mommas

Right before it began to rain yesterday I went out to grab the ferns hanging on our front entry porch to put on the sidewalk for a good soaking. I gasped when I looked down and saw a nest complete with eggs sitting in one of them. It caught me totally off guard and I wasn't sure what to do. I snapped a quick pic with my cell phone and then picked up the fern and put it right back where it had been hanging.

This morning as I was doing the breakfast dishes I looked out the window above the sink at the fern and saw the momma cardinal dutifully perched on top of her brood. It made me smile and think about the beautiful poem below.

MOTHER

"Mother is a little girl who trod my path before me;

Just a bigger, wiser little girl who ran ahead-

Bigger, wiser, stronger girl who always watches o’ver me,

One who knows the pitfalls in the rugged road I tread.

Mother is a playmate who will always treat me kindly-

Playmate who will yield me what true happiness demands.

She will never let my feet stray into brambles blindly-

Mother’s just a bigger little girl who understands.

Mother is an older little playmate who’ll befriend me-

Yesteryear she traveled in the path that’s mine today.

Never need I fear a foe from which she might defend me-

Faithful little pal who ran ahead and learned the way."

*source