A Bird's Egg, A gecko, My Cat Buddy, and Three Life Lessons

Hi everyone,

Do you remember the baby birds that I spotted from my window at our new apartment? I was thrilled to witness their feedings and then their virgin flight, and within no time, I watched them venture further and further away, until like all children, they left to explore and enjoy their own lives.

Today, I spotted this bird on the post, and instantly attached my motherly, human emotions to it: "Oh, look how sad mom is, forlornly gazing at her empty nest", but then I looked a little closer...

Did you spot the new egg in there? Wow, nature move's fast!

So I climbed on a chair to look out the top of the window, and saw something else. This little fella looking for his next meal. (Sorry for the quality, but I took it from inside

Again, my "humaness" kicked in: "Hmmmm, what's that I see here?"

"I better make sure no one is looking."

I think that Momma must have sensed something amiss, because in no time, she was back!

And all the while, my little Buddy was intrigued, to say the least!

Which really does wear a little guy out :)

This got me thinking about a few different things:

• What is the recent trend of parents not allowing or welcoming their own children to "leave the nest"? I always believed that my job as a mom was to prepare my children to leave home and then marvel in the awesomeness of their adulthood, all the while being able to enjoy those things in my life that I perhaps had put on hold. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved raising my boys, I spent piles of time and energy devoted to them, and I love them with all of my heart. But one of the true purposes of raising children, is to develop and rear healthy, respectful and genuine adult human beings, who will make the world a better place because of their existence. Not to continue parenting them for the rest of their or our lives. Is it just me who feels this way? Is there something wrong with my thought process? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

• The other thing this bird-egg-gecko-Buddy made me think about is the idea that we all have a purpose in life, we all have our jobs to do, and it's not our job to judge the purpose of others. Of course there are obvious exceptions, but that's not what I'm refering to here. Is that gecko bad because he was going to eat a bird's egg? No, of course not. Am I glad he wasn't able to? Yes, I was thankful I didn't have to watch that, but let's face it, he's gotta eat too. Our world seems so full of judgement, full of those who believe their way is the only way, and everyone else needs to conform to their way of thinking. I wonder how that started? How does someone become this way? I was always taught to respect other people, and that includes their religion, ideas, thought processes or beliefs.

• Lastly, I was reminded of the pure beauty in nature; and it's something that way too many forget about, or simply forget to look at. How lucky am I that I was in the right spot at the right time to watch baby birds be fed by their mother, to watch their virgin flight, to watch a new egg appear, to watch a gecko nearly eat that egg?! Everyday, I take the time to appreciate the birds and the trees out my window, the shape of the clouds, the dogs and cats on the street, the ocean breeze, the cool evening air, the smell of the flowers in the heat of the day. All of it and more. Our world is an amazing place, and we need to ground ourselves with this earth, and love and protect it, because it's the only one we have.

Cheers!

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