Dear Kitty

By The Mind Filled on June 5, 2013 • ( 4 )

Dear Kitty,

The buzzer on the timer goes off for the hundredth time and I stop what I am doing. I grab what I need and look longingly at what I’ve been interrupted from to make the trek to the laundry room. Again.

Peeking into a box with a little healthy mix of apprehension and anticipation, I see that my services are still required. I do my job and then set the timer again for another 20 minutes. I’m pretty sure that this might be the last time, but I’ve thought that several times. I put up my tweezers, prepare another batch of food and wait another 20 minutes.

I’m living my days right now at 20 minute increments. This is totally not normal unless you are a momma bird, which is what is being required of me right now.

The darling (I slightly rolled my eyes when i typed that word) children in all their curiosity and immature respect for the balance of nature, knocked baby birds out of a nest. Somehow they survived the fall, but there isn’t a way to get them back in a nest without a bucket truck or wings. With our active backyard of children and dogs, nature was going to be cruel if she was allowed to run her course.

So in my laundry room sits a makeshift nest and my timer counts down every 20-30 minutes for feeding. The likelihood of all three, or any of the three, baby birds surviving is slim to none, but I have to know I tried.

I’ve learned in this life that you only truly fail when you cease to try at all.

Sometimes you may have something fall into your lap that you feel ill-equipped to handle. Common sense says that you are doomed to fail, but a tiny spark of hope is all it takes for you to at least try. If you do nothing, then you receive nothing. If you try something, well…that’s something. You may not succeed, but at least you weren’t sitting on your hands and crying about the injustice of the outcome.

If you had a minuscule chance to see your effort spread its wings and take flight one day, would you take it?

For me, every 20 minutes I face little ugly upturned faces ready for a meal. The epitome of an expectation of hope raised on action.

Now if you will excuse me, I have a horse that needs his grain, 3 dogs that need their bowls filled, fish that need flakes, 5 cats need a litter box changed, 2 bearded dragons that need their temperatures checked, 6 kids who need a mid morning snack and 3 baby birds that will need to be fed….and I just need a cup of coffee.