How Unfortunate

With all of the raccoons, red tail fox packs (yes, they do run in packs), skunks, squirrels, and a vast array of unique and colorful birds within our backyard, JB and BW don't seem to realize is that most kids their age only learn about such wildlife through books and pictures found on the Internet.

To them, it's all just part of our environment. Even though we have a cornucopia of wildlife, on occasion we see something so out of bounds that words fail us.

One of the gifts I received this Christmas was a bird waterer. Coupled with the squirrel proof bird feeder we have in our backyard, we have a smattering of wrens, sparrows, finches, chickadees, flickers, woodpeckers, jays and many other interesting characters that visit each day.

On occasion, a little bird flies off a bit too eagerly and knocks himself silly by running into our glass deck doors. Most of the time they are simply stunned, and after a few minutes, they shake themselves and fly off to the feeder, waterer or the nearby shrubs. As the dining area looks out onto the deck, we are casual observers of this circle of life and when a characteristic 'thud' is heard, we look to see if the little one will be all right.

The circle of life became a bit too real one Saturday morning after a little sparrow knocked himself and was hanging out until the dizzy spell passed.  As he started moving about and regaining his footing, what we believe to be a Sharp-shinned Hawk swept down from a nearby tree, grabbed the dazed sparrow, proceeded to settle in the lilacs that line the deck and began dining on his catch.

It happened in just a few blurry moments only a couple of feet from where JB and BW were playing, and it was all a bit too real for them.

Nature is one thing, but NATURE is quite another.

BW realizing what had just happened ran to his room in horror. JB stood there frozen, simply saying 'Oh... wow.' After calming both children and explaining that the hawk was just hungry, they settled down and began to absorb the grim nature of what they'd just seen.

JB declared that she was 'now a vegetarian'. BW pondered for a moment and then said "Well, that was unfortunate for the sparrow."

At dinner that night we had grilled chicken over tortellini with salads and broccoli, JB once again reaffirmed her dedication to being a vegetarian. Looking over her bowl she firmly stated "Mama, just so you know, I am really, really into this meat eating vegetarian thing, I hope that you will support me in this decision."

When she noticed our confused looks, (BW was shockingly, at a loss for words) she asked what was wrong. To this Charles replied that the word she was looking for was omnivore, as she would most certainly NOT be a vegetarian by eating meat.

When it was BW's turn to be served dinner, he delicately raised on hand gesturing 'stop' and with a serious expression said "No thank you. I'm taking a break from birds for awhile."

All had returned to normal by the time Christmas arrived. Both BW and JB had seconds of the turkey, and to date, the Hawk has not returned. Oddly, though the kids are both keeping watch for him. Whether it's to protect the little birds, or see what happens, we don't know... but we have learned one thing.

We never, never, never ask, "What's next." It's better to take it as it comes than invoke Murphy's Law.