Room for Rent

Sometimes a picture reaches out to me and demands that I pay attention. It speaks without words and calls up images too numerous to sort out. When I saw my cousin Linda's shot of this empty bird's nest, emotions and images flooded through my mind - lonliness, abandonment, sadness, outlived usefulness, desolation and stark despair, a cold and dark winter's day at the end of life. At the same time, I saw a home built with love and care, a home that had served it's purpose of bringing new life into the world and then setting it free to find it's own path. A baby bird's first solo flight and the pride it's parents must've felt in knowing that their child was prepared to go it's own way. The nest had served it's purpose and it's occupants had moved on, perhaps to a more upscale neighborhood, perhaps south for the winter, perhaps to a bigger nest in a higher tree. Images of freedom clashed with images of desolation and I found myself thinking, damn, I wish I'd taken that.

Nature will reclaim the nest eventually and take back the bits of branches and grass and odds and ends. Another family may recycle and reuse the materials for another nest and another few baby birds will spread their wings and leave home.
Meanwhile, the empty nest waits patiently, becoming part of the winter landscape while waiting for spring.