My Crow, Hoppy: A True Story for All Ages

By Joy Johns

: My Crow, Hoppy is the author’s memoirs of events which occurred over fifty years ago with her pet bird. Although Hoppy’s sojourn in her life was brief, he introduced her to boundless joys and wonders.

Crows are often maligned, thought to be worthless nuisances. Sometimes they are even considered to be omens of evil or bad luck. Also, they are often a favorite target of farmers’ shotguns. The author’s goal in writing this story is to come to the defense of these amazing birds, because she believes they are the most intelligent, imaginative, mischievous, comical and affectionate creatures on the planet.

This true story will enchant readers because it is brief, entertaining and reveals many fascinating crow facts. In less than 60 pages, My Crow, Hoppy not only skirts the conflicts of growing up and Man versus Nature, but creates smiles as Hoppy’s astonishing antics unfold.

This wondrous bird came into her life during her twelfth year. The first chapter describes how lonely and boring life was before Hoppy. Next, she reveals how he was captured and tamed. Then, several chapters depict dozens of fun adventures which they share during that magical summer. For example, the readers will learn how Hoppy rode all over town on her bike handles. Also, they will see him swimming in his own private pool, helping with chores such as pulling weeds, playing hide-n-seek with shiny objects, sun tanning in the back yard, and inventing new games like crow-ball.

However, all was not fun and games with this mischievous bird. As the summer progressed, his pranks stirred up much trouble. The reader will learn how he stole the neighbors’ belongings, rang their door bells, and tormented the neighborhood children and pets.

The month of August was filled with many challenges. Hoppy became gravely ill from contact with DDT and almost died. However, due to the author’s loving care, he recovered--only to get into worse trouble. When school restarted, he was beside himself with boredom. Thus, his mischief-making got out of hand. He even annoyed the local golfers by stealing their balls in the midst of their golf games. He snatched the neighbor’s clothes pins off the lines, causing their clean wash to fall down to the ground. Many people were behind paying their bills because Hoppy opened their mail boxes and flew off with the contents.

What follows is an example episode:

Much to our dismay, summer vacation was about to end, and Hoppy would find himself alone much of the time. As a result, this mischievous bird soon began to get into all sorts of trouble. On the first day of school he attempted to follow me. My inseparable friend had watched me walk to the bus stop, where he perched high in the trees across the street. He tried to interrupt this early morning meeting with my schoolmates with jealous caws. Then, just as the bus pulled up, it began to rain. We all boarded quickly to get out of the downpour. Before the bus began to move, the lady driver started to scream in terror! I pushed my way forward to see what was happening. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Hoppy was swinging back and forth on the outside of the windshield on the wipers! He had attached himself with his claws and was hanging on for dear-life, swishing to and fro on high-speed! I guess he thought he was going to go to school with me one way or another. Anyway, he rode the wipers for many minutes, like a cowboy in a rodeo. The kids cheered with glee, while the terrified driver continued to holler. Needless to say, we were late for school. Rumor has it that the novice bus driver quit her job the next day, which must be so because we never saw her again.

By late fall, the whole neighborhood was up in arms over his escalating misdeeds. So, they reported Hoppy to the authorities, who determined that this devilish bird’s owners would have to put a stop to his disturbing th

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 20, 2009
• ISBN: 9781465324993

Joy Johns

Joy Johns was born, raised and educated in St. Louis, Missouri. She received her Masters Degree in Language Arts from Washington University in 1965, and became a middle school English Teacher.. After 35 years of marriage, she was traded in on a newer model. After the divorce, she moved down to North Florida to be close to her daughter and her family. She is now a retired teacher, but still enjoys substitute teaching part time, especially in elementary grades. Her goal as an author is to create books and stories that will captivate readers with humor and unique topics. Some of her other hobbies are biking, camping, gardening and pets.

Book preview

Copyright © 2009 by Joy Johns.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Names, characters, places and incidents are based on author’s experiences. Images contained in this book have been purchased from www.clipart.com.

Rev. date: 08/09/2021

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CONTENTS

Dedication

Introduction

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Dedication

To my cousin Bobbie, who has been a source of inspiration and strength. She loves all creatures, whether tame or wild, and spends much of her time feeding and caring for all the critters that share her lake property. Her favorites are the wild birds and raccoons. She also has adopted many stray cats which have been abandoned. Although a widow, she is never lonely or sad, with so many friends to brighten her days.

And,

To Terri, the proprietor of my home town pet shop, who is always available to assist pet owners with the care and well being of their critters, usually free of charge . . . whether she sold them or not. She is treasured in this community as much as the pastors, doctors, teachers or government leaders. Terri knows that the bond between pets and owners is a source of healing that rivals modern medicine. Thus, she is always there to help foster this love.

INTRODUCTION

I have been waiting to tell this tale for over 50 years, a true story of events which occurred during my twelfth year. I have hesitated to write my story for so long out of fear that I would be accused of copying the theme of The Yearling, a famous book by Marjorie Rawlings. She tells the story of Jody, a young boy who must part with his beloved pet deer, causing such deep sorrow that he runs away and almost dies. He must leave childhood innocence behind and face the challenges of growing up. Like Jody, I had to part with my most prized possession, my beloved pet. However, my special friend was not a deer, but a crow. Although you may dislike sad stories, please read on, because you will be not only disappointed, but also delighted!

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CHAPTER 1

I was an only-child, a very lonely and isolated little girl. In l949 I turned seven and moved with my parents to a small town near