Sitting In The Catbird Seat

I remembered the lovely fragrance of Grandma Lynam's mock orange bush when I was twelve and she still lived on the acreage west of town. So when we moved back to the farm, I planted a mock orange outside our bedroom window thinking I would smell that heavenly aroma once again. For some reason, mine never did smell as sweet as Grandma's did.

What it did do was attract many birds. One of which was a catbird. Every morning before 5:00 a.m., that darn bird would start singing and wake me up. Supposedly it is called a catbird because of its cat-like call -though I never thought it sounded like a cat. Like its more famous cousin, the mockingbird, the gray catbird can imitate the songs of other birds and even a tree frog.

One theory for the origin of the saying, "Sitting in the catbird seat", was that the catbird usually chose the highest point from which to sing, thus having the advantage of being able to see everything. Most credit the saying to base ball broadcaster Red Barber. The well-known, 1940's announcer used a lot of folksy sayings and "He's sitting in the catbird seat" was one of his favourites. If a batter had three balls and no strikes, he was "in the catbird seat" - meaning he had the upper hand or advantage.

Cartoonist and author James Thurber is also credited with making the saying popular after his short story, "The Catbird Seat" was published in 1942. Thurber's cartoon above is one of my favourites: "Well, if I called the wrong number, why did you answer the phone?" Perhaps because that is something that actually once happened to me.

These days you can't watch or listen to a NASCAR broadcast without hearing at least one of the announcers stating about a driver: "Well, it looks like he (Smoke or Junior or Cousin Carl or whichever driver seems to have the advantage) is in the catbird seat, now."

In our house, I hear the phrase several times a week during one of our daily cribbage games. Even when I'm behind (which is usually), as soon as I round the last corner, Bud will say, "It looks like someone just got the catbird seat." Or "looks like you're in the catbird seat" which is guaranteed to upset me because it isn't true.

If you really want to know just who is in the catbird seat around here, you don't have to look any further than that guy pictured above.