Power of the Plushie
“My house was a frivolous bazaar of nature-themed trinkets, from the prettiest handcrafted duck lamp to the usual menagerie of stuffed toys to our Anthropologie owl mugs. I lived in a state of unforgivable anthropomorphism. Anthropologetic. That’s what I was feeling.”
Anthropologetic was exactly how I was feeling entering the long-term care home wearing meadowlark earrings made of recycled cardboard and carrying a basket full of bird stuffies. Never mind the Audubon store’s promise of the plush birds being educational. I felt like a phoney. What did I really know about birding?
Filled with dread that perhaps this had been a mistake, I slid the bird basket onto the second shelf of my cart and proceeded down the halls. I had a few bird recordings on my laptop that I would play instead. Residents seemed to take notice, but there was some confusion about where the sounds were coming from and concerns about trapped birds. In an attempt to explain what I was up to, I started to unapologetically hand out my stuffed feathered friends, and quickly the birds were perching comfortably on people’s hands, shoulders, and even heads. Everyone seemed to want a chance to be Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, and nobody could resist finding out what sound their bird made. When it was time to pack up, I had difficulty collecting the escaped flock and had to keep promising that I would bring the singing birds back soon.
As it turned out, the birds made their return before me. Shortly after I arrived back at the building, I heard my name being called over the loudspeaker and was told to come down to reception. When I got there, I was relieved to find two excited residents waiting to see me. They wanted to be the first to show me where a pair of Canada geese had nested and then to take me to the window where they had seen a cardinal. “We recognized the cardinal’s song before we saw him,” they told me.
Throughout the day, the sighting updates kept coming, from residents and staff who aren’t normally engaged in the horticultural therapy program. I had planned on starting a discussion of signs of the season, but spring didn’t need any help getting noticed.
When I got home from work, my husband’s first question was on the whereabouts of our birds. He seemed quite disappointed when I told him I’d left them at work. But as he proceeded to give me the latest rundown of visitors to our feeder, the full power of the plushies became clear to me.
Curious about the Listen for Me tag in the bird basket? Visit the Garden Activity Signs website for signs that invite sensory and hands-on engagement with nature.