Childhood Regrets

As we get older and look back down the road of life we inevitably remember many things we regret. All my life I have had a passion for birds, I refer of course to the feathered variety. From a very young age I was always fascinated by them. As a young kid, like most other kids of that era, I had a collection of birds eggs. We would trawl miles of dyke's and hedgerows looking for nests and when we found a nest with eggs, which we didn't have in our collection, we would take one from the nest. When we got home we would carefully make a hole in each end of the egg with a pin or a needle, blow from one end until the yolk ran out the other end. When the egg was completely empty it went into a shoe box with sawdust in the bottom and eventually we built up a collection. At the time we didn't know any better and never gave a thought to how cruel this seemingly innocent activity was. I look back now and regret that I ever did it. Worse still, around this time I also used to catch birds. This was done by propping up an old garden riddle with a piece of stick. A long string, that led into the house, was tied to the stick and I would hold the other end of the string whilst watching through the window. Pieces of bread were put under the riddle towards the back with a couple a pieces left outside. When the birds had eaten the bread outside the riddle they would then have the confidence to go under the riddle for the rest of the bread. I would then yank the string, the stick would be dislodged and the riddle would fall trapping the poor unsuspecting bird inside. This way I was able to look through the top of the riddle and observe the birds close up. After studying them for a few minutes I would lift the riddle and allow the birds to fly away. One fateful day a blue tit went in to get the bread and as usual I yanked the stick away and ran out to watch him. Unfortunately, as the stick moved he realised the danger and started to fly out, only for the edge of the riddle to come down on the back of his neck which killed him. I remember to this day holding him in the palm of my hand and bursting into tears. I never ever tried to catch a bird again and to this day I regret I ever started.