I'm moving to a new apartment, but I've still got a couple of months on my old lease, which means I can take my time moving. The second weekend in June -- the day after school ends -- me and my giant child are moving the furniture and we'll be completely out of there. Right now I'm taking stuff bit by bit in the car. So I'm on my balcony yesterday taking down my hanging plants and I find a bird's nest in my Wandering Jew. The cutest little round nest made of grass with five perfect little eggs inside. Aw, crap.
I let loose with a volley of foul invective about my rotten luck and the stupid damn birds. I'm standing on a stool on my balcony loudly cursing at my plants. The neighbors are gonna miss me. I want nothing more than to scoop them out and stick them in a tree and make them not be my problem. But their little bird mom and dad won't find them and the raccoons will. And when you think about it, they were pretty slick, those birds. A hanging plant is like an island, and four feet away on the other side of the glass door is human activity and my idiot dog to scare away any predators with ideas. I can't mess that up for them, not now that they've gained my respect.
I hang the plant back up the exact way I found it, making a mental note not to water that side, and I wait for the birds to turn up. They're finches, I think; brown with an orange neck. They will probably hatch around the beginning of June, which means by mid-July they'll be out of there. Which is good, because my lease expires the last day of July. Wait, what? I say to myself, You'll be out end of June. July's rent here is therefore optional. Are you actually going to pay rent on a second apartment you don't live in... for Mr. and Mrs. Finch? Are you nuts?
Looks that way. I gave them a place to settle in and make more finches. The least I can do is make it so they can raise them. It'll be neat to watch and a good example for the kid. Besides, it might balance out something crappy I did back when. But we all have to be out before my lease expires. I'm not sure how to tell them. Maybe I'll post a little tiny notice.
About Me
- A.G. Clifton
- Miss Clifton was born in the back seat of a Greyhound bus rolling down Highway 21. The only child of itinerant grifters, she supplemented her family's meager income through faking food poisoning and stepping in front of cars. Later in life she discovered a talent for Faith healing. She toured the continent healing people named Faith. Along the way she met and married her son's father, but sadly, the two parted ways after she discovered what he actually meant by "animal husbandry." Miss Clifton lives in an abandoned railroad shed on the outskirts of town where she pursues her life's work of constructing the world's largest ball of aluminum foil. Donations cheerfully accepted.