Three Crow Pepper

Day 128: It should come as no surprise that I have a wealth of crow-related items decorating the shelves and walls of my home, some items purchased by me but the bulk of them gifts from friends who know my love of the corvid species. Most of my collection is modern, including this made-in-China reproduction of a white pepper tin. The Three Crow line of seasonings was produced as late as the 1930s by the Atlantic Spice Company, then headquartered in Rockland, Maine. The crow silhouette is metal, its legs designed to with garden placement in mind. I let the crow stand guard in a flower pot indoors.

My association with crows (particularly crows, and to a lesser extent ravens) goes back to childhood when my father dubbed me "Wings" for my coal-black hair which I always wore swept back. As I would help him with planting corn in the spring, he would recite a rhyme to me as he placed four kernels in each hill: "One for the worm, one for the crow, one to die and one to grow." I seized upon the reference to crows in the assurance that that one individual seed would be the one to produce the corn put on my plate in autumn. When my dad tied the cut stalks in shocks to put beside the gate at harvest time, I would wait for the crows to search for the immature ears Daddy left for their enjoyment.

As an adult, my study of the corvids took a more scholastic turn and friends joked with me about being one of the flock. "Crow" became my nickname, and now hardly anyone calls me by my given name.