After purchasing groceries for the week, I exited Sainsbury's with my trolley. As I was crossing the main intersection in the parking lot, I spotted a little bird on the ground. I thought it was dead at first but then the bird looked directly up at me. I tried to pick the bird up but it tottered away...injured in leg or wing or both. I could not leave it to be inevitably squished and pursued it again. This time I was able to scoop the bird up. It was small enough to comfortably fit in my hand and after struggling for a few seconds, it realized that it was better to just snuggle in. I pet its wee head with my finger and soon it was asleep.
What am I going to do with a trolley full of groceries and a bird? I walk home from the store but could not do so bird-in-hand. I called Kevin and explained my predicament and he set off to rescue me and bird right away.
Meanwhile, I waited in the parking lot feeling a bit awkward standing in the cold by the trolley drop-off with a bird. A woman and her daughter came out and packed their groceries into the car beside me. I approached her and asked where I might find an animal shelter or some place to take the poor creature. We chatted for a moment and she wished me the best.
A minute or two later she came over to me again and said, "It's the strangest thing that you brought that bird over to me just now. My mother died a week ago today and she loved birds. She knew what each one was, not because she read books but just because she loved birds even from her childhood. This one is a speckled thrush. It's just so strange..."
Sometimes encouragement and hope can come at just the right time from something as small as a wounded speckled thrush.
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