Pine Nuts: What starlings can teach us

By McAvoy Layne — We don’t have starlings up here at the Lake of the Sky, though I wish we did, as recent research has discovered that Starlings give care to birds to whom they are not related. And they administer that kindness regardless of those other birds’ political beliefs. Say what?!

I believe I must have been a bird in my last life, because when I whistle to my pet Jay, Huckleberry, he waves his beak like a baton to the rhythm of my tweets, and in return, my arms start to flap. Yes, I have seen neighbors cover their mouths and laugh when they witness this interchange. They must think Huck is a genius, while I am the proverbial birdbrain, and they might be right.

Those little beggars up at Chickadee Ridge will land in your open hand to take a pine nut, and then sometimes pass that pine nut along to a fellow Chickadee in need. It’s the right thing to do, and they know it, whereas we humans sometimes forget. Where kindness comes naturally to birds, we seem to need to acquire it and preserve it with all the reminders we can muster.

Recently I had an engagement at our wonderful Historical Museum at South Shore to celebrate Western Days, and when I arrived I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by a large artistic sign: RESERVED PARKING FOR MARK TWAIN! It’s the little things that smooths people’s roads out the most.

Our lighthearted fraternal Old Lake Tahoe Athletic Club recently lost a valued member and true gentleman, Don Bell. Our esteemed president Rob Robins appealed to our Third of July Parade announcer, Kristen Miller, to give a shoutout to Don when we OLTAC members file by.

That tip of the hat will give all of us and everyone who knew Don, a warm feeling.

I know of a dedicated educator, Kathryn Kelly, founder of Hope Academy, who on her days off visits youth Chautauqua programs to support gifted kids in their portrayal of admirable characters in history. For most of us, helping others is a part-time job, while for those like Kathryn, helping others is a full-time job, with overtime. The measure of a woman is not in her net worth, but I have to believe the measure of a woman is in her net humanity.

In the grand scheme of things, we can learn much from the Starlings. I might like to close here with a thought from our mutual friend, Mark Twain.

“Never refuse to do a kindness unless the act would work great injury to yourself, and never refuse to take a drink — under any circumstances.”

— Want to hear McAvoy tell it? Listen to the audio version of his column here. For more than 35 years, in over 4,000 performances, columnist and Chautauquan McAvoy Layne has been dedicated to preserving the wit and wisdom of “The Wild Humorist of the Pacific Slope,” Mark Twain. As Layne puts it: “It’s like being a Monday through Friday preacher, whose sermon, though not reverently pious, is fervently American.”

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