I saved a baby robin from my garage today. It’s Sunday night, at the end of a really long, very challenging week. I just wanted to take a walk to calmly end my day when my kids made me aware of this bird, stuck, bobbing around in the corner of the garage.
I love birds. I am a self-confessed bird nerd. I feed them daily and watch them and identify bird calls. I hate to see one trapped in my garage. It is always so hard to watch them fearfully and frantically fly, trying to find their way to freedom.
My son and I worked to clear a path for the bird, but it kept going back to the corner, unable to see the way out. It was flying into the corner of the garage, facing the opposite of the way it needed to go.
I feel you robin, I feel you.
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This felt so symbolic of the many situations that I am facing right now.
Most of them are out of my control. There are things happening that are dreadfully painful to witness. There is huge, sudden change within my family; a loss that feels more like a death even though it is not. There are also some unknown health issues for my senior dog which might prove temporary or much more serious.
These are out of my control. I can’t help them really, I can only stay with these situations and let them play out as they will. Patience, that thing I mostly lack, is required.
And then there are some ways where I feel stuck, much like this robin today.
I am in the murky middle, where the ending is not yet known, and the way out is also not super evident even though I feel like it is within reach.
Yes, much like the robin.
I am also aware that the only way out is through.
My son and I were trying to rescue the robin several ways. We tried to give it space and leave it alone. That caused it to relax and settle on the lawnmower wheel, but it did not help it be free.
We tried offering something for it to stand on, to help it out of the garage. A hockey stick, a shovel, a piece of wood. These just seemed to scare it and cause it to fly into the wall even more.
We moved every single thing out of his way. He started to make his way down the wall, toward freedom, we were sure this was his moment and then he went right back to the corner.
Sigh.
Finally, after consulting with a friend who is a wildlife rescue volunteer, I put my garden gloves on and gently, with both hands, secured the bird and escorted him out of the garage.
He found flight before I even managed to get him to the ground. His mom was waiting for him just a couple houses down.
I had to take the initiative and do something that felt really unnatural and ‘against the rules’. We have all been taught not to touch baby birds because their mother would neglect them. Turns out that is a myth and entirely not true.
What was required was that I approach this bird calmly and with confidence so as not to startle this bird any more than it already is. Act like I touch baby birds all the time. Make it confident so it can relax in my hands rather than wriggle away.
Which is exactly what I did.
What am I taking away from this?
1) Thank you, universe, for giving me something I could actually help.
2) Thank you also for showing me how to change my outcome and find my way. (Be confident, break the rules and take the lead.)
3) Even when I am at the end of my rope, I can always handle a little more than I think I can.
4) Even when we can’t see them, our family is always watching and waiting for us to be free and find our way back to them, no matter where they are.
5) There is always guidance in nature if we take the time to pay attention and notice.
I hope the baby robin and his mom found each other and are resting calmly somewhere tonight. I have a little more hope going into this new week than I did before this happened. 🩷