Our Impact

Cue the scary music! When you hear it in the movies, you know something’s about to happen. I could have used the music this week when I made “the discovery.” As I was driving down the road, a bird swooped low, crossing in front of my vehicle.  I braced for the deadly thump, but nothing happened. I expected to see the bird continue its flight path, it didn’t and I drove on. Brace yourself. Cue the scary music!

The next day I glanced down and spotted two, tiny bird feet and a clump of feathers sticking out from my front bottom vent. The bird from the prior day hadn’t flown past me, but ended up lodged in my vehicle like some weird car ornament. Poor bird! After a third peek at the car vent, I found that the bird had fallen out. There’s a moral to the story and it goes like this:

                              http://youtu.be/PFxqDQ_A2OM

We don’t want to end up like the poor bird that flew too low and suffered for it. Instead let’s aim high to reach our goals. People often talk about fulfilling their life purpose. What’s yours and are you willing to aim high?  

Flying the Coop

What a gift it is to have such a wide variety of bird life in our community.  At any given moment, we can glance outside and see enormous robins (who ate well during our warm winter), cardinals, blue jays, even woodpeckers and humming birds. I enjoy regular sightings of the neighborhood blue jay as its cautious mate perches nearby. Our house cat seems to enjoy seeing the pair, too. Simply seeing the birds together prompts me to run for the camera.

Last week, I went to the curb to bring back the garbage can and discovered a small collection of feathers littering the area. I wondered what had caused a bird to lose so many feathers. Was food in such short supply that a bird and raccoon tussled over the garbage? Not likely. The plot thickened after I found a second scattering of feathers a few feet away. Then, tucked beside the curb, I spotted a motionless blue jay lying on its back. The poor bird probably went looking for seeds and now, somewhere in the trees, its mate waits for food that won’t come and a mate that's gone.

Speaking of gone, June is the time of the year when students make plans to “fly the coop.” High school students graduate and prepare to move from their parent’s homes into dorm rooms. College students leave the security of dorm life and go out into the real world. The end of a school year feels like a time of change. Some people greet this season with excitement and anticipation of the future, while others harbor melancholy thoughts about the life left behind. Here’s an amusing video of a little boy girl with a big personality and even bigger plans for the future:

When kids move from one level to the next, we often feel a combination of apprehension and excitement. We wonder if they are adequately prepared for the future. Rest assured, they usually are and if not, they figure it out. In general, what are you feeling about your future?