Every shade of ...

This weekend was very blue - the bluest in recent memory - and I've yet to recover fully from the emotional downward spiral.

It all started on Friday afternoon when I got home from work. We have this beautiful wooded area behind our house that we paid a lot premium for because, being the bird and nature nerds we are, we wanted lots of wildlife and privacy. When I arrived home on Friday, most of the trees were completely gone, thinned out to a tiny glimmer of their former beauty.

Mike and I were both devastated - and still are. We've watched as our feathered friends bring their newest brood to our feeders. We've laughed at their crazy antics and smiled at how comfortable and trusting these wild animals are within our presence. We've watched the parents during their nest-building projects, where they pluck Toby's discarded fur from the yard to line their nests. We plant trees and flowers to specifically attract certain types of birds and other wildlife. To us, it was our own private oasis to nurture and protect.

But, all of that changed with the excavation of our haven by money-hungry, corrupt developers. The area behind our house is so sparse now that it's depressing and harsh on the eyes. And, now our outside friends are scrambling to make new roosts or find their mates. It was truly sad to watch their confused states, trying to figure out what had happened to their once-peaceful and simple existence.

The price of progress - if progress is what you can call this destruction.

We were grossly misled when we purchased our home; we were fed any line so the realtor could close the deal. (Talk about buyer beware!) Sometimes I wish I didn't have so much faith in people and my belief that they're inherently honest, because then I'd never be let down when life doesn't play out as I'm told it will. There was supposedly no way this land behind us could be developed - something to do with a species of tree growing there that was protected, as well as a swamp-like area within all that acreage. But, as usual, bureaucrats twisted the laws to their advantage, stripped that area of its protection, and ultimately raped the land and its occupants.

Seeing those trees gone almost from one minute to the next is what shook me up the most. They were there when I left in the morning and ground to mulch eight hours later. It reminded me of how Ryan was here one moment and gone the next, with no way of getting him back.

And, I know they're "only" trees and they're "only" animals, but why do people care so little about the smallest forms of life? They matter, too. Just because they can't speak out in their defense doesn't mean they're insignificant.

Another loss to mourn.