The last couple years we’ve been lucky enough to have a great view of nesting Robins.  Last year, it was a nest built right outside our patio window and we stealthily video taped them from birth to flight.  This year they built a home nestled snugly in our honeysuckle vines on our front porch.  We waited and waited and one day discovered four baby blue eggs.  I would wait til the mom left and then sneak out and get a couple shots.  This one was taken of all four babies poking their heads out.

They were quite noisy with the mom flying out for worms about every 7-10 minutes.  The night that the above photo was taken, sadly a raccoon found the nest and in an audibly horrific fashion, the mom tried to fight off the attacker, but all the babies were gone.  It was midnight and my husband and I ran out there but it was too late.  We found one very badly shaken up baby still alive and fine and Shane scooped him up and placed him back in the nest.  He then stood vigil most of the night scaring off the raccoon who kept coming back.  During this whole time, the surviving baby bird was spooked and attempted to flee from his stalker.  Not quite ready to fly  – but trying – falling back out of the nest into the brush below.

Momma bird hangin out with us in the garden

The next morning we woke up and spent a couple hours meticulously and gently poking around flower beds and foliage trying to find the little guy.  A slight trail of soft white baby feathers stretched from one end of the flower bed to the other.  We were heart broken as he was nowhere to be found.  In the afternoon, the mother bird made an appearance in odd fashion while we were weeding out another flower bed on the opposite side of the yard.  I’ve never seen anything like it before.  She would hop up within a inches of us.  Shane laid the hose down and she drank from the trickle, unafraid.  We watched as she collected worms from the newly turned soil and made her way to the place we spent all morning searching for her baby.  And there it was!  A fluffy, speckled, little baby on a low branch of a small tree!  We watched her the rest of the day as she fed her one remaining chick.  No nest… just waiting quietly on a branch.  Yesterday the baby was back on the ground and able to fly very awkwardly up to the gutter of our house.

I know this is the circle of life, but it was so sad.  I’m so glad there was a tiny bit of a happy ending to this.    Nature is an amazing thing isn’t it?  It brings out a wide range of emotions:  happiness, sadness, anguish, elation, wonder, amazement, serenity.

I had lunch with my mom, dad, sister and the kids today.    As we all sat down and began to enjoy our meal,  I glanced over at my mom intently engaged in conversation, catching up with the kids.  It was at that moment… that I began to imagine things 25 years in the future… when I’m my moms age.   Having lunch with my children and my grandchildren.  Laughing and carrying on conversations of every day life.   Learning about what happened at school or a funny dream someone had.

My face will be wrinkled a bit but my laugh lines will surely be a testament of all the smiles I’ve smiled… all the giggles … the belly laughs… all the times when tears of laughter rained down upon my soft cheeks.

I will be attentive to each long drawn out story about their day to day lives… and give that over-the-brow look when they try to talk over each other so excited to tell their tale.  Just as my mom does now, and her mother did before her, I’ll be very careful to make each one feel just as important as the other and give an unstated affirmation that the special place they hold in my heart belongs to only them.

The twinkle in my eyes will reflect the genuine deep love and affection I have for those sharing the day.  I’ll get up a little slower or need to slow my pace just a bit, but I’m soaking in the generations that I’ve created and storing this day into the scrapbook of my mind, amidst the beautifully kept pages decorated with warm thoughts of those that came before me.  They would have savored this moment in time.

My daydream suddenly reverts to the present as a tender touch taps my arm, “Gramma?  Are you listening”  “Yes, I’ve heard every word sweetie” and I smile a smile that settles deep within my core and strengthens the deep crevice of my beautiful laugh lines.   I will gaze at my daughters and my son and feel such a sense of accomplishment.  Of peace, of joy.   The sounds of the moment will come through only muffled.  The conversation in the distance as I gaze into the twinkling eyes of my grandbabies.   I will carry this moment home.

God, it is my wish today that everyone reading this takes just a moment to remember their mom.  To create a smile.  To close their eyes and enjoy the scrapbook in their own mind.  To be thankful for those still with them and to be thankful for those they’ll be reunited with on the other side.   Lunches are special.  Whether in reality or a memory.

Love,
Sheila

Open your book and:
1. Go to page 77.
2. Go to line 7 on that page.
3. Copy the next 7 lines, sentences, or paragraphs as they are written.
4. Tag 7 authors who are also have Works in Progress.

Without further ado, the following excerpt from “Booyah! Spirit”, © October 2011 Sheila Burke  (I just included pg 77 which is the beginning of a new chapter, and the whole next page, 78. Enjoy!!)  *click to enlarge these for easy reading!

Okay, here’s a few tags from some other zen type authors that I think you’ll enjoy visiting.  This will take you to their blogs, and as they realize they’ve been tagged, they might want to play along as well!
Betsy Henry the Zen Mama
Shaeri Richards
Shari Alyse (video blog)
Bohdi Sanders
Rita Schiano
Sue Fitzmaurice
E. L. Farris