{"id":155,"date":"2014-08-16T17:21:48","date_gmt":"2014-08-16T22:21:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/faithhopeandfiction.com\/content\/?p=155"},"modified":"2020-09-05T04:22:12","modified_gmt":"2020-09-05T09:22:12","slug":"ziggy-leaves-the-nest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/faithhopeandfiction.com\/content\/ziggy-leaves-the-nest\/","title":{"rendered":"Ziggy Leaves the Nest"},"content":{"rendered":"
Tricia’s Blog<\/a><\/h5>\n


\nT<\/span> here was something in the driveway; a little lump of dark feathers and it wasn\u2019t moving. Fearing the worst, I went to investigate. The lump was alive and looking lost.<\/p>\n

Wearing plastic gloves, I picked up what turned out to be a fledgling robin and wrapped it in an old golf towel. No blood, no gore, not much movement. Okay, I asked myself, now what?<\/p>\n

For the next two hours, the young robin and I bonded well–at least in one direction. And though our time together turned out to be short, my fine just-becoming-feathered friend managed to teach me a thing or two about loving and letting go. As the mother of a soon-to-be-21-year-old starting his senior year at college, the lesson was perfectly timed.<\/p>\n

The first thing I had to learn, though, was how to care for a young bird that, from the looks of it, wasn\u2019t doing so well on his own. Knowing that robins eat bugs and worms, I concocted a substitute for chewed-and-regurgitated fare. I grabbed a handful of cat treats, pounded them a few times with the meat tenderizer, and softened them with water. Voila\u2014a protein-infused paste that I hoped would be palatable to \u201cZiggy\u201d, so named in honor of Ziggy Stardust, of David Bowie fame.<\/p>\n

Out I went into the backyard where I had nestled Ziggy in some cushy groundcover underneath the bird feeder (for company). He saw me and opened his mouth\u00a0really\u00a0wide; in went the paste, followed by a few dribbles of water. \u00a0Suddenly I was Joy Adamson, feeding rescued lion cubs in the movie\u00a0Born Free<\/em>\u00a0(if you don\u2019t know it, click here<\/a> for a trailer). Except this was a fledgling that had fallen from, or been pushed out of, its nest; if the latter, the culprit was probably his mother who didn\u2019t want him to be living in her basement at age 35, watching Cartoon Network\u00a0and eating microwavable nachos.<\/p>\n

I fed Ziggy twice and then googled \u201crescuing robins.\u201d Washington State\u2019s department of environment conservation told me in no uncertain terms that my help probably wasn\u2019t needed; that Ziggy needed to fend for himself. \u201cBut he\u2019s just a baby!\u201d I argued back to the computer screen (I work from home, alone most of the day except for the cat, so I can do that).\u00a0 Washington State also informed me that young robins need to be fed a lot. That meant more mashed cat treats, softened with water.\u00a0 Ziggy opened his beak as soon as he heard my voice.<\/p>\n

After the third feeding, Ziggy was on his feet; after the fourth, he looked around at this big wide world, and after the fifth, he just walked away. And, I let him go.<\/p>\n

As the Washington State website explained, this is nature\u2019s way: the strongest survive and learn to fend for themselves; those that don\u2019t make it, well, go watch\u00a0The Lion King<\/em>\u00a0and learn about the circle of life. Ziggy disappeared into the groundcover between the ash tree and the rose of sharon bush before I could say \u201clittle robin red-breast sat upon a tree.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, with the soundtrack of\u00a0Born Free\u00a0in my head, I imagine Ziggy feasting on bugs and worms, growing more feathers, and taking off into a light headwind. Perhaps he swoops by occasionally to thank the adoptive mother who helped him get his strength back by feeding him cat-treat mash. Or else, well, you know\u2026<\/p>\n

In either case, young Ziggy taught me a rather important lesson that applies to young of any species: at some point, you\u2019ve got to let them go. My son is approaching the age I was when I left home for good. I moved 60 miles north, and then to New York City, and eventually to Chicago, where I live. My son\u2019s life will take him in any number of directions, more than just measured by compass points.<\/p>\n

Like Mother Robin, I have to encourage him to fly, and never hold him back. Brother Ziggy would want it that way.<\/p>\n

—Patricia Crisafulli<\/em><\/p>\n

\nImage Credit: \u00a9 Antpkr | Dreamstime.com – Broken Blue Eggs Photo<\/a><\/p>\n

 \n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tricia’s Blog<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3790,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"quote","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,28,1],"tags":[68,31,32,30],"class_list":["post-155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-quote","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-patricia-crisafulli","category-tricias-blog","category-uncategorized","tag-animals","tag-birds","tag-environment","tag-letting-go","post_format-post-format-quote"],"yoast_head":"\nZiggy Leaves the Nest | Faith Hope & Fiction<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/faithhopeandfiction.com\/content\/ziggy-leaves-the-nest\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ziggy Leaves the Nest | Faith Hope & Fiction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tricia’s Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/faithhopeandfiction.com\/content\/ziggy-leaves-the-nest\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith Hope & Fiction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FaithHopeAndFiction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-08-16T22:21:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-05T09:22:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/faithhopeandfiction.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/ziggy-leaves-the-nest_essay-patricia-crisafulli.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1170\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@TrishCrisafulli\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@TrishCrisafulli\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\">\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/faithhopeandfiction.com\/content\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Faith Hope & Fiction\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/faithhopeandfiction.com\/content\/\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FaithHopeAndFiction\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TrishCrisafulli\"],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/faithhopeandfiction.com\/content\/#logo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/faithhopeandfiction.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/faith-hope-fiction_logo.png\",\"width\":350,\"height\":350,\"caption\":\"Faith Hope & Fiction\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/faithhopeandfiction.com\/content\/#logo\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/faithhopeandfiction.com\/content\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/faithhopeandfiction.com\/content\/\",\"name\":\"Faith Hope & Fiction\",\"description\":\"Quality Online Fiction, Poetry, and Essays\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/faithhopeandfiction.com\/content\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/faithhopeandfiction.com\/content\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/faithhopeandfiction.com\/content\/ziggy-leaves-the-nest\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/faithhopeandfiction.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/ziggy-leaves-the-nest_essay-patricia-crisafulli.jpg\",\"width\":1170,\"height\":640,\"caption\":\"Ziggy Leaves the Nest - 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