A parable

Once upon a time there was a bird.

It could be a robin, a blue jay, a hawk or a crow. Depends on who is telling the story. Any sort of migratory bird will fit the tale. Fill in whatever you like.

Well anyway, when it came time for all the birds of this certain bird’s group to begin flying south for the winter, one of his bird friends said: “Hey Jake, let’s not go this year. It is such a long way. Our wings get so tattered and worn on the trip. We always arrive exhausted, and all for what? A bit of a change of scenery? How about you and me stay here for the winter this year. It will be great. We’ll hang out. We’ll explore. We’ll have a great time. How about it? Let’s just stay where we are at. After all, this is a nice place.”

After some consideration, Jake decided he would stay with his friend. It seemed like an exciting plan. They would have grand adventures making their own way rather than always following the crowd. The other birds cautioned him against this. But Jake was determined to stay. So when the rest of the flock left for warm southern nesting grounds, Jake and his friend began gathering twigs and string to make new nests of their own inside a barn where they planned to stay for the winter.

At first it WAS fun. They flew in great circles in the sky, reveling in watching the seasons change. But then came the first really bad storm. Temperatures dropped and food became scarce. One week it rained every single day, and then it began to snow. The days got shorter and shorter. Things began to look grim. Predictably, after all his fine talk, Jake’s friend disappeared one day without so much as a good bye or a how do you do. Then Jake was left alone in a cold, dark barn wondering how he was going to survive the winter. He felt stupid for having stayed behind. But now it was too late to try to catch up to his flock. The storm patterns would kill him if Jake tried to fly south this late in the year.

So he hunkered down and did the best he could. He searched each day for food which became increasingly difficult to find. His feathers grew icy at the tips and his poor little beak was crusty with snot from a nasty cold. He was miserable. After a couple weeks of this, finally Jake’s strength gave out. He collapsed in a frozen heap onto the barn floor.

As he was lying in the dirt, preparing his bird mind for death, Jake suffered the ultimate insult with the farmer’s cow who lived in the barn came along and crapped all over him.

How RUDE!

However, the cow dung was warm. Slowly, stinky as it may have been, that mess of cow pile thawed out Jake’s frozen feathers. In a little while he found that he could move and he honestly was feeling much better. Still, the poor little guy was covered in cow crap which was not a very pleasant experience.

Then Max, the barn cat, came along to see what was happening. Max spoke to Jake, in a sweet purring voice: “Hey Jake, man, you really stink! That’s terrible what that inconsiderate cow did to you. Some animals just have a lot of gall…here you were struggling with cold, loneliness and a frozen, snotty beak and then that cow does THAT. I’m really sorry that happened to you. How about I help you get out from under there?”

Jake had always been rather suspicious of the barn cat. But Max seemed so sincere. So Jake gratefully accepted the cat’s offer, and allowed Max to painstakingly clean the oozing mess of cow crap off his matted feathers.

Max pawed away the big chunks very gently. Then he began licking Jake’s feathers until the bird was glistening and clean. Now Jake really was feeling MUCH better and he congratulated himself for having gotten through such a close call.

However, as Max got to the final feather, the cat grinned widely and said with a gleam in his eye…”HMMM, bird, you will be my lunch!” He pounced, bit through Jake’s head to crush his skull and then ate the bird in dainty cat bites, fastidiously cleaning his whiskers afterward.

Moral of the story?

1) Not everyone who gives you advice has your best interest at heart.
2) Not everyone who craps on you is your enemy or means you harm.
3) Not everyone who gets you out of crap is your friend.
4) While going off on your own for adventures may be fun, sometimes it makes sense to stay with trusted companions and listen to their council.
5) Never trust a barn cat.