As I sit contemplating our empty nest and what it means for myself and the HF, my mind wanders to the birds of our courtyard … Mainly to Mr and Mrs Wagtail. Over the course of numerous and varied season they have raised chicks, feed them, kept them alive, taught them how to fly and then moved on. Teaching me that when one chapter is closed … a small gap in the burglar bars in the bathroom is found and can be used! Lessons from nature can be found in many places
FYI (From a personal POV only); An empty nest does not start until your YOS (Youngest OffSpring) goes boarding in high school. Junior school boarding does not count; At High School instructions are no longer “suggestions” and punishment is no longer running around the field 5 times ….
Mrs and Mr W have laid claim to a plant holder that they have used for over five seasons as a cozy home to raise their chicks. (I wonder if I can somehow use this to bolster points i.t.o our farm environmental program). Over the years they have added material to the nest so that it looks quite comfortable (lesson to HF: every year add to your home…. )Both playing an active roll in the upbringing of the babies resulting in a high survival rate, going to show that some Dads do know what they are doing.
Once the fledglings leave the safety of the nest, on clear sunny days they do practice flight in the courtyard. These flights are sometimes more like a road trip down from the wall with an eventual destination. Like an autumn leaf falling from a tree in a gently breeze. (To picture this it is often easier to picture the opposite and work from there: It is a road trip so not a straight line from A to B and it is during a gently breeze not a gale … again slowly. Then stop. Before you work through the whole flight plan and outcome) … all this while Mrs and Mr W are still feeding their growing young. Thy do that for a couple of days and then they fly off to start their own lives …and the next season Mr and Mrs W do it all again ….
Pink Farm Chick 