Bye Bye Birdie

    The day after Thanksgiving, is always "up the tree" day. All the boxes have been brought up, and are ready to be unlatched. A Baron tradition remains, with maybe a fewer boxes each year. ( my kids would say that is a not true statement! since they carry the jewels upstairs)
    However, you know me by now, or have known me for YEARS, all my ducks have to be in a row, before I can begin. So...I begin to clean the outside windows...yes Christmas lights need to shine through clean windows, makes perfect sense to me. The cleaner is sprayed( note this is early, and I'm wrapped in a robe, with summer gown on) (short gown, due to my issues with claustrophobia problems with clothes, another blog, for sure) and I hear a thud. A bird has hit the windows. This often happens this time of year, with the pear trees dropping their berries. I continued to spray, singing "Oh Come All Ye Faithful", when I hear flapping. I turned and the bird was alive, broken wing fluttering, going under Emma's car. Double damn, why didn't it just die. My plan for Christmas is stopped, mid-spray.
    I yelled for Emma or Bill, preferably both, to come help this bird, I did not want Emma to run over it and freak her out. I just wanted it moved to the grass, to evaluate the injury and send it on to meet Jesus. I asked Dr. Bill if he thought we could duck tape the wing? He went into the garage to get a shovel, when I evil eyed him, " I know you are not going to hit this bird in the head, right before I begin to decorate for Christmas?"
Emma said, " Mom, let's help it, which means me." I decided to just put it in the grass, birds die quickly. Put a few leaves around it, so the hawk could not see it, and went about my Ho, Ho, Ho.

  Couple of hours later, Emma says, " MOM, the bird is still alive, you have to do something!"
I go outside ( now dressed, yea!) and told the bird, " Now I have to feed you, and worry about you." I went in to get a bowl of water, that I dripped on some leaves, and started to collect some berries off the ground, and move them closer to the bird. " You are welcome." yes, I talk to the animals!
  Many hours later, our yard men, (whom we adore) were blowing all of the leaves away, when Her Majesty
Emma, screamed, " Mom the bird!"
   Oh my god, I go outside and ask the man, to stop the blowing. God love him, he speaks a little English, " We have an injured bird over here, and I want it to die in peace, so don't blow this side of the yard." He smiled and went into the back yard. Bill returns home and wonders why half of the yard is not clean, or cut, I just pointed " The Bird."
   I hand feed the bird three blue berries, and call it a night. At least he will die with a full tummy.
   Next morning the bird is still flapping, I throw out pecans and more berries, think about making a nest out of newspaper, and look at this bird in the eyes, saying he can go. Maybe its trying to tell me something, a sign, my family now refuses to come in the front door, for the bird is now close to the walkway. I tell them, birds die quickly??!!!
    Hours later, moving people were delivering some furniture for us. They walked past the bird, and stopped. One man, picked up the bird, and said, " It has a broken wing and a broken leg." OK, and it is still alive, what am I going to do. Emma begins to look up vets that take care of birds, and finds one. Bill is now looking at me in a panic, with eyes that say, " This is a wild, bird Bonnie" So I told, Em, that we are not going to be able to save this creature, but we will make it happy and safe.
  Today is Monday, the bird has died, on his back, like a person!! The bird lived three days!
  Why? Why not? She ate like a queen, got all kinds of attention and left on her own terms.
  The Christmas decorations did get arranged, they look beautiful.
   We will remember this Christmas year, with thoughts of our friend, the bird and all the people who were so kind to let her die with peace.
    Peace is important, the song says so, Sleep in hea -ven- ly peace  (Silent Night)