A bird hitting the window with a heartbreaking thud startles me out of my complacency. Imagine the thoughts of the bird flying with joy through the summer air. Only to be struck like a softball by an invisible bat.
In the catalog of unexpected events that life may bring us ( a bite from an otherwise friendly dog; a bone-fracturing fall over a rumpled rug; a stinging rebuke from a trusted friend) crashing into air suddenly solidified must be in a class all its own. Defying every morsel of experience. Knocking the victim to the ground in a heap. Vulnerable and weak if not already dead.
All I can do is gently lift and cradle the bird in my palm, move it to a sheltered place and hope it will revive. A battered but wiser bird. Yet how wiser? How can a bird or any of us prepare for the unforeseen ?