And thus it is with our Autistic Robin journey. After being frightened off on Friday by M-80 and cherry bomb explosions around the neighborhood, our Mama Bird never returned. The eggs did not survive her absence. With heavy hearts, the children decided that they wanted to bury the remains and make a memorial. So it is. That's one of the things I really hate about 4th of July ... the M-80s and other loud explosives. As a matter of fact, every bird that nested or made home in the trees around here disappeared Friday. Probably went to the deep woods, thinking Bird Armegeddon had begun! Most have since returned, but not our robins. As if to sharpen the focus, we saw a dead robin in the road this morning. :o( Well, with solemn quiet and grim determination, we buried the graying eggs. The beauty out of this lesson is that all of nature has purpose and meaning whether we can see that in the moment or not. All of it. Balance is maintained. Life, death, joy, trauma, rain, sun, wind, calm, despair, hope. Through the beauty of one robin family, we witnessed and experienced all of these things in a very short period of time.
9 comments:
Awww.... I hesitated for a moment, coming to your blog this evening (seeing your ominous "headline" RSS on my blog)...
Made me shed a tear....
:-(
Dumb firecrackers.
But then my son (and his dad) shot some off that night too, in our front yard. So I really can't complain.
You summed it all up so well. Still... so sad.
P.S. I do often wonder how urban wildlife puts up with our continuous noise. Like boom-boom cars that drive by, etc.
btw, at 4 am this morning (a SUNDAY NIGHT, no less), I couldn't BELIEVE the sound level that was coming out of this one car that turned our corner, just outside my window. It woke me clear up out of a deep sleep. It sounded like some freaky Martian hip-hop. Scary almost in its freakiness. And accompanied by the bassiest of bass speaker rhythmic booms. The fact I could still clearly hear every note (if you could CALL them notes) of the "song" emanating from their their car even when it was 4 blocks away taking off down a main road is a testament just to how EFFING LOUD it was. Those are people I could easily picture myself shooting, if I had a gun. Easily.
:-)
Esp. at 4 am.
oh man, explosives of any kind are never good for birds or animals. That is a bummer. But...on a positive, I am sure she will lay more eggs and they will survive. Just wish you guys could have been through another birth.
Fireworks have been banned in our town because it disturbs the wild life, especially the birds. Well, at least mama is safe somewhere and unharmed. And you gave the eggs a loving send off.
you're a sweet family.
Thanks Lucy and Grace It was so sad for the kids, but they're remarkably resilient ... very accepting that things sometimes just are and t'aint nuttin' we can do about it. Man, I can handle the firecrackers compared to the M80s or cherry bomb things. The windows were shaking. It was really bad. Fireworks are completely illegal here, but most people feel that it's okay to go outside that law for the 4th of July. I don't get it really. One interesting note is that Ben really kind of dug the sky fireworks this year! Not the boomers, but the oooo ahhh ooo pretty fountains. We watched from the porch for a while and he wanted to come outside. First time ever! It was quite cool. Maybe he'll be ready next year to go to an actual display!
Jeez Lucy .. I don't blame you one bit. I hate those things. I'm starting to even sleep through the occasional train horn that goes off during the night ... but yep .. there's just something about those dumbass bass that triggers the "kill" instinct. It must trigger a very primal chord, because man oh man .. you're not the only one who wants to do that!
I hope we get another batch, Grace, but if not ... well, it was an amazing experience and one that will be a long-term memory for us! I guess I can get to scraping and painting the porch now ...
:o)
xo
Awww...I'm sorry Tink. I can honestly say I am sadder about the loss of those little eggs than the loss of Michael Jackson. The little memorial you and the kids made is so cute too! Hopefully your little Robin will return and try again:)
That is fantastic about Ben. Yeah, maybe next year you can go closer to the fireworks. cool! I don't like M80 etc, what's the point? just to hear a big boom! pointless.
Yay for June ~ thank you. Cartwheels and backflips!
Rob, LOL! How true, how true (the robins vs. Michael Jackson!) (ooh, the irony!)
But no. I'm still sad about the robins. Really.
And Tink - no matter the outcome, what a wonderful robin's nesting season you documented. I'm still amazed at all you captured, good and bad. Quite a story, complete with illustrations. Here's a thought: maybe it could make a children's story. (with a varied ending maybe?) (maybe your kids could provide an alternate ending? or not...)
And Tink -- you made me feel better about that bastard (sorry) in their bassy car. I mean, it really is an affront on your fellow man to drive through a neighborhood like this, no matter WHAT time of day. It's like an assault. It IS an assault. And should be prosecuted as such, I say! I mean, sometimes it literally hurts my ears it's so deep; you can feel your entire body vibrating. The scum!
You're lucky, Grace, that the fireworks are banned in your town. I wish I lived somewhere nicer. It feels like my karma that I'm stuck here - - I can't explain it, it just feels that way.
Thus we live...
xoxo
Aww... thanks Rob. That is very sweet and I understand completely. There was a robin this morning standing on the grass near the "memorial" ... it was really weird. I wondered if it was the mother or father! Grace ... yep! That would be awesome to take him to an actual aerial fireworks display! I know Lucy It *IS* an assault. I don't know where there's a place other than in the deep woods somewhere that you can get away from ignoramus people. Rude, selfish, immature, nasty people! Grr.. I dunno Lucy about karma, but try re-setting the vibe around your environment! Like in Miss Congeniality .. "feel the vibe, be the vibe, you *are* the vibe" :o) (I've been watching your videos ... :o) )
Dale! That we do. :o) CONGRATULATIONS on the move. Very exciting and how lovely it all sounds. Wish I could come help you move in. Have fun!
xo
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