I was in Wal-Mart (not somewhere I usually shop, but I got a giftcard for Christmas), sifting through racks of the wrong kind of trackpants… and I heard chirping. At first I thought it was my cell phone (the ringtone is “Nature”), but it wasn’t vibrating. I looked up.

…and saw a bird right in front of me, sitting in the warehouse ceiling of Wal-Mart.

I know this is hardly an uncommon phenomenon, but seeing wildlife inside fully domesticated buildings always makes me smile. It’s something unexpected, something that doesn’t quite belong, something small and silly.