Three Little Birds

And then one morning a curious thing happened.  I was at my desk, fretting about this and that, when I happened to glance out my window.  There, in my garden, was a brand-new tiny bird's nest resting on an exposed palm frond.  While hummingbirds are ubiquitous in Southern California, it is rare to see one perching, rarer still to see a nest.  I went outside for a closer look.  When I saw two little eggs, like white jelly beans, I hurried away, not wanting to upset the new mother who had clearly gone on a break.  I waited at my desk and, sure enough, she came back to settle down on the eggs and begin her long vigil.  I named the new family Maudie and the Twins. 

I was nervous from the start because of the ravens in our area, scavengers who love to eat the eggs and newborn of other birds.  So I found myself working with one eye on my keyboard and the other on the nest - yet another distraction!  But after a while a strange thing happened.  I looked at Maudie on her cozy little nest with the promise of new life beneath her feathered breast (She had been there for hours.  When had she last eaten?  Surely she was hungry) and it dawned on me that Maudie was doing exactly what she was supposed to do.  No matter the trials and troubles of the human race, little Maudie went about her destiny in dignified order.  This brought me an unexpected sense of calm and peace.

And then a miracle occurred.
 
The eggs hatched, and the babies looked like lumpy little black moths.  Ruby-throated Maudie with her shimmering green feathers and exquisite long beak sat stalwartly in the nest around the clock, with only the briefest fly-aways for a quick bite to eat.  What a trouper!  When our fierce SoCal winds revved up in the afternoon, and the palm frond was violently whipped about, Maudie rode it out.  Nothing deterred her from her duty and devotion.

The babies grew, sleeping with beaks to the sky, always ready to eat.  After two weeks they lost their baby fuzz and started to look like real feathered birds, and I was reminded of the great Bob Marley song, "Three Little Birds."  

Rise up this mornin',
Smiled with the risin' sun,
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singin' sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Sayin', (this is my message to you-ou-ou:)

Singin': don't worry 'bout a thing,
'cause every little thing gonna be all right.
Singin': don't worry (don't worry) 'bout a thing,
'cause every little thing gonna be all right!

And I thought: Yes!  Everything is going to be all right.  I could not fix the problems of my best friend and my family member, nor could I mend any of the current problems of the world, but what a comfort and joy to see Maudie and the Twins struggle and survive and thrive, through fierce winds and extreme heat, with the ever-present threat of ravens and snakes. 

They are gone now, but their message stays with me.  Those three little birds reminded me that no matter how crazy our old world gets sometimes, how scary and confusing life can sometimes be, some things can always be depended upon - birds building nests and taking care of their babies as birds had been doing for thousands of years.  And so I am able to return to work on BLACK OPAL with renewed confidence, knowing that, yes, "every little thing is gonna be all right." 

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