“How are you?” She’s walking friendly toward me in a Walmart-blue vest. I “hello” back. “Oh, I’m actually talking to the blue jay,” she says, nodding toward a sorry parking-lot tree. “They’ll get angry with you,” I say. She disagrees. “When they get loud, they’re actually calling all the little birds to safety.” I doubt this, doubt it hard. I’ve been taught that jays are jerks and I’m a person who clings stubborn to a fact. Then I realize I can let myself believe her, should let myself, and I choose her blue jay, protector, before walking into the store.
Susanna Baird lives in Salem, waiting to be swayed. Website: susannabaird.com Twitter: @susannabaird Instagram: @susanna.baird