For the Birds

For the Birds

by Bob Jaussaud

Most of us have heard the phrase

“It’s for the birds.” It is frequently used to convey that something is worthless, trivial or annoying. The saying originated as U.S. Army slang toward the end of World War II and was defined in an edition of American Speech from 1944. It seems that birds will peck at horse manure looking for seeds, so “That’s for the birds” referenced horse manure, as in “That’s a bunch of crap.”

So I think it is appropriate to say it is definitely “for the birds” that DE trips and get-togethers have been postponed for so long. In fact almost all our social gatherings have been affected. This last Christmas and New Year, Sue and I were isolated at our place on the Colorado River. That was strictly “for the birds” but on a positive note it was interesting that we observed so many wild birds around us. It would have been nice for us to be “free as a bird” but that was not the case. Anyway, we took many pictures of birds and all were taken on or near our property by myself, Sue or Vicki. ~ Joeso