Scaring Some Sense

I awoke on a Saturday morning at 7:00 a.m. to the sound of my neighbor hammering. I’ve never been a morning person, and even if I were, I surely wouldn’t be a weekend-morning person. But you learn to take some things in stride, so I didn’t let the noise get to me.

I went downstairs, made some coffee, and went outside to see what was happening. I wasn’t going to confront my neighbor; I just wanted to remind him that some people sleep in on the weekend. The idea was that the vision of me in my robe and furry slippers was nightmarish enough to shock him into that reality.

Much to my surprise, he was nowhere to be found. I went back in and could still hear the hammering. I continued to search for its origin. Finally, I discovered that a couple of finches were pounding against the window in the bathroom. Well, didn’t I feel like a fool, thinking that my neighbor was being rude, when it was Mother Nature playing a practical joke on me.

I went on with my day and did the usual Saturday stuff. Later that afternoon, I could still hear the finches. They were determined to make a hole in the dual-paned window.

I was wondering how their little beaks were holding up after a full day of literally beating their heads against a wall. There were actually traces of blood on the window from their relentless pursuit, and I needed to find a way to make them stop. I tried chasing them away, but my clapping hands and window rattling had no effect.

This was a quandary. I never received training for anything like this in graduate school. There should be at least one mandatory course that teaches city boys to deal with wildlife. You could feel the drama building with every beak-slap. I didn’t want to be responsible for the little birds accidentally killing themselves because they were so resolute about building their nest.

I thought that maybe my cat might scare some sense into them, but he wasn’t a willing participant. I couldn’t figure out what to do, and then the penny dropped. I went into my office and dug out an old calendar that had a large photo of the cat.

I took the picture of my frightening feline and taped it against the window facing out. It worked! The birds left and didn’t return. I decided to leave the picture up for a little while. Not because I was afraid the birds would come back. But seeing the picture makes me smile when I remember the day.

The moral of this story is that sometimes we need to be scared into doing what's good for us. And sometimes, when we think we're being scary (in our PJs), we're really just tilting at windmills.

- Barton Goldsmith, Ph.D., author of "Emotional Fitness for Couples" can be reached at (818) 879-9996 or via e-mail at Barton@BartonGoldsmith.com. He has resided and practiced in Westlake Village for over a decade. Hear him live on KCLU Radio, 88.3FM, every Monday from 2-3 p.m.