Birds of a Feather

When I was a little girl, my grandpa used to place a makeshift basket as a nest for birds under the awning of his kitchen window. Every spring my cousins and I would watch birds make a nest, see the eggs and gaze in wonder at the birds that grew and eventually flew away. It was always kind of a mess for my grandpa, but he did it for us.

This year, for the first time, I have a birds' nest. In the hanging impatients on my porch, there is a family of 5 baby finches and their parents. We watched as they made the nest, laid the eggs, and then today...

...nature proved it's miraculous wonder. Two of the five have hatched. We think more have as well, but we haven't yet seen their faces.

But the faces of my children are priceless. They stand at the window and watch the mommy and daddy bird feed the babies. They run to us "they're back!" whenever they come and announce "they went to get more food" when they leave the nest. They shoo away visitors, the mailman and anyone who dares enter the front door. "You'll scare the babies!"

What fun to watch them grow...