This tiny nest stood in my apple tree for a couple of years and brought a new life in the early years. Irene took it down, I picked it up, shot it and saved it. It is about 2″ diameter, beautifully made and it’s amazing to see those tiny leaves so neatly stacked in the middle. I love it.
" data-orig-size="2600,1733" sizes="(max-width: 579px) 100vw, 579px" data-image-title="Fallen Nest – Post spring season" data-orig-file="https://educateyourthought.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/nest-c.jpg" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"Canon EOS 5D","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1315094906","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"50","shutter_speed":"0.1","title":""}" width="579" data-medium-file="https://educateyourthought.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/nest-c.jpg?w=300" data-permalink="https://educateyourthought.wordpress.com/2011/09/05/fallen-nest-post-irene/nest-c/" alt="Macro shot of en empty nest." height="386" srcset="https://educateyourthought.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/nest-c.jpg?w=579 579w, https://educateyourthought.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/nest-c.jpg?w=1158 1158w, https://educateyourthought.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/nest-c.jpg?w=150 150w, https://educateyourthought.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/nest-c.jpg?w=300 300w, https://educateyourthought.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/nest-c.jpg?w=768 768w, https://educateyourthought.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/nest-c.jpg?w=1024 1024w" class="wp-image-53" data-large-file="https://educateyourthought.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/nest-c.jpg?w=549" />Empty to be filled again?By Isis Win
Mother and father birds gather everything they need and gradually make a masterpiece that sometime later will be the home of the eggs mother bird will lay down. The incubation period slowly takes place, both parents make sure no predator will fetch their eggs, and in time, the eggs start craking, and a little featherless baby pops out. Depending on the type of bird, there might be two, three, or more babies to feed. Both take-ups turn to fetch the food needed by the babies and wait until they are grown, develop their feathers, and jump out of the nest for their first flight. The dedicated parents flight back and forth, making sure their little ones are growing strong before taking off. The time to flight comes.
The little birds do a few test flights and return home and to be fed. They still do not know how to do that, so they watch their mom and dad, so they learn the trick. After securing their safety, capable of maneuvering, fetching their own food, the little bird’s adventure into the world and explore and explore until they find their partner in life. The story is repeated over and over and we are the witnesses of that wonderful species of life.
There will be many more birds to fly, and the old parents will start all over to make a new nest, although sometimes they remember and return to their old one.
We people are different. The bond we develop with mother and father and our siblings make this journey special; there is a connection, so we know there is someone right there and we can go back and feel at home, as in the old days.
Some families develop this bond, but many are failing to reach that place, so their children go away, and possibly they never see each other again. A sad conclusion of the family becomes sadder because those “birds” become a continuation of the broken home. The broken family transforms into a broken society. A broken society becomes a broken nation, and a broken nation becomes a broken world.
We are not birds; we are the species capable of holding feelings and retain them as memories that later we enjoy revisiting and provide us more strength. That becomes the mission of mom and pop and they wish to continue that journey and then to enjoy the children of their children. If that bond is broken, everything else shatters, perhaps eliminating feelings and memories, so the journey becomes lonely, dark, and endless until we are gone.
That is a reality that we either think about it, or we alienate ourselves and life – and fall in that void, until we change it, if we change it. That requires making choices and a lot of dedication and delivery. We have learned a lot from the old-timers so we can avoid the mistakes of the past. When we do that, we form a better society, country, and world, so that is what we inherit to our kids, so they live in a better world. The nest may change, we will become better and better, and the bonds with people, life, and our world become as strong as the veins in our bodies. And the flow of great energy goes back and forth. That is our mission in life.
This nest is as tiny nest as a small peach. The nest of the most diminutive hummingbirds I know of. They do no return to the same nest year after year. I waited year after year and never saw them coming back. Then a bad storm shook the branches of that tree, and it dropped the little nest, which was in perfect shape. That speaks positively about the engineering ability of those birds. Isn’t it amazing? Can we engineer equal families? Your turn, please share your side, thank you!