Erica’s Blog

Well, we had one of those “circle of life” incidents yesterday.  The Things and Jenna were out back, playing, when Thing Two came and told me there was something really important I had to see outside.  Of course, I assumed someone had broken something, etc.

When I got outside, Thing One was standing on the patio, next to a dead baby bird.  The bird looked like it wasn’t even ready to hatch — no feathers, wings barely there, beak didn’t look hard enough to break an eggshell, etc.  It was really weird-looking.  Thing One was so verklempt about it that she started crying.  She cried and she cried. 

[wondering what to do with this dead thing]  It would probably freak you guys out if Jenna ate it, hunh?

YES!  Don’t let her!  Please, don’t let her get it!

We crouched there and kind of stared at it for a while, wondering where the eggshell was, etc.  All I can figure is that the egg fell out of the nest and broke, then another animal (a cat?) ran off with the birdie, but only got as far as our yard before it got scared off and dropped it.

[T2] How can we make it alive again?

[T1] NO, [nickname].  Only Jesus can do that!

[T2] Maybe we should bury it, then.

And so, we had a baby birdie funeral.  I got a couple of pieces of cardboard and picked it up.  The Things tried to dig a hole near the pink rose bush, but they only made a dent, so I got a glove and a trowel and dug a hole six or eight inches deep (I should have used the bulb-hole digger!).  We put the bird in, covered it up, and scattered pink rose petals over the spot.  Thing One said a “speech”.  If it wouldn’t have ruined the moment, I would have videotaped it.  I was so proud of her and what she came up with to say off the cuff.  Then, they had me pray.  After that, Thing One wanted me to sing “a song people sing at funerals.”  I was going to sing Amazing Grace, but then changed my mind.

Oh, wait!  I know a better one.  This is one we sang at Paul’s funeral, and it’s really appropriate for a bird because it’s called “I’ll Fly Away”.

So, I sang a couple of verses of that, then we went back inside.  It took a while, but Thing One was eventually calmed down enough to do her homework.

I just hope Jenna doesn’t end up digging it up.  That would be pretty traumatic for Thing One.