Survival of the Fittest

Each day I am in London I work from my kitchen table, which has a beautiful view into my back garden area. Not only does it have the perfect little round tree and dozens of pots of herbs and flowers, it is also a constant streaming video of residential National Geographic.

Varietals of song birds are the backdrop to my day; playful squirrels dig up last season's buried nuts, the neighbour's cats do their lazy yoga poses, and our local pack of foxes patrol back and forth along the back stretch.

The past few weeks there has been a new series ... a Mama blackbird built her nest in the giant Hydrangea bush and her young-ins are now looking fluffy and strong.  She has whizzed my head all too close a few times to let me know this space was clearly not mine for the time being.

Today I spied some fluffy movement in the Geranium plant, and lo and behold one of the little guys had  made his first flight attempt.  He has been bouncing around the stone pavement, pecking at bits, a little disorientated and possibly a bit regretful.  Mama has been diligent however, bringing him snacks.

As I watched the little guy I was proud of him for being the strong one of the group ... leaping bravely into the unknown, driven only by nature's forces.  I thought about how in any pack there is the headstrong, the leader, the bull ... and then ... I thought about the foxes.  Gulp.

This dumbass is going to be lunch (and I get to witness the swift snapping up, feathers flying while on my 3P conference call).  It makes you ponder ... is it really the strong and brave that make the first leap, or are they the pre-designed sacrificial lambs for the rest of the herd to be taught the valuable lesson first hand of careful consideration / the cruel world / look before you leap?

We as a society tend to envy the adventurous, high risk takers.  Personally, I think I will take this little lesson as a sign that being cautious and observant, witnessing and learning from others is the best approach to not ending up as someone else's lunch.