architects

i will pass around a robin's nest. the nine-year-olds are told that they have to look very close, to try to figure out what the bird makes the nest out of. they shout "sticks! grass! mud!" and i ask them how the robin puts the mud into the bottom of the nest. they throw out guesses: tail, feet, beak, wings. then  i will shake my head and tell them to stick their red robin tummies out and we giggle while we smear that mud into the nest.
we'll touch a yellow warbler's nest. it is soft inside, a tiny cocoon, i'll whisper the warbler's secret recipe for the cushioned and delicate lodge: cottonwood seeds and spider's webs.
then we'll run our fingers along the inside of a hollow tree, an abandoned honeybee's nest, brown and waxy. under the hot sun the wax gives off the smell of honey, it is sweet and wild and we all make little mmm sounds while we smell our hands.

robin's nest

paper wasp's nest

cliff swallow's nests