Road runner

I just saw a road runner ! I had never seen one before.

It s funny because when I was ten, my parents took me a few times to a restaurant in Geneva that was called the road runner, and I was fascinated by the drawings and pictures of this bird there.

But when i asked my mother about it, 

She told me very seriously that it was an Australian bird and that he was anyway nearly totally extinct

And I have watched for years the coyote chase the road runner in cartoons, a bit wondering why this coyote had to chase a bird down there in Australia ... But we'll, with cartoonists you just don t know,

And at that time I trusted my mother

It s only last year while preparing my trip that I realized that in fact this bird lives here. I was so happy. It has always been such a special bird to me !

I just crossed the path of one. Ooops they are fast. But what a nice, colorful, delightful bird.

I am smiling like a child :-)

By the way, do you know that pretty Apache tale about road runners - I say pretty, but in fact it s the wisest way to describe the problem we have to find good leaders : from the proud with empty heads to the dumb or even worse the clever telling good words but with bad values ... In a "child tale" everything is said 

This story is about a time when birds were still like people. The birds got together to talk. "The different clans (animals) all have leaders, but we do not," they said. "We are good for nothing. It would be good for us to choose a leader also. He could then speak for us about our activities," they said. 

So the birds selected the oriole first. They said, "His feathers are very nice." Because of his feathers they thought they wanted him to be their leader. They discussed this for some time. "Well, never mind him after all," they said. "His long clothes are pretty, but he doesn't speak very much. If he becomes our leader he might not speak well for us in the future." They put him aside. 

Then they chose the mocking bird. But they immediately said, "He is too talkative. He always speaks bad and mocks things. It would not be good for him to become our leader. He might speak even worse for us in the future." They put him aside to choose again. 

The next time they chose a bluejay. "What would it be like for us if we chose him to be the leader?" they asked. "He is also like the other one. He talks too much. It would not be good for him to speak for us. He's too stubborn, and he also brags about himself. There would be a lot of mocking." They also set him aside. 

"In that case, should it be the roadrunner?" they said. "He's good for sure. He would be fast for us in running to meetings. And he also talks well. It would be good for us if he became our leader." 

Therefore, the roadrunner became the leader. Nowadays, roadrunner is the leader of all the birds. 

Well. I am on the road, so I am just waiting for the runner !