Adolescence is, perhaps, nature’s way of preparing parents to welcome the empty nest.

~Karen Savage and Patricia Adams, The Good Stepmother

Teenagers!

A little awkward and gawky… they don’t mind boundaries well, anymore, or their parent’s alarm call… and they’re as likely to amble unawares into a group of Greater Black-Backs as to snuggle sweetly under dad’s wing… they nap together during the hottest part of the afternoon and then scatter to the wind to feed as the sun sets.

It’s getting harder to keep track of them… harder to tell them apart from their dad at a distance.

It’s been a full week since I’ve seen them… and suddenly they have wings… suddenly they’re plovers.

(g)