonderful time.