Pigeon coops and other things we left behind

Every now and then you notice that times have changed. That you are living in a different generation than that of your parents, or teachers, or people that came before you. A different generation than the one you entered at birth. I noticed it when I realized that no one keeps pigeons anymore.

Pigeons in backyards, in homemade coops. People used to have pigeons. Not just farmers but everyday people. My grandparents had pigeons. I wonder why they did. The birds are messy. They need to be taken care of, and every now and then they get out. Sometimes, the dog gets to them which never ends with a happy ending.

It used to be ordinary for ordinary people to have pigeons. Even after the end of the agrarian society, after the industrial revolution, after World War II, after cellular phones, people still had a few pigeons, in coops, in the back yard. Not anymore.

People don’t have spaces, either. Big empty spaces with almost nothing in them from where they start to where they end. In the Southwest, we have spaces, but they don’t belong to anyone, which is a good thing. People don’t want to own empty spaces. Whatever we buy, we fill it up with something. Our generation likes stuff. We don’t feel comfortable with emptiness.

Another sign of the changing times is that people don’t have change anymore…