Ordinary (5 minute prompt)

Ordinary 3/12/14

It was just a bird’s nest.  High up in a tree, well woven and proudly set between two branches.  A bird’s nest that never would have been seen except for the leaves falling off of the tree.  I saw this bird’s nest and then that nest and then another and eventually, ten bird’s nests in one tree. Ten!  Ten little families living in nests that I could hear but not see, until the fall began.  And now, here we sit in March, winter still upon us, and those bird’s nests remain.  Then I had the thought, “Sometimes we don’t see people until they are in the winters of their lives. Sometimes people don’t see us until we are in the winters of our lives.”  It made me wonder about these birds.  They are neighbors but do they consider themselves friends? Do they share worms?  Do they watch each other’s babies? Do they show each other the best way to weave a nest?  Do they fly off to the South together when the time is right?  How many times have I had neighbors and not known their story or their need?  How many times have I overlooked the needs of a friend, or worse, my husband and kids?  We all live in a world of “bird’s nests”.  Family, varied and unique in their own ways, living their lives.  Having different needs and dreams and realities.  And do we live within a community of people who look after each other?  Why or why not?  And this is what I thought as I viewed a tree of ordinary bird’s nests.