Mothering
Two and a half weeks ago I watched two blue jays begin building their nest in the maple in my front yard. Over the next several days they gathered materials, brought them back, and built what looked to me like a precarious birthing suite. Since then, mama blue jay has been sitting on the nest, rarely moving. Through pouring rain and high winds, she’s there. Papa blue jay has chased off squirrels and brought her food each day. My husband and I have become quite invested in ensuring our tenants are comfortable and well. And each time we look, there she is sitting on the nest and there he is keeping watch on a nearby branch. My sister just had her second baby and we recently travelled to Virginia to meet baby Henry and spend some time with his big sister as her family dynamic has been recently turned on its head. After a couple of days of spending tons of time playing together my nearly six year old niece stopped and asked, “Meg…when you and Drew got married did you have any babies?...
