今日孤單否？ "Are You Alone Today?"

#2021-0524

I remember the bird I saw at Ringo-Tango the other day. Checking the information hidden in the digital photos, I found that it was May 12 when I saw it. This kind of bird has a funny local name (baitouweng*) meaning "the white-headed one." 

The bird alighted on a branch of the guihua (sweet osmanthus) in the front yard of Ringo-Tango. And it stayed there for quite a few moments, chirping, with its smart head turning this or that way constantly. It seemed to me that the bird was looking around for his (or her) partner -- or spouse!

"Are you alone today?" I asked the bird silently. 

Then, knowing the difference between alone and lonely, I asked again, "Are you a bit lonely now?" 

There's another English word, lonesome, meaning almost the same as "lonely" (but possibly being more commonly used in the US). Like many pop music lovers, I can remember Elvis Presley's "Are you lonesome tonight?" ...

But, to my surprise, after I watched the white-headed baitouweng for a couple of minutes, the smart-looking bird flew up suddenly; he (or she) flew away from where he/she was, with another baitouweng flying out from the leafy bush and quickly catching up with him/her!

Notes: 

*  白頭翁 (Baitouweng), 台語稱為 pėh-thâu-khok-á (白頭鵠仔); 客語稱為 phȧk-thèu-kûng-é (白頭公仔). In English it is called "Light-vented bulbul."

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相關文章 (See also)：

1)  林果 ● 探戈     (2019)

2)  林果  探戈 -- We Are Here Again!     (2020)

3)  Ringo-Tango Again!     (2020)