A two-story building on the North Shore that was home to a large bookstore is now home to a large medical center. Few people remember this building was a bookstore. Many young people are not even aware there were big bookstores.
Things change with the times, and the world spins on. But the sea gulls who made that bookstore parking lot their hangout haven’t changed. They’re still perched proudly atop light posts there on most days. One bird per post. Even if you’re not a nature nut you wonder: why?
MIKE LUBOW ILLUSTRATION BY KIRSTEN ULVE
They’re called “sea” gulls. But they’re not near water. Not even near dumpster diving that gulls famously like. Why are they in that parking lot?
Large Herring Gulls in crisp white plumage like naval officers. Our lakeshore is a few miles away. Yet the birds stay. You’ll never know the reasons they have. They rest atop those light posts in the parking lot of a medical building, just as they did when it was a bookstore’s parking lot.
In our changing world, the bookstore may have disappeared. But it’s good to see that the gulls haven’t.
This column was adapted by Mike Lubow from his book: Wild Notes: Observations over time about birds and other fleeting things. Available on amazon.com.
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