Mercy

I saw a sad thing today. In front of the tire of a parked car, a sparrow was lying on its back, fluttering its wings and kicking its feet. Though it struggled mightily, it was unable to right itself. I noticed that its head seemed to be stuck twisted around to one side, and its tail was mangled at the base.

J tried to flip it over onto its feet, hoping that this would give it a sporting chance at survival, but it was unable to retain its balance. Each time he tried, it toppled immediately onto its back again. J stepped on its head and ended its pain. I watched through its spastic final burst of motion, watched as the blood oozed and bubbled from its head, and stayed with it until it lay still.

May you find safer travels in the next life, little sparrow.

TEDxBoston and Adventures

TedxBoston happened recently. I missed the first session, sat in for the live simulcast for the second, and streamed it from my laptop for the third. There were some really interesting and exciting talks... and some not so thrilling talks... but all in all, I'm really glad I participated.

Prior to the talk, my husband and I went on the Coral Reef Adventure at the New England Aquarium. It was a walking tour of the Aquarium's corals, and the guide told us about how to distinguish live coral from dead (it's harder than it sounds), the types of coral, and everything about corals that an untrained layperson could possibly want to know.