Rowan’s roommate Jordan was going to be gone the next day, dove hunting, a practice Rowan considered barbaric. Rowan asked Benjamin to go bird watching with him at the local nature preserve. Benjamin was, as with everything, eager to go. Ever since Rowan could remember, Benjamin had been intensely interested in everything natural, physical, historical, theoretical, analytical, musical, visual, philosophical, etc. Basically, Benjamin wanted to know everything, and actively pursued this endeavor all of the time. Sometimes though, Rowan found Benjamin’s intensity and exceptional database of knowledge an overbearing combination. You see, Benjamin is very, very good at learning.
So, when Rowan asked him to go, Benjamin was so delighted he immediately went home to refresh himself on the appearance, habits, and calls of all the local species of birds. He found on doing so that he already knew a large amount from tidbits of knowledge gained throughout the years. When searching for some information on migratory birds that might be in the area, he ran across a very interesting article on the newly discovered relationship between lunar cycles and the egg-laying habits of sea turtles. It was so interesting, in fact, Benjamin lost a great deal of sleep following the endless leads and footnotes, contentedly finding out many new things, even adding three new books to his “To Read” list.
The next day, Jordan was gone when Rowan woke at 9:30 AM, so Rowan called (and woke) a sleepy Benjamin. Benjamin perked right up when he remembered the plan for the day, and said he’d get ready and be over at Rowan’s in fifteen minutes. Rowan smiled to himself as he hung up the phone.
When they got to the preserve at ten O’clock, Rowan wanted to go to the gift shop to buy a bird identification book, Benjamin said he didn’t think they’d need one, but was interested to see if it had anything new in it he had missed somehow, or if they had turtle identification books.
Rowan bought several interesting and useless things as well as a bird book, and Benjamin bought a turtle and fish book. Rowan felt a little like he was somehow making up for Jordan’s killing spree by buying overpriced items from a wildlife preserve. At the trail head, Rowan and Benjamin decided to try the new “Bluebonnet Trail” to see if it was any good for bird watching. Over the first mile, they spotted nary a single bird or animal, though they did find many patches of bluebonnets which they agreed would be quite stunning in the appropriate season. “We should come back during spring next year,” Benjamin remarked. Rowan replied that it would be the perfect place to spend time with a woman, in the brilliant sleepiness of Sunday afternoon, or maybe a dreary and misty spring Tuesday evening. Benjamin shrugged his shoulders dismissively and walked on.
