Sunday, June 8, 2008

Growing Children and Birds



The eggs in the nest on my porch hatched. I can see little heads popping up. One week later and the heads alone are as big as the eggs were. How could they have been inside those little eggs? How could they have grown so fast? Heads like that make me think of Kelly’s head when she was born. The midwives got out the tape measure. They said it was unusually large. I said, “You don’t have to tell me!”

Every day I take pictures of the birds. I have a stepstool out there so I can get a better look. They are about as big as the mother but they are scrawny. Already they are standing up and flapping their wings, wobbling on the edge. They are living on the edge. I’m always afraid, sitting there in my rocking chair watching, that one of them is going to fall off.

There’s no room left in the nest for the mother. Last night she didn’t come home. I imagine there was no getting any sleep in that crowded crib and so she shacked up somewhere else—the Catawba tree perhaps. Or maybe the cherry trees. In the morning, she was back. The four babies had their mouths wide open. Shovel it in! Shovel it in! There must be some good worms around here the way they are growing in leaps and bounds.


It is a good place for growing children and birds. Yesterday Kelly climbed up on the ladder and picked cherries. Cherries just like the kind you get in the store. They grow right here on our very own trees. You just go out there and get them. I watched from the porch as Kelly reached over and grabbed a branch. She dropped the cherries into a bowl and the ladder wobbled. I almost jumped up. “Be careful!” I called. She was right on the edge. Just like the birds.

12 comments:

CountryDew said...

Those cherries are better than the store kind! Anything you pick yourself is just automatically an improvement.

Clementine said...

We never stop being a mom do we? I love your baby birds - how adorable. We don't have a cherry tree, but our neighbor does. Every now and then Shannon sneaks over the fence and fills his mouth full.I told on him and my neighbor just laughed. Now every few weeks fresh cherries and veggies appear on my doorstep. In return, I made him a poundcake using my great-grandmother's recipe.

Amy Hanek said...

Awwwww!! They are so cute! What a good momma bird you are!!

Sloan said...

That does seem like a wonderful place to raise children!!!

Mrs. Mom said...

Wow-- home grown cherries.. yuuummmm....

Are ya still "parked" there? ;)

Greener Pastures--A City Girl Goes Country said...

Well, I'm parked as much as I can be. Had to go to town today and take Kelly shopping for her birthday. Almost had a heart attack when I filled up!

Anonymous said...

One year we videotaped ours learning to fly. Another year the local black snake got them before they could!

Marion said...

Love the little birds. They'll come back as adults to build another nest, so be ready.
Good Mom to suppress the urge to grab Kelly from the edge..we just finished reading "Last Child in the Woods" in our book club, about the need for children to experience the outdoors at a time when they are often hunched over a computer instead.
Debi: I figure Sheetz built next to BB&T so you could go in & negotiate a 2nd on your house in order to fill your gas tank.

Giulia said...

So great that you have your own cherries. I envy you. So do you know what kind of birds they are?

Greener Pastures--A City Girl Goes Country said...

That sounds like a good book Marion.

Giulia, I have no idea what they are. As you know, all the bugs and animals are so different in different states. Maybe sparrows? I'm getting ready to post a newer picture of them.

Anonymous said...

Your stories are like a breath of country air- I thoroughly enjoy having my coffee w/ you. Your unpretentious and frank, sometimes funny observations of country life from a city girl's perspective are a peach!

Kristine said...

VERY cute, and cool about the cherries! We don't have that over here. But we have poison oak that my dh decided to pick. Poor guy.