Goodbye Baker Lane

We finished cleaning out Baker Lane on the weekend before closing. I went back in the evening to grab a few last items and took the opportunity to take a few last moments in the girls’ rooms. It was pretty hard to say goodbye. It was a great neighborhood and it was there that Ellie and Phoebe spent all their infant and toddler years, learning to crawl, eat walk, talk while we learned how to be parents. It is amazing to me that Ellie will likely not remember the house. Phoebe’s memories will be fuzzy at best. I was quite melancholy as I locked the keys in the house that last time. I arrived at our new house to find a female ruby throated hummingbird trapped in our garage and behaving erratically. She managed to fly out the door but landed hard on the driveway. Cristin came out to confer and we were discussing what to do with her when we noticed she was tangled in some line that was looped around her beak and wing. I reached for the bird expecting it to react and instead it remained still, only making small peeps while we carefully removed the thread from her frail feet and wings. After that she stood on my finger for a few minutes and then suddenly flew away. I don’t believe any signs (or much of anything not testable or reproducible) but if there is such a thing I will take this to mean that we made the right decision moving to Oakland.