This gift is for the birds

When we added finches to our family, we started with one cage on a table. As time went on and the birds doubled, we ended up with two cages in two different rooms—one on a card table and one on two chairs pushed together.

It wasn’t ideal, but “ideal” wasn’t really what we were striving for during the past year. It was perfectly fine. Still, as the person who feeds our birds and cleans the cages, I dreamed of the day when I might be able to have the birds in one easily accessible location.

I searched for shelves that might hold the cages, but nothing seemed strong and sturdy enough. And nothing was the right size.

I could only think of one solution. I asked my father whether he would be willing to build a stand for the cages.

My father is the son of a cabinetmaker, and he is quite a craftsman himself. He has constructed a large wooden truck-shaped toy box for each set of grandchildren. He designed and created bunkbeds for my sister’s twin boys, who just (inexplicably and without asking my permission) turned 4. He has made a bench and a table and even a fire engine he hid from us in plain sight one Advent and surprised us with on Christmas morning.

And he’s probably built dozens of other items that I just happen to be forgetting right now.

If anyone could build the birdcage stand of all birdcage stands, it would be my father.

He took measurements and designed the structure, keeping in mind that the stand had to be solid and strong, but it also needed to be open to allow airflow for the birds. I didn’t have grand expectations as far as how elegant the stand would be—but my father had a vision. He decided to go to a sawmill in Kingsville, where he bought a beautiful slab of ash. He asked a friend to plane the wood for him. Then he set to work.

Now and then we would get exciting text updates about the progress he was making. After weeks of work, he announced that he was finished. Our stand was ready! John went to pick it up and bring it home, where he added a coat of polyurethane, and then we put the cages in place. It’s an absolutely beautiful addition to our living room, and I smile every time I look at it.

The birds—who typically don’t like change of any sort, even when it’s for the better—immediately seemed at home. And I have the easiest time feeding and cleaning them because the stand is beautifully open and accessible.

Best of all, of course, is that the stand was made just for us—or our finches—by my father. It was installed in our home in time for the Feast of St. Francis when our younger son sprayed the finches with holy water while I read a blessing. The finches love water—even when it’s not holy. They chirped and danced around their cages on their beautiful new stand.

This gift is for the birds—and I absolutely love it.

Copyright © 2021 Catholic Review Media

 Print