Counting Crows

I currently find myself in a near ideal typing environment at this moment in time. Like so many other places around the country, Portland has been getting some snow. So l’ve moved one of my typewriters upstairs to the dining room so that I can catch glimpses of the snow between thoughts, all while I remain nice and warm inside of the house. l can enjoy this moment as I know that it will all be gone in just a few more days. That was never the case when I was growing up in Illinois. There was always more snow to come and it tended to stick around in the form of slush. In addition, my job was to keep the drive cleared, along with my brother, a task that neither of us was particularly fond of.

l’ve yet to spot my favorite entertainers however as the crows all seem to be off elsewhere at this point in time. That’s a shame as I really get a kick out of watching their antics. Simply put, crows fascinate me. I don’t really know all that much about them, at least not as much as I should given how much I enjoy watching them. l’ve seen a couple of documentaries about these creatures, but that was as far as my curiosity managed to take me. Still, I can tell you this temporary idyllic scene outside would benefit greatly
from their presence in my opinion.

l mention the crows specifically because I keep a couple of them around at all times when I type, in a manner of speaking. These crows are sort of like my own personal typing motivators, or my mood coaches if you will. They serve to remind me to try not to take myself too seriously. The smaller of the two is a cast metal piece that my wife gave to me just this past Christmas. The other is a larger, stuffed critter named “Shoe”, or P Martin Shoemaker to be exact. You may, or may not, recognize Shoe from the comic strip of the same name. This comic focuses on a group of birds that publish a newspaper. Shoe serves as the editor of the newspaper.

Shoe was initially created by cartoonist Jeff MacNelly back in 1977. He would continue on with the strip until his death in the year 2000. Shoe continues on today due to the efforts of Jeff’s widow Susie and a number of others who are keeping it going. I acquired my Shoe when l was in college and it’s been long enough ago that I can no longer remember the set of circumstances that led to my ownership of this cigar smoking
crow. But he’s been kicking around with me now for close to four decades, making this relationship one of the lengthiest in my lifetime. l don’t know what that might say about me, and like the crows that I enjoy watching outside, I’m not likely to explore it any further.

The reality is that I’ve hung on to old Shoe all of these years simply because the thought of a cigar smoking crow still cracks me up. I haven’t read the actual comic strip in decades. But it recently dawned on me that Shoe was actually a bit foretelling when it came to my life. You see, Shoe was a user of typewriters himself back in the day as these machines used to be prominently featured in the strip. Of course, I too was using typewriters back when Shoe was first released. It seems that these days as I still have old Shoe by my side as I type, things have more or less come full circle. Good stuff!