Egg Head
May 18th 2011 02:34
So, a bird has built a nest in an empty hanging plant holder over our front yard garden. I discovered this when I pulled up in my driveway yesterday to find a gang of a half dozen or so neighborhood children, in addition to my own, attempting to stand on the wrought iron fence separating the patio from the garden.
Worried that somebody was going to fall and crack their head open, I shouted at all the children to get down immediately. When they protested that they were merely trying to "rescue" an egg, I told them that they would actually kill the unborn baby bird if they disturbed the nest. Just leave the egg be and let the mama take care of it.
So today at dinner, Jake says that a kid named Emily, who was one of the children from the night before, had "made" him climb up on the railing that afternoon and give her an egg.
Now, my son has been known to be--I'll be gentle here--less than honest at times. So I asked him three times, are you SURE it was Emily that took the egg? He insisted that it was.
To verify that a crime had taken place, I hauled my fat middle-aged butt up on top of the fence to have a look in the nest. The bird and I had a stare-down for a while, with her refusing to fly away so I could see if she was sitting on anything besides twigs. But eventually she decided I was too close for comfort and flew off. Sure enough, nothing in there but sticks and grass.
I had hoped to have a word with Emily today in order to sort out the truth of who, exactly, absconded with the egg, but no one answered the door when I went to her home this evening. If Jake told the truth and Emily had the egg, I was going to ask her to put it back. Maybe there was still time to save it.
With each passing hour, I have to face the reality that the universe will probably have to make do with a little less bird boo boo on vehicles this spring.
But there's still the matter of the egg theft, itself. Whether Jake had an accomplice or acted alone, the fact remains that (1) my son defied my order to stay off the wobbly fence, putting his own safety at risk, and (2) he defied my order not to disturb the nest, putting a future baby bird at risk.
Time out.
5-17-2011
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