Yes. That’s a dead bird. Posted on the beauty blog.
My husband noticed her on our front step yesterday morning. I had not seen her, but am now wondering if my two year old had actually seen something. As I walked him down the stairs to go get breakfast, he started pointing out the front window and repeatedly saying “hot-hot-hot,” which he usually reserves for labeling obvious things like steaming food, fire or smoke. At the time, I just figured he was confused or had seen a red brake light through the window. I think young children have an incredible ability to see and feel and connect with all the magic and mystery that is just beyond the veil. So I wonder now what he saw through the glass that I did not.
Apparently, the little birdie had flown right into our glass-paned storm door and just like that, in an instant, the breath of life was sucked right out of her tiny body. Truth be told, I was a little nervous – worried that a dead bird on our doorstep might be a terrible omen. So I googled it. A few times, a few different ways. And I never discovered any big consensus among religious, spiritual or philosophical leaders about a symbolic meaning.
That said, I’m beginning to think somebody’s trying to deliver a message, given all the crazy stuff that appears on our front stoop! In January 2007, we found unusual bird footprints leading right up to our door. A couple of months later, there was that jaw-dropping ice angel. A couple of years later, we had a mind-boggling bird-shaped snow angel on our doorstep. And around the same time, I noticed a cardinal who would sit in the evergreens at our front door and literally watch me through the glass. And now this.
I don’t know what it all means, but this latest doorstep delivery has been reminding me how fragile we all are. We spend so many years toughening up our thick skin, pretending we’re invincible and avoiding uncomfortable feelings and conversations about our greatest gifts, our greatest wishes, our mortality. We just assume that we have plenty of time and will be here for the long run, which allows us to get lazy about doing and seeing and being the things we really long to in this life.
I hope this little bird lived life to the fullest. I have a deep-down feeling she did and that this was just her time to go. And my hope is the same for us all – to spread our wings, live fully and know how it feels to soar before it’s too late.
