The Big Fat Red Robin

February 15 --  The official harbinger of spring finally arrived in our backyard today.  I saw my first robin, and boy was it a fat one.

It was totally accidental how I saw it.  As I drank my first cup of coffee this morning (with my cookie) I was thinking about the day, the week, the month.  Needless to say, it didn't take long before I sensed the onset of a huge wave of overwhelming stress and anxiety.  Suddenly, I knew that if I didn't change my view,  I was going to start crying.  So I jumped up out of my chair and went over to the window to look out at the snow.  And there, perched in the branches of the holly tree,  was this huge bird.  I looked at it several times wondering -- could it be?  Could it really be a robin?  Could spring really be arriving??

I ran from one window to another, one room after the other, hoping for a better view of the bird's telltale orangey red breast.  And the whole time I was shouting, "you guys!  There is a really fat robin in the tree!"  Sure enough, it was definitely a robin.  I just couldn't help but wonder how it got so fat with all of the snow covering the ground this winter.  Where did it get its food?

I got my answer (I think) this afternoon.  Riley called me at work to tell me he was home safely from school.  "The fat robin is back," he said.  "It looks hungry."    On the phone, a few miles away, I scrunched up my forehead in confusion.  "It does?"  I asked.  "How can a bird that big look hungry?"  He answered me calmly -- my little animal doctor.  "Mommy, I think I need to put some food out.  Can I fill the bird feeder?  That bird has a home somewhere and I know it needs food."   Riley is a born salesman.  Needless to say, I caved.  "Sure, " I said.  "Go feed the fat robin."   And so he did.

Hooray for signs of spring.  And as for the robin, I don't know much about birds but whoaaa, this babe looked way bigger than the typical red-breasted robin one sees hopping around the lawn catching worms each spring.  I'm thinking about taking it to a spinning class with me.   Bird fitness.  Ha.