Over the years, I have accumulated quite a few different stories, some of which I have related when giving talks to different groups. The following story is one of those and I apologise to anyone who has heard this tale before.
One particular morning, the children from a holding not too far from the school related how a Pied Butcher Bird had taken up residence in their home area and its beautiful whistling call could be heard from morning to night. It was worth a drive so we headed off after school.
When we arrived at their house, there was great excitement in the air.
This was not because we were coming, but because the parents had brought home a television set, which they hadn’t had previously. Dad was up on the roof of the low set home trying to position the antenna for the best picture. The eldest daughter was sitting in the open window passing on the information from mum who was inside watching what was on the screen. The other children were inside with mum waiting expectantly.
On hearing cries like, “It’s still all snowy”, and “Nothing’s showing on the screen” and “That’s even worse, go back again”, it was easy to work out that things weren’t going too well.
Dad was getting frustrated and when he saw me, he called out, “I’m just about to drop kick this thing into the next paddock. Hang on. I’m coming down.”
Asking me to take the antenna while he came down the ladder, he passed it to me. I took it and stood it up on the ground and leant it against the tank stand.
Suddenly there were cheers and war whoops from inside the house. The daughter at the window called out, “You’ve got it, Dad. The picture’s great. Mum said, “Don’t move it.” From then on, the antenna remained on the ground where it was.
