“You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.” – Author Unknown
As usual, I’m in my office working on my computer. My office is just steps away from our master bedroom. Suddenly, I hear a low guttural sound I’d never heard before. Barely imperceptible, it seems to emanate from our master bedroom.
Slowly, soundlessly, I creep out of my office and peer into the master bedroom through the doorway. Coco, our male Snowshoe Siamese cat, is crouched low in front of the French door that leads out to our back yard. His tail is swishing back-and-forth, back-and-forth like a metronome.
The sound increases when he senses my presence. It’s a sort of “chuffing” sound that lions and tigers make, and I realize it’s coming from Coco. “Wow,” I thought to myself. “That’s a new sound I haven’t heard from him before!”
I advance forward, slowly. I don’t want to scare whatever has Coco’s undivided attention, because maybe it’s a mouse. We’ve had field mice in our house before and sometimes I’ve been able to catch them and release them back out into the world rather than leave them to Coco’s terrorist tactics.
I look down to where he is staring (and swishing and chuffing) and see two little baby birds, side-by-side, mouths open and chirping for their mother. They’d apparently fallen out of their nest, hidden somewhere in the vicinity of our back door, probably in the bougainvillea.
Fat little things, they appeared healthy and unharmed. Just scared and uncertain. Because, of course, staring at them through the glass door is a predator.
I slowly step back, turn around and head back to my office to get my camera. I don’t want to miss this photo-op! It takes me a few minutes to switch lenses to my zoom lens and when I creep back into our bedroom, they are still there, chirping away.
I snap a few pictures and watch and wait, trying to decide if I dare do anything. Isn’t that a conundrum most of us face at one time or another? Whether to reach out and help someone or something when what you might do to help them will only hurt them more?
After a few minutes, they quit chirping and settle down, still side-by-side, not moving, but looking like they were contemplating their options.
So, I decided to do nothing…
I left the room and went back to my office to finish working. A few hours later, I came into the bedroom to check on things. Coco was gone and so were the baby birds.
I like to think that they didn’t know how strong they were until strong was the only choice they had and that they spread their wings and took their first flight – a flight skyward to safety and the new world before them…
Tootles,
Related Posts:
(other posts about birds)
Hi Carole, just wanted you to know I enjoyed this blog. I know I’ve said it before, but you are a good writer. The quote was very good and I’ll be referring to when needed. Hope you had a good Mother’s Day with your Mom and family. Take good care.
Thanks so much, Anna! I appreciate your continued support and I always love to hear things like “you are a good writer”! It makes my day! Love to you and Mike, too!