Keeping Up With The Jones

My friends, Dale and Madeline Jones, had a front row seat at the comings and goings of life this summer. First they had a surprise birth of triplets at their place. Dale was making the rounds at their RV Storage and Trucking business here in town when he heard the cries of the new mother and went to investigate. There she was floundering around and wailing as if mortally wounded.

As he searched the gravel parking lot to see what was causing her injurious behavior, he found the source. A small hollowed out dent in the ground that held four large eggs recently laid by the mama killdeer. She was trying with all her power to detract attention from the nest by screeching her distinctive cry and acting like her wing was broken. Concerned for the egg's safety and wanting to improve on the woefully inadequate housing mom and dad killdeer had provided for their offspring, Dale plucked handfuls of grass and erected a circle of protection around the eggs.

Dale and Madeline began holding daily vigil and conducting visitor tours of the tiny drama unfolding behind their home, watching, waiting and counting the days in anticipation of the new arrival's hatching time. Amazingly, their dogs left the little bird family alone. Mama and daddy killdeer took turns sitting on the eggs, but in typical fashion of their breed, often left the nest unattended while they went about their daily business. The eggs blended in with the gravel camouflage around them and Dale worried that someone was going to drive over them so he set up bright orange safety cones with a warning sign, making an effective barricade to anyone who might accidentally run over the babies.

The solution worked well until tragedy hit when the wind came up and blew the cone sign over with a direct hit onto the nest. Dale was mortified when he went to check on the egg's progress and discovered the crash had disastrously broken one of the eggs. When Madeline gave me an update she was puzzled that by later in the day all evidence of the broken egg had disappeared. I recalled my parents telling me that chickens will often eat a broken egg so perhaps this was what killdeer do to remove smell and attraction from other predators in order to protect the remaining offspring.

Around six weeks later the newborns hatched. Dale and Madeline's hearts had really gone to the birds as they announced that Orting had a population increase of three and watched with grandparent's pride as the youngsters grew and gained independence. They worried when the clan disappeared for periods of time and excitedly heralded the news when the kids came back again for a visit.

In the middle of all the avian antics, Dale kept running their business and Madeline worked on her paintings until they learned their much loved son-in-law, David Schlumpf, was very ill. The family closed ranks, holding on, hoping, caring, spending time together and loving each other. Just as fast as the baby birds made their unexpected arrival, David's health rapidly deteriorated and he passed away by the end of August. In the midst of these unexpected turns in life, I watched and admire their great example of grace, faith, and strength. When I asked Madeline how they were doing she replied simply "I am so blessed".

It is a good reminder to me to marvel at life's little miracles and count the good things in life instead of dwelling on my problems. I am so thankful for wonderful friends, family, and a community that cares.