A Star Gazing Crackle

So this past summer we found this pretty little Grackle in our backyard.

She was hiding underneath one of our cedars and was soaking wet, not moving much.

We left her for awhile, watching from a distance but when it was clear

that she wasn't getting better and night was fast approaching,

with cats and raccoons always scampering in the backyard at night we picked her up.

It was pretty clear that she wasn't okay, she couldn't keep her balance, fly or hold her head normally.

I put her against my chest and she just let her body be propped up by mine.

The only time she would struggle was when we tried to leave her alone,

when she was against my chest, she calmed down, stopped struggled & just looked around.

We think she had a neurological disease called 'Stargazing' that apparently some wild birds get

for no reason, where all they do is stare upwards, which is exactly all she wanted to do.

so we held her for hours on end, gently holding her head where she clearly wanted it.

We stayed outside with her so she could hear the crickets and feel the breeze.

But once the mosquitoes started pestering us and her, we went into the house.

And than around 2:30 in the morning, against my chest, she passed away, it was quick.

We felt love for this little soul in the few sad hours we spent with her.
We buried her in the front garden where the rest of her flock tends to hang out.

I felt so honored to see her beauty up close and to feel her trust.

And here's the thing that struck me about this day....

that huge difference we'd see in the world if people just embrace other beings, no matter the species.

It's the simplest and easiest thing to do, to reach out with kindness,

especially to the most vulnerable and delicate.

We just have to learn to step outside of our owns needs a bit more,
to let go of our shit and get out of our own heads, if we can do that, extending a helping hand is easy.

Because the connection and beauty found in doing so is so bright and so very very rewarding.
Anyhow!  RIP little beautiful Grackle XO

Baby Raven Beauty

So at the beginning of the summer we had to honor & pleasure of meeting this gorgeous beauty.

He seemed lost & unstable so we kept him safe & comfy until he was strong enough to fly away.

Help The Bees

Wanna help out some bees?

If you ever find one if your house, on a window sill, outside etc

and they look half dead or exhausted offer a helping hand by putting a dollop of honey near them...

most of the time they will go straight to the honey,

suck it up and once they are re-energized they will fly off...

it's so rewarding to help out even the littlest of bee-ings.

Finding A Fledgling

We came across a bit of wild magic...

in the middle of a busy road,

being narrowly missed by each car barreling by,

we saw this little fledgling, peeping away, obviously lost & helpless.

 

 

I didn't think twice, I knew my hon bun would block traffic with the truck as best as possible

whiles I jumped out to try to help the little darling

(or rather I hobbled out cause I had my knee brace on!) 



 

I thought it would be enough to scoop her up off the road but when I did so,

she was obviously even more helpless than I originally thought...

so I followed her, she didn't know where to go poor sweet-ling.

So I called Jonathan for help, he came with a blanket, gently scooped her up and home we went.

We couldn't leave her there to starve or get squashed!

 

So afternoon plans now out the window...lunch gone bad from too long out in heat...

we sat in the yard with her for the rest of the day, thinking she'd get her baring's and be on her way.

But she wouldn't move after hours and finally when a chipmunk scared the bejeezus out of her,

causing her to get tangled up and stuck in a thorny rosebush...we decided to bring her in for the night.

 

She would let me hold her on my chest as Jonathan opened her mouth and popped food in.

Fresh corn kernels, fresh peas, little pieces of cherry and such.

If we held up a teaspoon to her mouth she would drink 2 or 3 spoons all in one go.

After eating, tucked against my warm neck, she'd fall asleep and nap away.

 

And so it went like this for a couple weeks...feeding her and her napping on me.

We researched online and it became clear that we couldn't let her go until we saw she could fly

and saw that she could recognize food on the ground and feed herself...

well little miss didn't do that for quite some time!



 Almost a month later, she is still here...we'll see what happens!

But this has been the perfect example of what I mean when I tell people to let their

sensitively and vulnerability shine through because it's through these
that we experience many of life's beautiful mysteries and magic's...

we refused to be just any one of the cars just looking but still zooming on by

and thank goodness for that because she's been some kind of magic in our little household!