May 22. Day 142. As the crow flies

 All my life, I've been sold a lie. We all have, and I for one feel cheated. We talk about "as the crow flies" as the most direct route from A to B without having to worry about pesky little things like roads. So I will stand on my back deck and point at the University of Queensland remarking that "as the crow flies" it's just over the river but to get there the route is much longer, especially if you can't take the pedestrian bridge and go by car. But I've been watching the crows outside my house as they come in to feed on the mince supply from next door. They don't seem to be all that concerned about a straight line at all. So I looked it up. According the Phrases.org "The allusion in this expression is obviously to the ability of crows to fly directly from A to B, without the encumbrances of roads and landscape features that restrict man. Crows are perhaps an odd choice as, unlike many birds that migrate over long distances, their flight isn't especially straight. Crows normally fly in large wheeling arcs, looking for food." WTF. So even the crow doesn't fly as the crow flies? This is most disconcerting and confusing.
But then again I'll go in a large circle looking for food. I'll also make a beeline for it should that be more convenient. Please don't tell me that a beeline isn't a direct route. My world view can only take so much of a shattering for one day.