Shoe, Sweet ,Shoe

by Elena Mussienko
(Maryland)

Wren Nest In Shoe

Who would have thought that drying out ones shoes would invite a new visitor?

We had just returned from a very wet camping trip and most of our shoes were soaked! My mom, my dad and myself left our shoes out on the side porch of our house to dry.

My dad had a pair of brown tennis shoes, my mom had a pair of running shoes and I had a pair of pink rain boots. After we did that, our lives got very busy and we forgot about our shoes.

Thankfully we had placed them on a table under the awing of our porch. I left my rain boots on the brick ledge under the awing leading into our house.

About a week had passed and my mom had remembered about our drying shoes out on the porch. She went outside to get hers.

My boots were caked with mud on the bottom so I had to clean them. My mom came in the house without her shoes and told me to be quiet and come outside.

I went with her and she pointed out the nest that was in my dad's left brown shoe. We researched what bird it was by the eggs and discovered it was a wren's nest.

We read that wrens nest in odd places. We later saw the female wren fly in to check on her eggs. Thankfully my korean jindo did not disturb them.
He usually barks and whines at any small animals.

My mom is worried now because it has been a least half a week and she has not seen the female come back to sit on the eggs.

My dad and I have a theory that she only comes at night to incubate them. So that is the story of how our wet shoes attracted a feathery visitor.