One Smart Bird

As I was walking out of my house one morning to take my kids to school, I was hit with a strong wind. I also noticed several pieces of trash blowing wildly through our yard. I figured somebody’s trash can must’ve gotten knocked over. Before I even had a chance to grab some of the pieces of paper blowing around, the wind sent them all across the street and into the neighbor’s yard. Then, just as soon as it began, the wind died down. We got in the car and headed to school.

Later that afternoon, when the kids were outside playing after school, Gracie came running into the house and announced that Spring has officially arrived.

“How do you figure that?” I asked, since it was only a few days into February.

“The birds are laying their eggs.” She declared.

“What makes you think that?”

Gracie pulled on my sleeve as she led me outside. She was so excited because she had made a discovery  – a shell from a bird who had already hatched. She brought me over to one of the trees in our yard and pointed to a broken egg shell on the ground. She carefully picked it up.

“I wonder what kind of bird hatched from this shell,” She said as she caressed the jagged shell. I took the shell from her. I knew where the eggshell had come from but her face was so happy and eager at having discovered the first sign of Spring. As I turned the shell over in my hand I noticed something – a little stamp that said “EB” for Eggland’s Best.

“And see, Mommy, that momma bird puts her initials on the egg,” She said, “That’s pretty smart, isn’t it?”

“Yes, honey, that’s one smart bird.”

So now, whenever Gracie sees a bird flying around our yard she wonders whether it’s EB, the smart bird who apparently has an ink stamp stashed away in her nest.

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