The Wild Kingdom

Sunday, two birds made an appearance at our house.

I'd had my hummingbird feeders out for a couple weeks, but until Sunday, there was no sign of the little kamikaze pilots. Because it was a rainy day, I sat in my office getting lots of loose ends re-woven into some semblance of order. Sure enough I was rewarded with a present on Mother's Day that was priceless. I love watching the hummers as they drink more than their weight in sugar water. They made my day of work a delight.

Then later in the afternoon, Steve left to go to Lowe's. Almost immediately, I saw his car backing up the driveway. There was something on the trunk. He got out and picked it up to show it to me. Sadly, it was a Red-tail Hawk. He saw it on the ground underneath the telephone pole. Unfortunately we didn't have to think about calling Nature's Nursery. Steve did a little investigation. We thought the hawk had probably been hit by a car, because they are notorious for flying low right across in front of the windshield. But this was not the case. It had been electrocuted. We could see a burn wound entry point in its foot and an even larger exit wound at its shoulder. Sad for such a beautiful bird. The feathers are just so soft.

This got me to thinking.

Sometimes we get frustrated with our referral sources because we feel like we give and give and give, but don't receive something in return. I guess, just like putting food out for the hummers, patience is what it's all about. (Now, I'm not ignoring the fact the we have to have conversations with our sources to let know know of our expectations, but even then, sometimes the referrals come slowly.)

As for the hawk -- sometimes you can't help. Sometimes there are variables that keep the referral relationship from working. When a relationship is dead, sometimes it's best to bury it.