A Bird's Nest in Spring

I think my ex probably did a fantastic job of painting a picture of himself as the victim in our split-up. Eh, who cares. All is well now. We get along. This post is not to take a stab at him. This post is not to defend myself. It is only to express a memory that came back to me as we were trimming some brush in our back yard yesterday, and Sam and I were checking for nests before we made the cuts....

Back in 2007...Grandaddy had kicked the bucket in 2006, and I had possession of his $35,000 brand new John Deere tractor during probate. It had a huge loader attachment on the front of it. We really didn't have any good reasons to use it, so it remained parked.

It was spring, and Sam discovered that a bird had built it's nest in the attachment and had laid eggs. OH wow. We were so excited, and peeked at them daily.

Also that Spring, Paw-Paw-Ex-FIL had big plans for his gardens, as he eye-balled Grandad's shiny, in-probate tractor. I told my ex: "He can use it. But there is no reason to move the attachment (loader). It won't be long before the eggs hatch and the birds leave." Like, WTF do you need a loader for, when it comes to a garden, anyway???? Ex knew how important nature was to me, and how it was important to me to not disturb it or rape it, and that it was especially important to me to model respect for nature for the kiddos.

I came home one day to find the tractor...and...the loader attachment.... gone. He claimed he moved the nest, which is still unacceptable. I found the nest and the eggs...all smashed...on the ground. He then changed his story to...the nest and eggs were already destroyed, must have been wild dogs or something.

After years of marriage, I finally had a moment of clarity: He sincerely didn't give a damn about what was important to me, even if it was as simple as preserving three bird eggs.