I can't tell you how much joy this little basket of bits and pieces brings to my heart. It is a harbinger of spring, the first sign that winter is in its last throes. In this diminutive basket near the art supplies, we are collecting items for the birds, who are busy making their nests in preparation for the boom of new life that will be happening in the next few months.

Yarn leftovers, embroidery floss, downy chicken feathers, a left-behind piece of the cloth mop, scraps of fabric, a bit from a torn sponge, a ball of hair after a thorough hair brush cleaning - all of these things would have been thrown away, but our trash is the bird's treasure. After this indoor basket is full, a child takes it outside and deposits the loot in a larger basket, where the birds are free to take what they please at their leisure.

We're hoping that we will see evidence of this gift to the birds in nearby nests. Our eyes are peeled for pieces of bright yarn.