Sharing our Home

A Love Story

When we started working on our house we noticed a bird nest on top of our porch light.  One day Greg held up his camera high and took a photo of the inside.  The photo showed five eggs.  As we continued to work on the house we noticed that the Barn Swallow would leave the nest each time we stepped out onto the porch. We started to feel bad but we did not know what to do about it as this was the only way into the house. We tried to limit our stay on the porch as much as we could so we would not disturb her and her eggs. As time went on, we noticed that she was getting a little more comfortable with us and would stay on the nest even when we got real close to the porch. We also noticed that she had a partner nearby watching carefully on the telephone wire. At times, she would fly away while he would fly in and take her place at the nest. They were already sharing parental duties.

As usual, we had to take a break from the farm and return to West Allis where we currently reside. When we returned to the farm, Greg found some eggshells on the porch. He once again, held his phone up high to get a picture of the inside. When you looked at the picture, it looked empty. Great sadness came over me as to what happened to the five babies. All of a sudden, in swoops Mom.  Why was she returning if her babies were not there?  This continued to weigh heavily on my mind for awhile. Was she mourning? Do birds mourn? As I went about working on the farm I kept glancing back at the nest and there she was and her partner swooped in again. From the inside of the house you could see the nest from a small window. I took a break and stood on a chair to get a closer look. I kept seeing some grayish movement. My mind went back and forth thinking thoughts such as (there are babies in there) or (there is a loose stray feather blowing in the wind). Finally, I saw a fuzzy head and attached to it was a beak and in swooped Mama with something for it to eat. Such joy came over me as I now knew the babies had survived. 

Back in West Allis I decided this would be my first painting of the summer. A perfect love story. It becomes a love story about so many things: the birds, of course, but also the love story of Greg and I and the love story of the this farm. I am thinking this painting might need to find a permanent home on a wall in the farm house.

A Love Story