Patience/ respect

Have you ever had the feeling that you are being watched? Standing in our woodshed looking up to one of the woodpiles, once your eyes have become accustomed to the gloom, you will see a blackbird sitting on her nest. Other than her head moving from side to side as she looks down at you, you will not hear a chirp, an alarm call or a fluttering of feathers. For 14 days she will brood her clutch of eggs alone. That will be the epitome of patience. For another 14 days both adult birds will feed the chicks, giving a total of one month in which our woodshed will have to be a place of quiet.

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​My husband discovered the nest while he was fetching wood for the sitting room fire. His response was, “Well, I will have to find another place to chop kindling”. From that moment on the kindling was chopped in the middle of the back lawn for everyone to see. The usual shingled area in front of the woodshed, where chopping and splitting wood usually takes place, became an imaginary cordoned-off area of silence.
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We could have missed this very precious event taking place under our noses if we hadn’t originally seen a blackbird regularly flying in and out of the woodshed, hoping that there would eventually be the building of a nest. I saw the patience and solitude of a small bird as it protected its nest from predators and the respect of the property owner as both sought to let a brood of chicks hatch and fledge. We have an example of extreme patience in solitude, hard work in team effort and respect for each other as a challenge to us in our busy lives.

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Merle Sparkes

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