I had a very Mayberry moment this afternoon. It seemed like a regular day (it really did). I came home for lunch and began to commence with my routine of a nice sandwich and viewing of Family Matters. The only thing askew was Max: The Wondercat did not come to greet me at the door as usual. It wasn't until I was getting ready to leave that I noticed Max was glued to the glass doors barking that weird cat bark that cats sometimes do. And then I saw a wee little bird on the porch. I quickly surveyed the surroundings and noticed that mom bird was on the other side of the porch railing flying from tree limb to ground repeatedly. Upon further inspection, I found two more baby birds. What to do, what to do? I asked Jeeves. And then armed with a shoe box and sock hands I tried to round up the birds. I couldn't help but think of when Opie Taylor got his very first slingshot and proceeded to hit a very mommy bird. Opie took the three birds and raised them: Winkin, Blinkin, and Nod. Of course, Andy taught him some sort of lesson, probably about actions and consequences. Anyway, back to the story. There I was with sock hands, trying to secure the fledglings in a shoebox, away from harm so that the mother bird could tend to her babies...I must say that I cracked under pressure and couldn't do anything. All of the birds were flailing and screaming and then there was the dog barking and Max meowing and Momma bird screaming from her observatory. So I ran back in the house and did what any other girl would do, I called my Daddy.

"Winkin, Blinkin, and Nod are going to die!"

Aside: yes, I named them. It's what girls do. We name things and attach an immediate emotional connection.

"what?"

"Wink...nevermind. BIRDS, BABY BIRDS! They're little and babies and they're going to die and I don't want to know about it."

And Da to the rescue. He proceeded to fashion a makeshift nest, placed the babies into said nest, and then hung the nest into the tree closest to Momma bird. Momma and babies are reunited. Yay.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007 | 9:15 PM | LINK |