Adelaide, Black hens and Cygnets

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Adelaide (Black hens and Cygnets)

From our hotel room, we could see the beautiful Adelaide city laid out like a colorful mosaic with the red and white roofs of the Sports stadium on the banks of the lovely Torrens river, bordered by the greenery.

It was early morning and people were strolling along the river. Some were jogging. I could even see a paddle boat being rowed by a single man in a leisurely fashion. I suppose, he was doing it for exercise, but the way it looked, the boat was just drifting down the river, while the man lolled in the boat, putting in a stroke or two of his oars just for form’s sake. I thought with pleasurable anticipation that the man will HAVE to actually row the boat when he came upstream.

I hate to see other people lazing around when I am working hard, and it WAS hard work, mind you. My legs pained from opal-shopping and back ached by bending down to pet the baby animals in the Adelaide’s petting zoo, not to mention the dizzy feeling I had the day after we visited the Barossa Wine country.

[People laughed when I told about the dizzy feeling and said it was a ‘hangover’. However, I do not believe it.]

The early morning scene appealed to us so much that we decided to stroll along the river in the evening.

It was a beautiful evening. The black swans with their red beaks, were swimming in the river. (I mean the black swans had red beaks, not that the red beaks were swimming in the river along with the black swans. English always does this to me.)

Here, again we came across those darned black hens with red beaks.

Yesterday, in the Botanical Gardens, we had seen a black hen with a red beak. In my nursery class, 50 years ago, I was taught that those ‘higgldy, piggldy’ black hens lay eggs for gentlemen, sometimes nine and sometimes ten. I had nursed a grouse against the black hens ever since, because, why she would lay eggs ONLY for gentlemen and not for ladies? This behavior, I thought, amounted to a betrayal to her own sex.
http://www.amherst.edu/~rjyanco94/literature/mothergoose/rhymes/higgledypiggledymyblackhen.html )

I had not come across any black hens in India, but here was my opportunity to test my theory. After all, nine or ten eggs, all FREE, was a great attraction. (Some day, I will tell you my penchant for ‘free’ things. In fact, if some one tells me that they will give me “’Free’dom at Midnight”, I will even keep awake till midnight to get the free, dumb thing.)

Over the years, I had deduced that, to get nine or ten eggs from a black hen, the following procedure should be followed:

Ingredients: The only things you need here are, a black hen and one gentleman.

1) The hen should be black.
2) The hen should be ‘higgledy, piggledy’. I was sure that the red beak makes her ‘higgledy, piggledy’.
3) The hen should be ‘my’. This black hen did not belong to me, but I corrected this deviation from procedure, by promptly ‘adopting’ her.
4) You should have a gentleman with you when you do this experiment. The gentleman behaves like a catalyst, so to say. I had my hubby with me.

All the conditions were being met, and I was sure my experiment will be rewarded with nine or ten eggs.

So, with a big, cheerful smile, I greeted the black hen with “Hi, you there, higgledy, piggledy my black hen” and hoped that she had not known about my animosity towards her on account of her preferential treatment of the gentlemen.

Nothing happened. No eggs were forthcoming. For good measure, I said the nursery rhyme twice, still, nothing.

Now, it was time for an analysis of the experimental results. Why the experiment had failed? The hen WAS black, was presumably ‘higgledy, piggledy’, and after applying the correction, ‘my’. Was the fourth condition being met? Horrors!!!!You stupid, silly bird, are you implying that my hubby is NOT a gentleman? I know him better than you do, and can vouch that he IS a gentleman.

I consoled myself with the thought that perhaps she did not lay the eggs despite all the four conditions meeting, because she knew of my views about her treachery.

But, while we were strolling along the river, those ugly black hens suddenly took fright at our approach and waddled in the water en masse and swam towards the black swans. The black swans made a ring around them protectively.

Why, they were not darn ugly hens at all, but CYGNETS of the black swans. (cygnets are the young chicks of swan)

My opinion of these hens underwent a sea-change. Suddenly, I found myself admiring their beauty, grace, coloring, plumage, everything, because they were EXOTIC to my eyes.

Perhaps, many people make this sort of mistake. Foreigners and all things foreign, are admired just because they are exotic/outlandish/alien to our eyes.

I just love the words ‘Cygnet’ and ‘Signet’ for their cadence. Now I had seen one, but I may never see a ‘Signet Ring’ in this life. Hardly any royalty is left in this world, and I am not likely to come across any that wears ‘Signet Rings’, because I belong to that vast multitude of the people known as ‘hoi polloi’.

So, I was telling you about Adelaide.



There is a free (something ‘free’ at last) city bus, which takes you to all the points of interest. All of them are within walking distance. The South Australian museum, the Art Gallery, the Tandanya Aboriginal Cultural Institute, the Rundle Mall, the opal shops, the Haigh chocolates - all these will keep you busy for a week. Then there is the wine region, which can keep you busy forever.

Psst! Shhhh! See the ‘paper boats’ in the river? They are actually made of steel.

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Photos

The Sports Stadium
The red and white roofs of the stadium

The Torrens river
The Torrens river

The black swan
The black swan

The lone black swan
The lone black swan in twilight

The Adelaide Convention Center
The Adelaide Convention Center

The "Paper Boats"
The Paper Boats

Comments

[Rachel]

Lovely
Hello, I have read all of your posts and think that they are fabulous! Your writing is gorgeous and has been making me laugh out loud and smile constantly. I have forwarded your blog to my mother and aunties and all female (especially married) friends whom I know will love it! Does it take a full 35 years of marriage to receive jade and opals on demand?

[charuavi]

Sure-shot method of producing opals
No, it is not necessary to wait for 35 long years. Increase the quantity of love and affection right from day 1 of your marriage. The heat and pressure that you have to apply are in inverse proportion to the love and affection that you have lavished on him. The results start showing much earlier. Wish you luck and success.