Once Upon a time....

There was this Crow family raising their young just down from our trailer at Waskesiu.

When we arrived in late June, Cocoa was just waiting to fly the coop. He was anxious, more anxious than his brothers and sisters. He hatched first, was the eldest after all, and felt it his duty to take off first and show his siblings how life on the outside should and would be lived. Little did he know he had a few lessons in the "how to's" of life before he could show anyone anything.

Mother was patient. She did her best with him. When she sat on a nearby branch and told him to flap and leap, he looked from side to side, glancing here and there, wanting to be brave, but alas, his squawk was louder and braver than his courage. He simply couldn't do it. He was a failure.

Next day, same senario. But he'd had enough snickers from his nest-mates. When Mother said flap, he flapped. When Mother said keep flapping, he did that too and to his total astonishment he took off, prouder than any peacock. He took a solid hit though in his brief but robust journey and he thumped to the ground. That didn't stop him. He simply kept flapping and it took him up to the top of the local shower house.

Mother was giving him speaking lessons at the same time. He couldn't quite get the "caw, caw, caw", like Mother was saying. She enunciated so well. Would he ever get on to it...."caaaaaaaaw, crrrrraaaawwwww, caww, cawwww". Not like Mother's. He tried again and again.

He could hear Cathy and Crumpet, Cody and Carl.....they were encouraging him onward and upward. But what was he doing up on the roof of this building anyway. He soon found out. Mother said to follow her and she would show him how to get a drink of water. "Follow me son", she cawed, fanning out her feathers to make her point. Hopping sideways down the roof, she edged to the tin precipice and proceeded to get a beak of water. Looked easy, but Cocoa's feet kept slipping. He was going to fall off, he just knew it. Everyone around would be laughing their tail feathers off...and that ugly white gull flying overhead was just waiting for him to slip up.....or down, perhaps would be more appropriate. Mother said it wasn't nice to hate gulls but she said he could grab things out of their mouths if we wanted to.

He was moving very slowly and Mother was now getting quite perplexed. He didn't want her wrath, and he certainly didn't want any more humiliation. Off he went and when Mother said "stop", he stopped...right beside her. He bent down very slowly, and keeping his feet astride he took a long sluuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrp.

Heh. Learned that pretty fast, he thought to himself. But I still can't get my cawing in proper sequence. Mother went "caw, caw, caw"....I shall try again..."caw, caw, caw....caw. Oops....drats. I did one caw too many. I will do it....I will do it....caw, caw, caw!!!"

By the look on Mother's face, she was one proud crow. Cocoa learned his Caw-Caw-Caw's very quickly too. Soon he was the very best son a Mother could ever have. She taught him many things in those few short weeks. Things like how to eat anything and everything, where to go to shop for garbage, etc., how to wait for campers to leave so he could feast on anything outside their trailers...things like that. He even learned to be coy and allow them to take his picture.

Yes, he thought, people surely are funny. His Mother said the whole Crow family would all be leaving for a long trip soon, so they could enjoy the warm weather far to the south....and all these people would be staying here to freeze their feath....oh no, they don't have feathers.....freeze their butts, (I think that's what Mother called them)... off!!!

"People sure have a lot to learn!"......Cocoa thought to himself, as he posed for the camera lady.