I'm wearing an elaborate purple finch barrette in my hair today, an accessory that I bought over 20 years ago when I was still in college in Vermont, dressing in tie-dyes and Guatemalan prints like a hippie wannabe. The barrette suited the person I was then, though it's a little much for everyday wear now that I'm older and, sadly, more conservative in my tastes. But as I was putting up my hair this morning, I remembered it was  stashed in the bottom of my closet. Y esterday a female purple finch visited my feeders at the office for the first time--usually I get the more urban house finches--so I decided to wear my funky work-of-art barrette in homage of her special visit. 

My creative hair piece seems to have worked some sort of magic of attraction--this morning the male purple finch showed up at my feeder in all his glory. Unlike the plainer, brown-striped female, the male is bright raspberry, as if he were held by his brown tail and dipped headfirst into the berry's pink juice. Very striking and colorful, just like my barrette:

This barrette is probably bigger than an actual purple finch. And yes, the photo's crooked, but do you know how hard it is to photograph the back of your own head?

If my barrette can
summon finches, what shall I
wear in my hair next?