Only Ann Arbor

My power walk this morning had a little more excitement than normal and it has me pondering this stranger than fiction city I live in. I mean any city has an occasional Ambulance or Firetruck (saw three of the former, one of the latter—though I suspect of the three Ambulances, really I saw the same one twice) but that is run of the mill city stuff (even if it is sort of jarring in a city that really isn't very big—I'm actually more comfortable spotting the LifeFlyte helicopters that come in to UM from all over the state). But today, in a span of forty five minutes, I noted some singularly Ann Arborisms.

The Popular Fairies

Somebody had delivered flowers to the Liberty Street Fairies. Oh, they get food offerings all the time, so I've always known they are among the best liked (possibly in contest with the Rock Fairies at the Arc who receive guitar pics and ticket stubs), but these little miniature bouquets of real flowers were pretty darned precious. I've long suspected this door houses female fairies (they leave a trail of glitter that sometimes includes pink, is really my key cue—since any old fairy can like a piece of eggroll now and again). But the flowers reinforce that. I hope they wake up soon and get those flowers in water, or they are going to start to wilt.

Invasion of the Chicken People

On Second... not even downtown or near a 'real' business where it might be seen as something promotional (there is a University building there, but it is stuffy offices) there was a group of five 'people'. I am using the term people loosely because two of the people had heads covered in yellow feathers (completely covered) and had orange beaks. One of the chicken people wore sun glasses—I suppose the other might have, but was looking the other direction. With the chicken people was a woman with a short skirt and really funky patterned tights... she looked a little like she belonged in an alternative band, and two non-descript men. All of the 'people people' (as opposed to the chicken people) I would guess were in their late 20s give or take.

Two explanations came to mind:

Option 1: Jefferson Market has been shipped a case of Canary Cremes. This seems extremely plausible except that these chicken people did not seem at all distressed by their state, but I am not sure I could distinguish chicken people from canary people, so it is still possible.

Option 2: The Chicken Lady finally found someone with whom to reproduce. This seems more likely—we are, after all, only 4 hours from Toronto, where she was last known to be trying her seduction attempts... that was only the early 90s, but I don't really know how chicken people age, so these two might have been only in their teens.

If these explanations fail, it's I suppose it might be something to do with the camera they had ready for poses. It wouldn't be the first album cover shoot I've walked past on a Power Walking Saturday.

It is strange, I think, to live somewhere I see things that I couldn't possibly put in a book, unless it was a REALLY SILLY book, and then people would just think I was, well... being silly.