Days six to eight.....
This was our last nostalgic ride on the New York subway on our way to pickup our rental car that would take us from the city to Connecticut, on next stop. We were so sad to take our last subway ride and to say goodbye to New York. Until next time, New York!
We started out in New Canaan, Connecticut, about an hour drive from the city, which we found to be a charming town. There was charming town center filled with a mix of stylish and old fashioned shops. The majestic homes were set on large, lush, tree-filled lots. New Canaan was a definite contender for a future move.
We moved on to Westport, Connecticut, nearby, which was equally inviting. Situated on the Long Island Sound, many of the homes had stunning coastal views. The town center was as charming as the one in New Canaan and filled with delightful shops, great restaurants and an incredible new public library (a very important feature for us, given the voracious readers in this family). Westport was in the race as well. We owe a huge thanks to Bobbie Abagnale, our real estate agent, for taking time to show us homes and around the towns, over the three days we were there.
We had a lovely dinner out in Greenwich, Connecticut on our second night, where we enjoyed the flourishing hydrangeas everywhere. Catherine and I love hydrangeas, so we were delighted to see them everywhere we turned, in Connecticut.
After arriving home from dinner in Greenwich, we were met with unexpected animal rescue mission, of big proportions. It started when Miles found this days-old baby Starling bird in the parking lot of our hotel, when we arrived home from dinner. Sadly, the baby bird looked like it had fallen out of its nest and wasn't long for the world. I told the kids we could "sneak" the bird up to our hotel room and make it comfortable so that it could die in peace. The was the only outcome that looked probable at that moment. As it turned out, that's not what happened. After we got the bird back to our room and comfortable (in a Kleenex box), we all took turns singing to the bird (that's what it said to do on the internet to keep it comfortable). Then, right before midnight, I threw some clothes on over my nightgown and drove down the street to the local CVS, before it closed, to purchase the bird a heating pad (this suggestion also came from the internet) We placed the heating pad in the dresser drawer (on low heat) and nestled the bird in some towels over the heating pad. I was the last to go to bed and fully expected the bird to have gone to heaven by the morning.
I awoke at day break to a faint chirping sound coming from drawer. I rushed over and found "Birdie" (as Miles had named her) to be very much alive and looking for food. I woke the kids up a little while later to share the miraculous news. We were all ecstatic! We packed our suitcases as quickly as we could (as we were checking out that day) and snuck Birdie out of the hotel with us. We had found an animal sanctuary, about an hour away, that was willing to take her. But we had to get her there fast since we figured she hadn't eaten in many, many hours.
We arrived to the Wildlife in Crisis sanctuary right when it opened, at 9, to drop off Birdie. The wonderful news was that they felt Birdie had a great chance of surviving. We were so grateful for the good news. They told us they would put her in an incubator, hand feed her round the clock, eventually put her with other Starlings they had rescued and finally, release her back into the wild when she was strong enough. We called to check on her 3-4 days after we dropped her off and they said she was doing thriving! We all assume that Birdie is now somewhere in Connecticut flying around happily, and grateful for her second chance at life.