# Chasing Pigeons

- Link: https://thewrongkindofready.com/chasing-pigeons/
- Published: 2026-07-29T00:00:00-07:00
- Author: Caleb

This is post 7 of 21 in the series _“Rediscovery in the Rhineland”_

We came back to Germany with children this time.

The trip was different. We rode cable cars over the Rhine, wandered through castle
markets, chased pigeons, found Roman temples beneath shopping malls, and spent entire
afternoons in places chosen mostly because they were close and good for kids. Corbin
asked to go home almost every day.

The Rhine was still there. The castles were still there. But the people walking 
beside me had changed, and so had I. The journey became less about seeing everything
and more about noticing what happened between the things we had come to see.

  Show all posts in this series

 1.  [One Night along the Rhine](https://thewrongkindofready.com/one-night-along-the-rhine/)
 2.  [The Ball Pit](https://thewrongkindofready.com/the-ball-pit/)
 3.  [The Castle Market](https://thewrongkindofready.com/the-castle-market/)
 4.  [Twin Mothers beneath the Mall](https://thewrongkindofready.com/twin-mothers-beneath-the-mall/)
 5.  [Five Seconds](https://thewrongkindofready.com/five-seconds/)
 6.  [Wait until I Finish Sleeping](https://thewrongkindofready.com/wait-until-i-finish-sleeping/)
 7.  Chasing Pigeons
 8.  [Zoo Animals](https://thewrongkindofready.com/zoo-animals/)
 9.  [Where’s the Grapes](https://thewrongkindofready.com/wheres-the-grapes/)
 10. [The Photograph](https://thewrongkindofready.com/the-photograph/)
 11. [Where the Rhine and Moselle Met](https://thewrongkindofready.com/where-the-rhine-and-moselle-met/)
 12. [König Calib](https://thewrongkindofready.com/konig-calib/)
 13. [Mainz Will Be Kinder](https://thewrongkindofready.com/mainz-will-be-kinder/)
 14. [Blue Stained-glass](https://thewrongkindofready.com/blue/)
 15. [Track 7B](https://thewrongkindofready.com/track-7b/)
 16. A Little Undignified Scheduled for November 10, 2026
 17. The Stones Scheduled for November 18, 2026
 18. A Factory behind Glass Scheduled for November 21, 2026
 19. The Blue-and-white House Scheduled for December 17, 2026
 20. The Furthest Sandy Shore Scheduled for December 18, 2026
 21. Toy Room in the Castle Scheduled for December 22, 2026

The plaza in front of Mainz Cathedral stretched wide and car-free.

In front of it, our kids ran around the plaza—arms outstretched, scattering birds
from statue to statue.

“Pigeon, pigeon, pigeon!”

“Bird!”

It didn’t matter that their words weren’t legible.

It didn’t matter that they made a scene.

No one here minded.

Well, no one minded but the pigeons.

The chase carried them across the square, past statues and benches, through a maze
of stone and shadow. They raced toward the central fountain, their feet pounding
against centuries-old cobblestones.

And then Avery tripped.

It happened both faster and slower than seemed possible. In the half-second before
impact, I already knew how it would end, but the actual event unfurled in slow motion
like destiny playing out in real-time.

Right on queue then, his face smacked the ground, and when he lifted his head, blood
covered his face.

I scooped him up without thinking. The nearest bathroom … the coffee shop. They 
had to have one.

Rushing over, with Avery wailing in my arms, I managed to explain. Sympathy came
instantly. How could it not, with a bleeding toddler? But no, they didn’t have a
restroom.

Then, I ran again, all the way back to our hotel room.

Through the plaza, past the cathedral, across streets and sidewalks, dodging tourists
and bicycles. Avery’s cries faded as we moved, the initial shock wearing off. By
the time we reached the hotel, he had stopped crying altogether. Still rushed through
the doors and up the opulent stairway and through the halls, fumbling with the skeleton
key lock.

Inside, I set him down in the bathroom, turned on the tap, and began wiping away
the blood. No cuts, broken noses, or missing teeth. A lot of blood, and even that
was already drying.

He had long stopped crying, and by the time I finished cleaning him up, the bleeding
had stopped as well. His shirt was the sole casualty.

I swapped it for a clean one, ran a damp hand through his hair, and looked at him.
His eyes were already darting toward the door.

This time, we walked.

~

Reunited with his family, Avery didn’t even acknowledge his fall. Within seconds,
he was at it again.

“Pigeon, pigeon, pigeon!”

The birds never stood a chance.

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