It was a lovely day, heralding - I hoped - the onset of spring. As such I went for a wander around the local lake. Believing myself to be alone, I took the opportunity to sharpen my mind by declaring aloud the species of each animal I passed. The method had been devised several years ago by my good friend Matt, who upon seeing the multi-dog monster in 'The Thing', announced - with scarcely a moment's hesitation - "Dog!" (Despite his failure to pluralise the noun, the feat has been celebrated in our friendship group folk-lore ever since.)
I had just succesfully announced 'pigeon!', and was feeling pretty pleased with my advanced level of breed discernment, when I heard some young gentleman - a little way behind, being led, hand-in-hand by his mother - shout "robin!" Being no coward, I could not meekly defer to this brazen intellectual one-upsmanship. A fierce battle of wits ensued, me eventually having to accept being bested when I could find no retort to "cat!"... Smart Alec.
