Yeah, you're so pelican fly. Uh-huh.

I wonder what it would be like to eat by diving face-first into your food.

Lately I haven’t spent a lot of my time people watching because I have fallen in love with a pelican I call Peter. Peter must live close to the ferry and he spars with it most mornings and afternoons, playing a pelican version of chicken, swooping in close to the rails, then landing with a web-footed splash into the river, letting the current carry him quickly downstream until a signal that I can’t recognize summons Peter to once again heave his mighty wings and flap back to the ferry, coming in close again, always eluding the lens of my camera in the process. A couple of days ago, Peter was simultaneously buzzing the boat and fishing. He’s a good multi-tasker, that Peter. And guess what? He got one! I spied from the railing and was close enough to see him swallow whatever it was in 2 gulps. I wonder what it would be like to eat by diving face-first into your food. Peter seems to be pretty satisfied with the set-up.

Until yesterday, Peter always seemed to be alone. But then, yesterday, while the morning fog was still rising from the river and the air was cool and smelled only faintly of diesel and garbage truck, I looked up and suddenly there were two! They took turns flying in close to the rails, then plopped down in the water with the bridge behind them, content, at least to my eyes. The second pelican is, of course, Paula.

Have you ever noticed that pelicans look like they are smiling while in flight? Not a grin, but more of a subtle, Mona Lisa smile that seems to say, “yeah, I’m flying, I’m gliding, I’m totally zen. I can see the whole world from here.”

Then I started to think that maybe I’ve finally gone off the deep end and that pelicans say nothing of the sort when they fly past me. So I of course turned to Google, typing in “pelican smile flying”. Here’s what came up:

"Super Bass"
by Nicki Minaj

...I said, excuse me, you're a hell of a dime
I mean my, my, my, you're like pelican fly
I mean, you're so shy and I'm loving your smile
You're like slicker than the girl with the thing on his eye, oh
Yes I did, yes I did, somebody please tell him who the F I is.
T.D.F mack them chicks up, back coupes up, and chuck the deuce up

I have no idea what that means. I assume someone who is pelican fly is awesome, right?

So much for Google. And the future of pop music.