Friday, June 16, 2006

Start out as you mean to go on

Here we go...the bluebirds are trying again. Just goes to show that sometimes nature can just get on with it, despite us dumb humans.
I should have baffled everything in the yard right off the bat. This spring has been a huge learning experience for me. I don't know even half of all the answers (like how to permanently rid the yard of house sparrows) but at least it's safer for birds to raise a family here.
When I saw the coveted blue egg in the box this morning, it brought to mind one of my favorite pithy sayings: Start out as you mean to go on. In other words, if you start out right, you have a better chance of ending up where you want to be. It reminds me of all the mistakes Geoff and I made when Isabelle was an infant. She was a challenging baby, and we were so addled from lack of sleep that sometimes we took "the easy way" out...like putting her car seat on the clothes dryer to knock her out. And all of our short cuts caught up with us eventually.
So here's Day One (again) of Project Bluebird Part Deux.

3 comments:

Julie Zickefoose said...

Yahoo! The bluebirds try again. You're rewarded for your persistence. You've learned that unbaffled boxes are just coon and snake feeders. Slowly, surely, your world is becoming a better place. There will always be unpleasant surprises, but I applaud you for trying and succeeding in tipping the balance toward the light.When I think how far baffle consciousness has come since I started with bluebirds in 1982, it makes me really happy. You see more and more of them, and that's a beautiful thing!

Julie Zickefoose said...

Poor little Liam would only sleep in a Graco swing. rrrrticko, rrrticko, rrticko. There were days when he'd only stop crying while immersed in wram water. Challenging baby, indeed. My brother would only sleep if my mom ran the vacuum next to his crib. Imagine. You do what works, I guess. It does get easier, doesn't it? (as I listen to their fifth big fight of the day)

Susan Gets Native said...

Julie:
I don't remember my brother and I fighting this much. Most of the girls' fights are repeatedly punctuated by the word "MINE!!!!!".

Have a wonderful weekend, and I look forward to hearing more about the phoebes!