And so it was…
While the previous blog was fiction, this is a true story. I was not going to write this blog but after the last one, I feel I need to.
I grew up in Canada and while I now say I am from Toronto, I used to say I was from Caledon.
Living on a 60-acre farm with horses, cows, and chickens as well as a vegetable garden, one would never think I had lived such a life previously. But I did, and we have several encounters with runaway cows, dogs, coyotes, deer, and other wildlife on and around the farm. But this story is about the little bird.
Mowing the lawn.
While living on a farm there are always chores to do. Fix this, patch that up, and of course property maintenance. This lawnmowing is the death of some people but was always a relaxing activity for me. I loved driving since I was a little kid. Mowing the lawn on a tractor was always fun and relaxing for me.
However, mowing 7 acres of lawn was a day’s work. Having had several different tractors on hand meant that three of us could make this task quite quick. So I took the largest tractor and attacked the largest open field we had. The west side of the property was a large acre and a half of the field. This was quick to take care of and off I went with my two dogs always in sight sniffing around the fresh-cut grass.
The bird.
As I turned I noticed a small bird. I nearly ran it over. I jumped off the tractor that quickly shut off because of the safety mechanism in the seat. The silence fell on me and the baby bird. I looked around and check for the dogs. They would have killed it instantly. Our dogs had these invisible fence collars and I decided to take the bird to the edge of the boundary so I could set it free.
Off I went to save the bird and keep her out of harm’s way so the dogs or other critters like snakes wouldn’t kill it. I drove to the edge of the property and went to throw it up in the air and watch it be set free.
Unfortunately, as I swung my hand back and forward I hit a metal part of the tractor with the palm of my hand, where the bird was. The little bird died in my hand. I had killed it while doing my best to save it from other predators. I assume that the only moral to the story is…
Sometimes we can do our best to help others and still fail in the process and maybe even hurt them.
Zsolt Zsemba 