Working from home has brought a difference I hadn’t really
appreciated before I made the move: new co-workers. Meet Lexi, Rocki (above), and Lucy (below, who is usually being this ridiculous when she's not sleeping).
I have to say, they are not as industrious or helpful as my
previous colleagues have been. However, they are entertaining and they don’t
mind if I talk to myself. And they are completely supportive of any decisions I
make. Especially if it involves food.
Once difference I was looking forward to was not staring at
the wall of a cubicle all day. My office has two windows that look out onto
greenery in every direction. The amount of wildlife continually parading before
me is astonishing.
Coming from California and Arizona before my move to the
Midwest, I’m used to a much more limited range of wildlife. I grew up
surrounded by orange groves so we had gophers and lizards and some birds. We
could hear coyotes wailing their hearts out at night.
In Arizona I had a roadrunner perch on my backyard wall.
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| Photo credit: Jennifer Vander Klipp |
But with the heat of the day, most wildlife stayed out of sight.
So I was delighted to find that a momma robin was building
her nest right outside my office window on a little stub of a branch. I watched
her fly in and out with bits of twigs and plant matter. She’d tuck it in with
her beak and then stomp around in a circle, treading it in place until the nest
took shape. And then she was off for more.
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| Photo credit: Jennifer Vander Klipp |
You can see how her coloring perfectly disguises her when
she’s sitting in her nest. You can barely see the red breast and the only other
color is in her beak.
My coworkers were utterly fascinated. They were perfectly
still all day, only their heads swiveling as Momma flew in and out.
I know nothing about robins so I did what all good
researchers do and Googled them. This was how I knew when Momma settled into the
nest and didn’t move that she was laying her eggs. At this point, we had to be
careful. If the light was right, she could see movement in my office and would
fly off. I didn’t want her to be scared away so I started approaching my office
with care, moving slowly.
But I had one frustration. (To be continued…)
But I had one frustration. (To Be Continued…)
