THE PURPLE MARTIN HOUSE

Good friend and former teacher Bob Noel lived on N. 27th St. high on a hill. His address was Twin Oaks, at least to some. After he passed away, his house was torn down and a new one put up.

The new house was built by a liberal, to my understanding. That, in itself, would have been disappointing to Mr. Noel. But he had a lot of humorous disappointments in his stay at that address.

Back in the 70's, he researched the purple martin bird and decided that since they eat up to 1,000 insects a day--their favorite being the mosquito, that perhaps he needed some nearby. When he heard they like to nest high above the ground, he commissioned a local company (Tri County Electric, I think) to erect a birdhouse 30 feet above ground. It was really nice looking. But he never got a martin except one time in a span of fifteen years, and he didn't stay. Sparrows loved the new digs, though.

When I went to our daughter's house in May, I saw purple martins swarming in the canyon behind her house. I also spotted not one, but three purple martin nests with birds living there, high in the eaves of her two-story house. I told her how good they were and related the Noel story.

To think she has three and they just found their way there on their own. Her neighbor had an additional one that I could see. Maybe because they live in California, the birds, like the new householder in MTV, are liberals.