the sun came up on a beautiful summer morning

he watched the spectacle from his bedroom

his wife slept soundly

she wore an eye pillow to prevent light waking her

he got up, moving slowly to not disturb her

hot tea was his priority

taking his tea out to the deck so he could look over the water

ospreys were flying in the bay

watching the ospreys nest building

laying twigs on a platform in the bay

the couple worked in relays

relentlessly adding more to the nest

some of the twigs fell into the water

they were undeterred

they kept building in relays

flying back to a tree on the waterline

landing on a fixed branch

then taking off and ripping it off the tree

sometimes the branches were really big

the bird could hardly fly with it

but they kept on going

the instinct to reproduce is intense

they wanted to make a nest

they wanted to raise babies

his thoughts wandered

he went back inside the bedroom

gently arousing his wife with a kiss

“it’s too early in the morning” she screamed

she rolled over and buried her face in the covers

he went back outside to watch the nest building

his tea was cold

the ospreys continued to nest-build

he threw away the cold tea

made another hot cup

went inside to watch sports on TV

he put the TV on max volume

soon after she started to text

“turn it down”

he turned off the TV

went for a walk

He met a beautiful lady walking

they got talking about ospreys

he never returned home

the ospreys raised a family

His tea never went cold again