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13 June 1999 Issue
My Never-Feathered Friends

by [email protected] 

I guess this time it was nature and not man who did this. I walked in through
my gate at home and went in to my house. A short time later, I went back out
with my Pooper Scooper to clean up after my dog. Tomorrow is trash day, so I
wanted to collect the last deposits. I scanned the ground and picked up the
poop. Then I stopped. I saw two little things on the cement that I hadn't seen
just a short time earlier. I had to lean in to see what they were -- the bodies of
two baby birds. They were almost transparent and I could see that no organs
were beating or moving, but for a moment, in the wind, I thought one of them
was still breathing. It was just a sad wind and nothing more.

I fretted as tears welled up in my eyes. I looked above to the roof area for a nest
but there was none. I walked outside the fence and realized there was a giant
tree off of the other side of the roof, and determined that they must have fallen
out of a nest in that tree and blown over with the wind. Meanwhile, I noticed a
bird on the fence. It was agitated and seemed unsure of just what to do. With
a lump in my heart, I gathered that this must be the mother of these two sweet
babies. The mother was watching me as I approached her beloved creatures.

I had to think quickly as it was a hot day, and I felt like the heat would just make
it worse. I had to grant these precious creatures the dignity they deserved, and
do likewise for the mother who bore them. I ran inside and found a tiny box about
the size of a pack of cigarettes. I took the box outside and placed the two little
angels inside. I wrapped the box with a paper bag. I knew as I live in an urban
area, I had no real choice but to put them in the trash can, even though they
were NOT trash. I have no place to bury them. I then thought of what I could
do to celebrate their short lives. I saw a dry flower collection that I have and
took the best piece of it and tied it loosely around the bag. I did have to place
the tiny memorial in the city trash can, but they had a memorial, and their
mother got to see that someone besides her loved them. The mother flew off,
and it has only been a few hours, but I haven't heard the cries I heard earlier.

For a change, it was nature that took its course. It was a sad and tragic loss.
However, these two angels knew that they had love from not only their mother,
but from mankind as well.

Go on to Prayer of a Stray
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