tiny woodland creatures

I've been MIA from the blogosphere for a few weeks. I've been busy. I've become a murderer of tiny woodland creatures. Granted, this post has very little to do with running, (unless you count me running around with several cases of the heebie geebies), but you'll have to humor me for an off topic post.

Tiny creature victim #1: Baby Birdie
Birds nest between my roof and my screened-in porch every year. Every year, some overly ambitious young chick decides to launch itself out of the nest prematurely, inevitably causing death. Last week, I discovered Baby Birdie laying on the ground next to the back patio, tempting my dogs to ingest it as a Scooby snack. After jumping up and down and doing my first rendition of the Heebie Geebie dance (cross training?), I scooped Baby Birdie up with my pooper scooper and tossed it in the poop bucket for his burial...I know, I know....I'm a horrible person.

Tiny creature victim #2: Wee Wittle Sparrow
Last week I noticed random splotches of white on my countertops. I couldn't figure out what it was. On Friday, I noticed it running down the mirror in my upstairs hallway. I thought it might be a friend's hair gel. She came over for to go for a walk and took a shower at my house before we headed out to a friends' house for a party. Then it dawned on me that it looked like bird doo. I thought, "Naw, not possible. How could a bird be pooing in my house? I haven't seen or heard one?!" The idea stuck in my head though. I kept entering every room gingerly, thinking that a bird was going to swoop out at me...but it never happened. Then late one night, I noticed something as I passed my spare room on my way to bed. Sure enough, there was a dead birdie laying on the floor under the door frame. I did the heebie geebie run back down the stairs, grabbed a broom and a dust pan, and swept up the wee wittle sparrow. I did the heebie geebie run down the stairs again and ran out the front door, across the front porch, and threw the wee wittle sparrow into my neighbor's bushes. He's biodegradable, right?! I knew I couldn't sleep with him laying in the trash can, so I decided to fertilize my neighbor's bushes....I was being neighborly right?!

Tiny Creature Victim #3: Spinning Turtle
Several friends and I were carpooling to church on Sunday. We were cruisin' along on the interstate, engrossed in conversation. All of a sudden, we heard a distinctive crunch. It sounded like I ran over something and popped my tire. I quickly looked in my rear view mirror to try to identify the obstacle. However, instead of seeing the usual road trash, I saw a cute little turtle spinning and flipping into the air like someone had just flipped a giant coin. Of course I was immediately distraught at my unintentional turtle-slaughter. My friends tried to convince me that I had just given him a fun ride, that he landed safely, and made it to the other side of the road. Or, that his buddy, who was on the side of the road, came out and rescued him, carrying him to safety. A conversation on turtles' ability or inability to flip themselves over once they are on their back ensued, which did NOT make me feel better.