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It was a quiet morning;
As usual my wife Laureen
opened the front door (leaving it open wide) in hopes that the cat
would follow her out. (Little did she know that a small intruder
had flown in through the open door.) After retrieving the
morning newspaper, with coffee mug full of steaming coffee Laureen
settled into
her morning ritual, with
“Neferkitti” (our cat) snuggled on the bar stool next to her.
Suddenly there was a flutter
and thump as a tiny wren flew into a window in the dining room.
The bird fell to the floor
momentarily stunned. Taking advantage of the moment, with great
speed and agility Neferkitti pounced on the helpless bird. Mouthing
the bird softly, she presented her catch to her master. Horrified
Laureen admonished the cat, screaming “Let her go”. With great
reluctance the cat dropped the bird on the floor. After a few
moments the bird flew up to a tall cabinet, where she landed to
assess her predicament.
At this time I was laying in
bed reading, when I heard Laureen shout loudly “Ray get in here
there is a bird in the house'. I slipped on a shirt, grabbed my
glasses, and walked in just as the bird took flight and landed on the
rail leading to my upstairs office. Walking up the stairs slowly I
reached for the perched bird who quickly flew back down to the family
room. Not seeing where she landed I searched the room. Suddenly she
flew into a large picture window in the family room. The confused
bird sat on the sill looking out of the window. I approached the
bird, who made no attempt to fly off. I reached down, and with
cupped hands gently picked up the traumatized bird. She chirped once
and settled into my warm hands.
Making my way to the sliding
door that leads to the outside deck I stepped out and opened my hands
to release the bird. Gripping the index finger of my right hand she
was reluctant to fly. I stood there, and time froze.
Our eyes met, and I felt the
impact of what was happening;
From the wren's perspective
here stood a god-like giant with the power of life and death over
her. From my perspective there perched on a single finger was a tiny
creature who I could crush with hardly any effort. In that brief
moment we were both experienced the miracle, diversity and fragile
nature of life.
“All creatures great and
small”
Walking over to a bench on
the deck and with palm up I waited for the bird to step off onto the
safety of the bench and freedom. She gripped even more tightly, as
if she'd found safety in my hands. With my left hand I gently coaxed
her off my right hand onto the bench, where she stood looking around.
She made no effort to fly away, so I went back through the door,
closed it and stood watching, hoping that she was not seriously
injured.
While walking up the stairs
to my office I heard Laureen (who'd been watching) exclaim loudly;
“She just flew away”!
Gratified...I went up to my
office to write an account of this magical and humbling event.
ROTMS
