Bird sleeps in, still gets worm

It’s all about being in the right place at the right time

We spent Memorial Day weekend visiting our family up in Massachusetts on Buzzard’s Bay. It’s a great place to get away from the city and relax — a place where my little boys can got out of sight without the heart dropping panic that would cause in New York City, where we live. Sometimes I like to just sit in the yard and enjoy the silence and quiet. You could go hours somedays without seeing a single car go by, the opposite of the constant cars and trucks on our street in Union Square.

Our house is summer only, so the first visit each year means chilly nights, fires and helping out both inside and out to get the place ready for the warm summer months. My mom keeps a beautiful yard and vegetable garden and we all pitched in to get this ready for the summer. One of my jobs was to move all of the composted soil from last year so we could spread it over the gardens. The rich oil black soil is great for plants — and worms. So many worms big and small that my four year old boy was both fascinated and scared of at the same time.

But the robin hopping and flying around our yard all afternoon liked the worms and had a true feast. It had to be more than one little bird could eat, but it kept flying back for more. So many worms, no competition and all well past the early morning when we all know birds get their worms. This robin was just in the right place at the right time. And on that quiet and sunny day I knew I was too.