Ariel

Ariel:

Your charm so strongly works ‘em

That if now you beheld them, your affections

Would become tender.

Prospero:

Dost thou think so, spirit?

Ariel:

Mine would, were I human. From the Tempest by William Shakespeare (always used pronoun, “he”  is a spirit and depicted in drawings as feminine)

        

Curtis, Russell and Ellenora were trying to be patient while mom drove around doing shopping.  Little sister, Ellenora, needed new shoes; Big, big brother, Curtis, a new bathing suit and big brother, Russell, needed nothing at all.  Mom promised a stop at the park with the old train engine on the way home.  Harmony and peace reigned in the back seat of the old brown station wagon.  The children smiled and laughed as they talked about the train, and the swings and slides.

One more stop to get the tires rotated and then on to the park!  The big brothers and little sister watched through the glass as the workers used a loud air wrench to take bolts off of each tire and then move them to a different spot on the car.  Mom explained,  “Putting the tires in different places on the car makes them last longer.”

The last bolt was tightened and the car taken off the lift.  Everyone was scrambling back to the car when Russell saw something small among the old tires sitting out side.  Russell was the quietest of the children but very observant.  It hopped, made little launches into the air and then plopped back.  It was a baby bird.  It was scared. It was frantic.  The little baby bird had lost its family and home and did not know how to fly yet.

Mom took over and scooped up the little baby and held its warm body in the palm of her hand.  His little heart felt like a vibration, it was beating so fast.  Feeling safe, the little bird relaxed as the children looked on with fascination.

The mother and her three children all stood quietly gathered around the baby bird wondering, “What shall we do now?”  This little baby cannot survive long by this busy highway.  He could not get food for himself.  If a cat came along, he could not fly away.  “Mom, we have to take care of this baby bird until he can fly?

“I know,” agreed Mom.

         Curtis sat in the middle and gently held the baby bird while mom drove straight home.  None of the children minded at all when they passed the park with the train.  The three barely looked up not wanting to take their eyes off of their new charge.  Each took a turn using their pointer finger to pet the tiny bird’s head and down its back to it new tail feathers.  He did not try to fly away or struggle, he just felt safe.

         “What kind of bird is this baby, Mom?” asked  Curtis.  Mom did not know the answer.  She knew that babies do need to eat and be kept warm and safe until able to care for themselves. 

Ellenora suggested, “Lets think of a name we can call him.” Is the baby bird a boy or girl, everyone wondered out loud?  Mom explained that it is hard to tell a baby boy bird from a baby girl.  When they are grown up, people can tell by the feathers.  Many boy birds have fancy feathers because that is what the girl birds like.  The girl birds need to hide while sitting on their eggs in a nest, so they need camouflage colors that are brown and grey.

         The brothers wanted a boy name and little sister wanted a girl name.  Mom settled it by choosing the name, Ariel.

         Mom explained that Ariel was a perfect name.  Ariel is a Spirit helper in a William Shakespeare play called the Tempest.  Ariel was rescued from a tree and was bound to serve a man named Prospero.  In the story Ariel is neither boy nor girl.  Ariel often gives helpful advice to Prospero.  The children liked it because they thought of another word that sounds the same, “aerial.” This word means, existing high in the air. 

Ariel was now warm and safe, but what does he eat?  Some birds eat bugs; some eat seeds, some worms.  There are thousands of possibilities. 

         “Birds eat breadcrumbs,” Russell offered.    He had noticed how Grandma threw the old bread and burnt toast under the bird feeder and watched while the sparrows and wrens swooped down to peck at it.  Some times a crow would carry away a whole slice!  Gathering around with tiny breadcrumbs in his  outstretch palm, Ariel turned up his beak in a “no, thank you” gesture. Although he must be famished, breadcrumbs, clearly were not in his diet.

“If only we knew what kind of bird Ariel is,” Mom complained.  “We will try something else.”  Many birds that eat worms and bugs, slugs and such will eat hamburger.  With great anticipation, it was offered.  Once again the beak turned up.  If Ariel could talk, he would have said, “Yuk, no way!”  He couldn’t talk.  He could not tell us what to do but if Ariel didn’t get some food soon, well; nobody wanted to think about that.

All that day, Ariel took turns riding around on the pointer finger of each child.  Mother was worried though.  She got out books on birds and started to look at pictures for a clue as to what kind of bird this could be?  She looked carefully at the bird.  What do you notice, she asked each child.  Curtis noticed the black mask around Ariel’s eyes.   Ellenora spotted the yellow on its tail.  Russell watched carefully and spied some feathers that stuck up on the back of Ariel’s head.

The children gathered around the kitchen table while Mom turned the pages of Bird of Michigan Field Guide looking for an adult bird that had some of the features of little Ariel.  At last they turned a page and Mom said, “Ah ha, I think our little friend is a Cedar Waxwing!

Cedar Waxwing birds eat fruit.  The children had some grapes and they cut them in half and offered one.  The little Waxwing chick started to peck enthusiastically and voraciously at the grape.  Arial was sooo hungry that he ate and ate while the children and mom looked on with relief.  Ariel now had everything he needed to survive until he was old enough to fly. 

The days past and the children came to love the bird they called Ariel.  Ariel was a wild bird and each child knew that the day would come when Ariel would fly away.  Curtis liked to say, “Someday Ariel will be aerial.”  Curtis instructed his younger brother and sister in the art of fledgling  flying lessons from the perch of his pointing finger.  Ariel would make flapping motions with his wings but still could not fly very far.  Ariel rode around on the children’s shoulders and rested in a laundry basket.  He loved to eat almost any kind of fruit.

Mom wanted Ariel to learn how to fly because soon the family would be going on a camping vacation.  As the time drew near, mom had to decide what to do if Ariel was not aerial.  At last, she found a wildlife rescue station nearby and called on the telephone.  She told all about Ariel and asked if they would keep him until he could fly.  Yes, was the reply.

The children were sad when mom explained that Ariel could not come on vacation with the family but together they would make sure the fledgling would be safe until full-grown and take to the air in flight.  Mom drove the three plus Ariel to the Nature Center where a nice lady took over.  “Have a good life little friend.”  “Fly back and see us.”  “Thank you for teaching us about birds.”  “We love you Ariel.”  With happy tears they left to get ready for an exciting camping trip to Canada. 

         This is a true story.  It happened many years ago when your moms and dads were my children:  Curtis is Justin, Russell is Ross and Ellenora is Lauren.  Mom is your grandma.  I wrote this story just for you, my dear grandchildren.  I was inspired because Grandpa and Grandma planted two Serviceberry bushes and yesterday they filled with flocks of Cedar Waxwing birds.  Grandma thought about Ariel and he is a wonderful spirit memory that  forever connects us all.

These are the birds that found my bush.  I took this picture as they gobbled the berries.

Some Interesting Facts

about Cedar Waxwings

1.  The name comes from the red waxy tips on the wings.  The tips get bigger as the bird gets older.

2.  These birds LOVE fruit and can survive on fruit alone for months.

3.  Cedar Waxwings flocks eat in shifts and are very polite unlike most birds that just eat what they can.

4.  These birds don’t have a song, they make a buzzing sound.

5.  A group of Waxwings is called an “ear-full” or a “museum.”  (that is just plain silly but true)