Ok, there’s this completely wrong adage that says "you can’t teach an old dog new tricks". That is totally false as I am a living example of.
Today I learned something new.
I learned what a squab is. Maybe you already know what it is, and you can stop reading now if you do, but if you don’t, read on. And no, I’m not on drugs, so don’t need addiction treatment, either.
I listen to NPR Radio and today, Walter Edgar (if you don’t know who he is, he’s an historian of South Carolina fame) told us about a plant in Spartanburg where they breed pigeons. This plant was started during World War II to supply the army with carrier pigeons which were used to carry messages across enemy lines. Today, this plant produces over 100,000 squabs a week for distribution to gourmet restaurants as it is considered a delicacy. Still don’t know what a squab is? It’s a pigeon that has not yet developed enough to fly. This plant also produces chickens for chicken farms, but is much more widely known for the squabs.
I have encountered the term many times in the course of my reading (Ok, so they were trashy romance novels — sue me!), but although I was pretty sure it was some kind of bird, still didn’t know exactly what it was. Now that I know, I don’t think I’ll be looking at those passages as quite so exotic.
I need to make it a daily goal to learn something new. I think that’s an easy goal to meet — don’t you?
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