Pre-Ramble: The other day, much to my surprise, I spotted a tiny bird’s nest in one of the potted “trees” next to our front door. There was no bird in it, and no real signs of activity. I’ve been keeping an eye on the nest, hoping that the tidy, intricately woven little structure hadn’t been abandoned before it had had a chance to host a little bird family.

This nest was remarkable for several reasons:

1. just big enough to hold a golf ball, the architectural symmetry and detail of the nest was a wonder to behold;
2. as I looked closer, I realized that, mixed in with the blades of grass and twigs, the inside of the nest was lined with hundreds of strands of Daisy’s white dog hair. (Amazing, both in terms of the dexterity required to pick up a single stalk of dog hair in one’s beak, and in the incredibly putsy and undoubtedly time-consuming process of weaving all of that stuff into something livable.)
3. of all the luxurious, secluded locations available on our 2 acres of heavily wooded lot, Mother Bird picked a dried out tree topper (hastily jammed into containers last Christmas) that flanks the front doorway of our house — one of the highest trafficked areas possible, and right at Daisy’s nose level.

Well, so, this morning, after several days of the empty nest, just when I had nearly given up hope, I heard an unusual chirping coming from the front of the house. I won’t admit that I dashed over to see if the noise could be coming from the nest, and sure enough, a bird was now scrunched into the perfectly round little space… !

Immediately, I texted my girls with the good news; who, I assure you, are sitting at school right now going, “My mother is a nut-case.”

But wait — it gets better … (I know, you can barely stand it) … When I looked out the front window a few minutes later, the bird was gone, and cradled in the bottom of the nest was a single tiny blue egg… !

Yep — another text to the girls — and a photo (above right).

The Take-Away:  With spring break already a distant memory and grad parties in the air, many folks are lamenting/celebrating the fact that their youngest child will be headed off to college. I am happy to report that we’re not empty-nesters yet!

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