A Room With a View

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.

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.

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…)