The Bluebird of Happiness Pays a Visit

Amidst stink bug domination , crazy weather, leaking nuke water, wars of various stripes, and deficit degradation, it’s the little things that salve the soul sometimes, right?

We were sitting in the living room recently, and heard the telltale sounds within the stone fireplace:  a flapping of wings and notes of anxious cheeping.  Another bird had flown down the chimney and was now caught behind the stove insert, looking for a way out.  These incidents usually ended very badly with an eerie silence after a few days and a bad odor.  It was heartbreaking to hear the ruckus but there was nothing we could do to help them.  Although there was a small chink in the stone where a bird could emerge if it was small enough, usually they weren’t.  They’d just stick their little beak out…well you get the picture.  Torture for bird lovers like us.

So the flapping goes on, and then suddenly, there is a bird throwing itself against the window. For a moment we couldn’t tell if it was trying to get in or trying to get out—but our accidental prisoner had escaped!!  With many bird rescues behind me, I walked over to the sill and gently took the thing in my hands.  It was a female bluebird, just as soft and beautiful as you could imagine.  We both marveled for a minute at her beauty, petted her sweet soft gray head, and then I released her out the front door.  She left behind a fragile slender thread of possibility and positive life force.  And a little piece of our hearts went out with her.           Action in the Country.