Living with "Rhyme and Reason"

People are always saying, “Life has no rhyme or reason” but it dawned on me that these weeks with my granddaughter have been all rhyme and reason!
I was blessed as a child to be given an amazing collection of children’s literature that would carry a child from nursery rhymes through Greek epics in a 12-volume set. It was called “My Book House” and was first published back in the 40’s. My favorite volumes are the early ones that have nursery rhymes from all over the world, and wonderful 40’s style Kate Greenaway illustrations to go with them. Also, all the classic children’s stories in their pre-politically correct form. They are wonderful. They were read to me when I was a child, and then I read them to my three girls when they were young. It appears they had been stored on a disc in my brain somewhere just waiting for someone to hit “Play” and now, with Elena, someone has.

Truly, we go through our day full of rhyme and reason. If it is raining, as it is today, well it’s a “misty moisty morning” and, if we cross a stream on our walks, then it is “Stepping over stepping stones one, two, three, stepping over stepping stones come with me. The river’s very fast and the rivers very wide but we’ll step across on stepping stones to reach the other side.” Now that I think of it, I still even say that to the 4th graders I teach a forest lesson to, when we are crossing a brook. The language of the old rhymes is so incomparably rich that I am beyond grateful that someone taught them to me, and I am equally thankful that I can teach them to her.

If you remember, a few days ago, I said she and I had been quietly stalking about after “Jenny wren” in the after-supper time. That too, comes from a nursery rhyme reference, although one I have altered a bit. The “Four and twenty blackbird’s baked in a pie” one goes on to the sad conclusion of a “maid was in the garden, hanging out the clothes, when down came a blackbird and pecked off her nose.” I think I thought that was a rather dismal ending, so I added, ”along came Jenny wren and put her nose back on again”. Which is how Carolina wrens became “Jenny wrens” in our lexicon.



For several nights now, she and I have followed the antics of the wren pair that grace our yard. (Finally, dear reader, we will get to the natural history of the thing!) The reason it is rather easy to “stalk” a Carolina wren is that they are so predictable. They sing with great gusto in the morning and again in the evening, although, the truth is, they sing throughout the day. But you could set your watch by the morning and night song; that rollicking “teekettle, teekettle tee”. Bless them, they also don’t head to the highest branches to sing, but are found in low shrubbery and on your railings, and your fence posts, so they make for easy spotting. And they are territorial, so, whereas in the woods, their territory may cover more space, in suburbia they are content to claim your little patch of yard, as their little patch. And the male will defend it by singing from every corner, again, making the “stalking game” pretty easy for even the youngest, toddler-in-arms to follow.

And as if their cuteness weren’t enough to endear them to you, with that perky tail and white expressive line through their eye, then their sterling qualities should win you over. They mate for life, a thing I think that is fairly rare in songbirds, only re-pairing after the death of a mate. Also, they stay within their home range all year unless the food supply is really lacking, so my wren pair at home on the Cape is a delight to me year round. Plus they know how to speak their mind, so you will know when something is “rotten in Denmark” by the loud “jeer” call they make.

Just last night, Elena and I watched our pair take verbal aim at a yellow cat that had strayed over from the neighbors. Both wrens gave him a royal scolding and that, combined with Elena and I adding to the suggestion he leave, had him trotting away. I have noticed there are several cats that are loose in the neighborhood and that might explain why I don’t have a dozen or so squirrels devising clever ways to get to the seed we have put out. Cats on the prowl as I have said before, along with our pane glass windows are responsible for many a bird dying before his time.

One other thing I have read about them, but not been scientific enough to test out, is that they are so set in their ways of going to and fro, that they will even arrive on a branch the same way, from the same angle each time. I note them hopping from place to place pretty regularly, but as for taking account of angle, wind speed, and compass bearings, well that is a little beyond me. If you have such an inclination, you can try it out and let me know what you observe. Always flying in S to SW at an angle of 45 degrees?

And now, I hear my little bird waking up for the promised big adventure to the Zoo today. And you just know that that will morph into a musical, starting with “Momma’s (Nona’s) taking us to the Zoo tomorrow, Zoo tomorrow, Zoo tomorrow, Mommas taking us to the Zoo tomorrow and we can stay all day.” to, “I went to the Animal Fair, the birds and the beasts were there, the Old baboon by the light of the moon was combing his auburn hair”. Let the people stare, she and I will have a blast, a day full of “rhyme and reason”!