Matt, indeed bizarre, and reminded me of a bizarre moment when I was about 13. This is the age when you have passed from absolute faith in your parents, through tentative scepticism, and straight into the belief that they are not quite right in the head. Anyway, I get off the bus, go to the back door carrying my books, and there's Mom in the kitchen, flyswatter in one hand, kitchen chair in the other, and wearing my football helmet. For about ten seconds while we looked at each other, I knew she had gone nuts and there could be no possible explanation for this behavior. "There's a bird in the house!" she finally shouted hysterically, and on cue, this incredibly loud PHWEET comes from the living room.

Well, we got the bird out of the house, but I'll never forget my Mom in her "bird-armor".