When I moved into my new house, I found that I was not the only new tenant. A couple of newlywed scissortails had beaten me to residency by building a nest in an inside corner of my back patio. They were rather distressed by my arrival, but have learned to tolerate my presence. They certainly are doing well in tolerating the seed inside the bird feeder I hung out in the yard.
Today I saw the babies, two of them, perched up on the edge of the nest and checking out the world outside those mud walls for the first time. Within a day or two they'll hop over the edge and sail off into it on young, healthy wings, savoring at one and the same time, freedom and personal responsibility; the beauty of the world and the predatory dangers it holds.
Fear won't keep them hiding in the mud home that has sheltered them until now. They'll go bravely out to meet what life brings their way.
Yeah, man. Yeah.
