A costly interruption
Last week my sister-in-law sent me a video clip of two robins building a nest in the winter jasmine which grows close to her back door. She wrote, “A blackbird came to view the residency, but the robins told him he was too late, they had got there first!!! On Monday the robins had sadly vacated the nest, maybe evicted by the blackbird.”
What a disappointment. My sister-in-law would have looked forward to sitting in their garden watching the parents feeding the babies and enjoyed seeing the fledglings amongst the shrubs in the garden.
This little episode reminded me of how quickly we can be robbed of things we have been planning and working for. Building nests is not only time-consuming; they are beautifully crafted and kept meticulously clean throughout the feeding process. The inner structure is often lined with soft materials, for example moss and downy feathers. Some nests are revisited every year and repaired to withstand storms and intruders.
One week later we’re in the middle of a winter freeze. If the robins had been able to finish their nest, they would have had a wonderfully snug roosting place during this bad weather. Who knows if that nest will ever be completed or what happened to the builders.
We can all too easily be put off completing what we’ve started. It might be something such as lack of time or a threatening remark which we’ve taken personally or a disaster. Whatever the reason, and if it is possible, we should either go back or start again. Why be robbed of something when all we needed to do was stand firm and persevere or start again?
What a disappointment. My sister-in-law would have looked forward to sitting in their garden watching the parents feeding the babies and enjoyed seeing the fledglings amongst the shrubs in the garden.
This little episode reminded me of how quickly we can be robbed of things we have been planning and working for. Building nests is not only time-consuming; they are beautifully crafted and kept meticulously clean throughout the feeding process. The inner structure is often lined with soft materials, for example moss and downy feathers. Some nests are revisited every year and repaired to withstand storms and intruders.
One week later we’re in the middle of a winter freeze. If the robins had been able to finish their nest, they would have had a wonderfully snug roosting place during this bad weather. Who knows if that nest will ever be completed or what happened to the builders.
We can all too easily be put off completing what we’ve started. It might be something such as lack of time or a threatening remark which we’ve taken personally or a disaster. Whatever the reason, and if it is possible, we should either go back or start again. Why be robbed of something when all we needed to do was stand firm and persevere or start again?
Merle Sparkes
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