Of all the reasons for writer's block, I've never heard anyone claim she couldn't write because the birds were leaving the nest. Today, I claim that. 

       After watching the mother bird build her nest, suspecting that babies were inside, and trying to set up a camera on a tripod with a remote shutter release (and failing), I was able to watch the wrens leave the nest.

       At first glance, I knew the little ones were too small to make it on their own. But, then I discovered that the mother was still feeding them even as they sat and tried to figure out the new world around them. 

      This is the first day this Carolina Wren has sat in the sunshine, having been born in a nest hidden in a dark recess.

        Now, I'm back to writing, and I'm happy I was able to watch the exodus.  

     Didn't the bee realize the pollen was going to be there for awhile? He was digging in, grabbing so much pollen that when he took off, he dusted the air. Another bee flew away, and again the flakes of pollen fell from his body.
     I'd never seen anything like it. The bees seemed greedy, working as rapidly as they could to get as much pollen as they could. I watched as one flew up and then headed for the woods. I wondered how far he was taking the pollen, and how much of his energy he would use getting the supplies back home.
     I expected he'd done the same thing all day.
     Then, plot twist! Later, clouds rolled in an a light rain started. I imagined all of the pollen being washed off the thistle.
    I should have realized what was going to happen, but I hadn't. Like a reader in a good book, I didn't see what the characters may have knew, or expected, or what may have been just as much of a surprise to him as it was to me.
    Plot twists aren't as much fun in real life as they are in stories, but they can keep a reader enthralled. 
    Happy reading, and Happy writing.

Photo: Bee on thistle garden behind my house.