Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye,
Four and twenty blackbirds
Baked in a pie.

When the pie was opened
The birds began to sing—
Wasn't that a dainty dish
To set before the king?

The king was in the counting-house
Counting out his money,
The queen was in the parlor
Eating bread and honey,The maid was in the garden
Hanging out the clothes.

Along came a blackbird
And snipped off her nose.Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye...
 

be kind to the blackbirds lest you die...

it is such a beautiful summer morning in Lewisburg Orleans, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, the bacon is sizzling, I thought. Today would be a perfect day to go down to Lake Pontchartrain, yes, I'll even invite Annie and Tara along, we can make a day of it. I finished up making my breakfast then went outside to eat and listen to the birds, my favorite activity. While eating the last of my sunny side up eggs I heard a flutter and then saw a blur of black in my peripheral, I put down my fork with the last bite of eggs still on it and walked over towards the sound to investigate. 

I stopped, looking down between my tan, bare feet where a blackbird fledgling was struggling to get up, I slowly bent down as to not startle the poor thing. Some people in this town would pick it up and feed it to one of the stray cats, thinking that it's one less blackbird to litter the grain mills with its droppings or to clog pipes with its nests because god knows we have enough birds as is.  Over 100 diverse birds call Orleans their home under categories like warblers, cuckoos, doves, and many more. But that is beside the point, I looked around to see if a mother bird was watching or waiting, and when I found none I picked up the startled bird and brought him inside as gently as I could.

 Then wrapped him up in a soft washcloth. I set him in an old shoe box and went back outside to get my plate but by then my egg was cold so I put it in a dish and set it outside for the strays to find. Then I opened the small container in the corner of my kitchen with my bird supplies, mealworms, seeds, binoculars, and my note pad in which I keep track of different species of birds I see on my morning and afternoon walks. I pulled out the container of mealworms and got some tweezers from the bathroom cupboard. I pulled out a small worm and dangled it over the bird as a mother would and heard a peep. The baby bird was looking up peeping with its mouth open waiting for me to hand it over.

 I gave it to the bird and it happily ate it. I got a clean eye drop tool and a small lid for water and put a few drops onto the lid to see if it would drink but to my disappointment, nothing happened. I decided to see if it was seriously injured so I gently picked it up and unwrapped the cloth to examine it. It was a pretty bird, violetish-black shiny new feathers that had just replaced its soft down. upon examination there seemed to be no external damage, just got the wind knocked out of it. so I wrapped it back up and put it back in the cardboard box. I then moved the box the most sun-filled part of the house for it to recover on its own.

a few moments later the bird was still there but the water was gone so I refilled the water and fed it another mealworm this time a bit fatter and put the box high in the tree in my backyard so it could leave on its own time. and I started to get ready for my swim in the lake. In twenty minutes I was ready to go so I put my bag in my bike basket and left for Anna's house, she agreed to come along so she got her bike and together we rode over to Tara's house she was ready to go in five minutes and we raced to the lake. 

I won the race since I do this almost every day so I got to decide what snack to buy afterward.  we all stripped down to our bathing suits and one by one glided into the water, we were having a grand old time splashing and laughing but I hate to get my hair wet because the humidity is enough to make my hair frizzy but when you make it wet it just gets worse. however, the water was calling me so I decided that a little frizz wouldn't hurt and dove under the surface.

 I almost forgot how cool and calming being underwater felt, almost like you were dreaming, I burst through the surface only to be slapped in the face with a cold breeze I wiped the water off of my eyes and looked around me in shock, the world was frozen over, all the colors of summer striped of joy by bitter frost.  and my laughing friends that were so full of life earlier were lying on shore as cold and blank as a rose that surrendered to winters sweet song of death.

and in the distance, the call... of a blackbird...