Clay Birds and Coincidences

I find coincidences quite wonderful, and am lucky enough to have charming ones spring into my life from time to time.

A few months ago, one of the moms I work with told me about how she walks past a "bird bank" on campus frequently. (Remember that I work for the university, so many of the parents work on campus). She explained that there is one really ugly part of the otherwise pretty campus where there is exposed, crumbling cement and bare clay and dirt. She didn't know why it had been left like that, but it had, and it was known for being ugly. But recently, someone had started putting small clay birds in the nooks and crevices and among the few plants that manage to grow there. She said they looked like they'd been made by children, and it was so charming how they were nestled in there, especially since the clay looked so natural in the earth-toned area.

I like to follow up on cool things that the parents tell me about, and as luck would have it, I was schedule to attend a Research Seminar just across the road from where she'd told me the bird bank was. So I asked my colleague to walk over with me to check it out.

This is what the bird bank looks like. Unfortunately, the birds actually blend in a bit too well for you to get the proper effect in a picture, but it does help you to understand how it is known as the ugly part of campus. The succulents are also a recent addition.

So, what's the coincidence? I'm glad you asked. Well... after walking over to the bird bank, we returned to the Research Seminar, and in our very next session, which was about scaffolding children's artistic skills, the lecturer said, "And now you will have the opportunity to participate in one of my current projects, which is using clay birds to recreate an unattractive part of campus and pull artwork into our university experience in a new way." WHAT?!?!? I could barely believe it! I just about jumped out of my seat in delight, much to the mortification of my colleague, who managed to be a grown-up about the whole thing. 

I made this sleeping clay swan, of which I have to say that I am very proud. I adore how swans sleep with their heads under their wings, and especially the sinuous way their necks bend in order to do so. I also love that black swans have rippled feathers that create an amazing ruffled look, which is what I tried to emulate with the patterning on the wings.

The lecturer promised to fire our creations, some of which were actually works of art (ECE teachers often have a strong creative streak, and some of them were truly talented). I was so very excited for this, and couldn't wait to see my very own bird in the bird bank!

So then, when Mom was here, I took her down to the bird bank, and there it was! My little slumbering swan! She looks very at home there, and I think she will enjoy it thoroughly!

This is another bird from my group (if I remember right) and I loved how it was nestled down into this plant!

Pretty fantastic, right? I randomly hear about a bird bank, and then actually manage to find it just minutes before finding out that I'll get to contribute a bird to it!

Now the perfect end to this story, and one that I was looking forward to, is the part where I go back to that parent and affirm our relationship by telling her that I really went and saw it, and that I actually have a bird in it now! Well... I went to do this, and the mom who I was 100% sure had told me about it said, "No, I've never heard of that." Great. So the universe gifts me a beautiful coincidence, and my memory whole-heartedly drops the ball. And I am mortified on so many levels that I can't remember who told me about this, because 1) I pride myself on having meaningful and individualized relationships with each parent, and yet I have confused two of them in a very basic way, and 2) I remember every word of the conversation (even the directions) because I found it so interesting, so how in the world was a person not attached to it? That shouldn't be how brains work! I haven't decided if I should start asking all the other moms if they told me about it or not, but I probably will have to, or resign myself to wondering about it for the rest of my life. Hopefully I can figure it out.

Despite this failure of memory, I am still thrilled with this series of events, and feel so lucky that this happened!