Yesterday my Mother used a figure of speech I hadn't heard before: in the context of the Federal retirement system, she said, "You've got a bird's nest on the ground!" Apparently it's a classic East Texas metaphor that means a person has something good, since they can get the eggs without the trouble of climbing a tree.

And, in the context of my visit to relatives in Texas this week, that reminds me of Bird's Nest Airport—a little patch of land near Pflugerville and Manor, not far from where I grew up, where high school friends of mine used to take flying lessons and rent small planes to go puddle-hopping around the countryside nearby. Bird's Nest is still there, now called Austin Executive Airport. Some things change slowly ...

(cf. WrightFlight (2003-03-30), ...) - ^z - 2009-07-19