We have new neighbors! We had put our bird house on the market and worried if we’d find a buyer given the current struggling housing market. We had stiff competition from the bird house down the street. It was two stories with three bathrooms and a hot tub on the deck. You know the type. Ours, well, let’s just say it’s a starter home. One story, well…actually…one room, and the only facilities are outdoors in the form of a birdbath, that, because of the drought, is dry. But it was built with love. My daughters painted and decorated it as a gift for their daddy for Father’s Day a few years ago. We waited expectantly to see if any birds would move in.
A few weeks ago we noticed some activity. In and out, in and out, the lovely chickadee couple came, trying to make up their minds if this was the home for them. They looked young, excited, and in love as they looked for the perfect first home…I remember the feeling well! We were thrilled when they decided to stay.
There was no moving truck, just trips back and forth with their furniture of grass, Spanish moss from my planters, and clumps of fur. (We don’t know from where-but Sam is looking a little balder lately!) Till finally, they seemed settled in. I would see them in passing as they went about their day but could never give them more than a quick wave.
And then we heard the noise! Apparently our new neighbors were pregnant with sextuplets! (She hid it so well!) The babies are born and are the cutest little bald things! And boy do those babies make a racket when mommy and daddy fly in and out with food for their babies! I lay in the hammock with my book and watch the parents go back and forth, back and forth, and even I get exhausted! (It also makes me very thankful we stopped at two!)
Someone should alert the media! Perhaps they would receive the same fanfare that human sextuplets would receive! They’d be given a year’s supply of worms or birdseed, boxes of birdie baby diapers, and a free trip to Disney World when the kids get older. But then, these are only chickadees, right? For now, the parents work tirelessly in caring for their young and God is good in providing the food they need. And the only fanfare they receive are the “ohhs” and “ahhs” and the bright light from a flashlight as two young girls are hoisted up to peek into their home and exclaim over the babies. Perhaps I’ll take them a cake.
