I'm Turning Into An "Old" Person

I never have been one to be "trendy" and "with-it" on style, music or anything else for that matter. But I think I can officially put myself in the "old" category and it is not because I have gray hair, which I have plenty of.

When you drive around a neighborhood and see bird feeders hanging off the porch of a house, what kind of person lives there? 9 times out of 10 an "old" person. Or bird feeders in the yard? An "old" person. And what kind of person goes to peer out the window when they see a bird resting on their planter boxes? Once again, an "old" person.

I have become and have turned my four children into amateur bird watchers.

Whenever we see a bird, we don't just think, "Oh look, there's a bird." But rather we are able to name the type of bird we see, and if we don't know what type it is, one of runs to get the "Bird Book" to learn its name and all about it. To date we have see at least 22 different types of birds in and around our yard. And currently we have 3 bird houses and 4 nests in trees or bushes.

The kids consider these birds their "pets". We have two sets of Eastern Bluebirds, a family of Tree Swallows, a nest of Eastern Kingbirds, American Robins, Chipping Sparrows and our newest edition, Orchard Orioles.

In fact I was late getting the kids out the door for school this morning because we were out in the yard watching a mama Killdeer and her three babies eat their breakfast. The Killdeer are probably my favorite. The babies look like miniatures of their parent, and because they are considered a shore bird they spend a lot of time on the ground. Their nest was built just along the side of the road in the gravel. We gave that mama plenty of scares as we would go for walks. And she did her very best to scare us away from her brown and white speckled eggs.

(I borrowed this picture from the Internet)

One of things I enjoy most about watching all of these birds is how the males and females work together. Whether it is to built the nest, sit on the nest, protect the nest or feed the babies. (I'm sure not all birds work together so well but the ones that have made our yard their home do.) Everything these birds do is to"help" their little family.

One of the Bluebird houses is on our deck so we get to watch them from the kitchen table. The male will fly to the house first and sit on top of it. Then a few second later the female comes and goes inside. Once she is "safe" the male flies to a near by perch where he watches for predators and food. They always come to their house together.

As I have become "old" and watch all of these birds around my yard, I am reminded of a line from The Family: A Proclamation, "In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners." Who would have thought that my "old person" hobby would teach me so clearly the importance of a gospel principle?