Hooded Oriole says “It’sTime to Roll”
Hooded Orioles are one of my favorite birds. Their bright yellow color is impossibly vibrant, and when you see the texture of their feathers they appear impossibly soft. They’re not always around, but their peculiar call makes it easy to know when they’re around. Recently as my wife and I sat in our backyard setting up the board game “Backgammon”, I heard several hooded orioles chirping away in the trees just behind us. Naturally my eyes kept darting towards the trees as the game went on hoping to catch a glimpse of yellow but the birds stayed surprisingly hidden.
Backgammon is a game of both luck and skill. You roll dice to move your 18 pieces around the board before eventually taking them off one by one. We both had a bit of luck and our skill seemed equally matched making for a very close, very competitive, “ I could win or lose at any moment”-type game.
We get to the very end of the game—I had four pieces left to her three. I have an unfavorable roll and can only remove one piece. She rolls her dice and removes two pieces with the last one sitting on the one-spot. It’s my turn again, now three pieces to her one. “Roll doubles or lose”, I think to myself. Just then something catches my eye in the trees. Finally, a hooded oriole had come out from cover and allowed itself to be seen. I smile at it and think, “My doubles just showed up. Time to roll!” I spill the dice out of the cup and roll double-sixes to win the game.