When we were first married and I had the goal to be the 'perfect homemaker' I signed up for a knitting class. I remember that it was a series that met once a week for several weeks. After the disaster of the first week, I never went back. It seems that I am 'knitting challenged', in fact I am 'knot challenged' as evidenced by my experience teaching knot tying to cub scouts! I didn't even think about knitting again (except maybe in my nightmares) until just a few years ago when I decided that I wanted to be able to knit a baby blanket for each of our future grandchildren. One of my treasures is a baby blanket knit by George's mother for Mary. She had severe rheumatoid arthritis so I know that knitting that blanket was a real labor of love. On the card she wrote, "there is love in every stitch". So with some misgivings I set about learning to knit again. This time I had a wonderful, patient teacher who just kept working with me until finally I could do it. I'm no expet but when the time comes, I will be able to knit a blanket with 'love in every stitch'. You may wonder what this could possibly have to do with birds....well when I watched this video about weaver birds I was reminded of my own experience knitting......
I definitely knitted like the young novice bird! My attempts were eerily similar to this......
Not tightly woven like this.....
Interestingly the variety in the nests! Some are clearly done by experienced older birds who have been weaving for years, while other are obviously a first attempt. I hope those young male with the odd shaped creations kept at it until they finally built a nest perfect for a first home!
It is an old adage but a wise one, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." Good advice for birds and people!
Marilyn, Just discovered your blog! I love this record of your trip. I'll check in often.
ReplyDeleteOh no, it's Denise Frame, not Madelyn. Not sure why I'm registered as Madelyn.
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