Falling Out of the Nest
Sometimes things are too close to your heart to be able to speak of them. They can be pondered, but when it comes to words on paper, nothing seems to be able to describe how you feel. One day, recently, I discovered a Cardinal's nest right under my kitchen window. The babies had just hatched, and were fuzzy lumps with mouths opening wide whenever they thought food was near. They were so helpless and tiny, but mom and dad were always nearby to feed and protect, ready to die, if necessary, for their babies. The kids and I took such joy in watching them! Every morning we would check their progress, and day by day, they grew bigger and stronger and more feathers. It seemed they would be little forever. We thought we would have more time with them. But one morning, the 8 year old breathlessly came running to me to announce that one of the babies was out of the nest. It's too soon, I thought. Maybe it fell out, and we should put it back in, I thought. But no, mom a