The Days and Nights of Catherine Evermore

Baby Birds Learn to Fly

One of the most heartwarming sights I have ever seen happened in my own backyard. On a rare cool autumn morning, quite a few years ago, I was sitting upstairs on the porch, enjoying a cup of coffee while reading the Sunday newspaper, when something below caught my eye. There, popping out of a rather tall bush, were three little birds. I didn’t pay close attention to the birds as they seemed perfectly content to be perched on top of the bush. It wasn’t until I heard what had to be the mother bird chattering and saw the reaction of the small birds that I realized what was about to happen. These darling baby birds were about to learn how to fly.

With that, I started to watch them very quietly so as not to frighten them. At first, all they could do was stand on top of the bush flapping their little wings like crazy. The mother bird started swooping down from an oak tree several feet away, landing on the ground, and then flying back up to a low branch on the tree. She did this over and over again, and each time the little birds would start to flap their tiny wings with all their might, and each time they didn’t go anywhere.

I was totally and completely mesmerized by this beautiful act of nature. The mother bird (and I suspect Papa was up in the tree) was very patient with her babies, and they were quite eager to take flight. This lesson went on for at least 30 minutes, until one by one they were airborne long enough to fly off the bush and land on the ground. They seemed stunned by what they had just done. These precious little birds had just completed their first flying lesson. Mom was clearly pleased, and then I heard other birds joining in the chatter. It was as if they were rejoicing in the little ones learning how to use their wings.

I wanted to applaud but didn’t for fear of frightening them. The sight I had just witnessed was amazing, and, if the truth be known, it brought a few tears to my eyes.

The little birds (still on the ground) once again began to flap their tiny wings, but that was all the flying they were going to do for that day. Mom landed on the ground next to them, and one by one they hopped back to the big bush that had protected their nest and kept them hidden from harm. As they settled down, I didn’t realize that would be the last time I would see them.

The next day was a workday so I didn’t get to watch for more activity until I got home. However, I watched the bush each afternoon, looking for signs of the little birds. Other than a few bird chirps and rustles in the bush, there wasn’t any other activity. After a couple of weeks, they were gone. I had missed their final flight and always wondered about their destination. My biggest regret was that I didn’t have a camera to capture the tender moments of their flying lessons.

The bush is still there, only now it’s much bigger, and from time to time I see the leaves rustle and wonder what new family has taken up residency. Nothing, however, will ever compare to watching those three baby birds on that cool autumn morning as they learned how to fly.

Oh, My Aching Back

It started two years ago right after my recovery from cancer and the start of recovery from open heart surgery.

Backaches!

Late at night, I wake up tossing and turning with low back pain that just won’t go away. Sometimes, I find myself getting up at 2 a.m., taking a Tylenol, then going back to bed waiting for the pain to subside. Other times, I just give up and get up.

Last night was no different. This morning, I’m exhausted.

Stretching exercises don’t help. A second low dose Tylenol is temporary. The amount of medication I’m taking for my heart makes me cautious about taking too much Tylenol, and I refuse to take anything stronger.

So, here I sit on Saturday morning frustrated, tired, cranky, and ready to tell my doctors to get out of my life. There are way too many visits either virtual or in-person, and I just don’t want to do this anymore.

What’s the old saying? Life sucks and then you die.

I sure hope your day is going much better than mine.

Happy New Year!

The Ouija Board (A True Story)

The other night I had the strangest dream about a former online friend. It was very unsettling, and it made me wonder why in the world I would have such a tragic dream. Maybe it was the snack I had just before going to bed that brought on the bad dream. Or maybe it was a warning about something to come. At first I thought it had little to do with this blog, but now I’m wondering – did it?

When I was in college (a private college for women in Virginia), several of the girls in one particular dorm started playing around with a Ouija board. Each night they would gather around to ask this silly board all kinds of questions, and the next morning word would spread to the other dorms as to what the great Ouija had predicted the night before.

This went on for several weeks until one night the Ouija board predicted there was going to be a fire. It named the dorm and location where the fire would start, and it spelled out the names of those who would be hurt or die in the fire. Ouija also gave the date and time of the fire. Word spread like wild fire … no pun intended … and fear spread even faster.

The longer this prediction went on, the more concerned everyone became until finally administration stepped in, confiscated the Ouija board, and said that if another one was found on campus, the owner or owners would be sent home.

Too late, the damage had been done. One girl’s mother was a close friend of a very famous psychic who lived in New York City. She confirmed that we would indeed have a fire just as the Ouija board had predicted. As the date approached, the fear of what was to happen was beyond belief.

Parents started calling to ask if they should take their daughters out of school until the danger had passed. Some actually drove hundreds of miles to make arrangements for their daughters to sleep off campus on the night in question.

But the most unbelievable image of all was that of the town’s firefighters camped outside our windows, and firefighters stationed next to every fire alarm in every building to make certain no one pulled an alarm. Dorm mothers, faculty, and administrators walked the halls all night long to make sure no one left their rooms unless accompanied by a college official.

No one slept that night. We were all terrified. The dorm where the fire was predicted to start was emptied. All girls who didn’t go home or off campus were moved to other dorms, and because the fire was predicted to start in the kitchen (which was on the first floor of the named dorm), the fire department watched over that area all night long. Also, the local police department was present on campus throughout the night.

The time came and went and there was no fire. Thank God. The next morning we all dragged ourselves to our classes, and later that day we had an assembly. I seem to recall our president telling us that he was proud of the way we had handled the situation. He also told us that if anyone had a Ouija board or was even thinking about bringing one on campus that they would be expelled for good, never to return again.

The next week there was a rumor that a Ouija board had been smuggled into another dorm, but no one wanted anything to do with it.

The End.