A Bird's Nest, in Three Takes

When Dad was in Door County, he sometimes did a little woodworking. He liked to whittle and carve shapes, and he occasionally created pieces using driftwood. One autumn, Dad found an abandoned bird's nest. He attached the nest—still suspended in a twig—to a piece of firewood.

Door County, Wisconsin, October 1979. The nest sat in a thimbleberry bush.

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Verona, Wisconsin, October 2013. Dad varnished the wood base.

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Verona, Wisconsin, October 2013. Mom often positioned a paper mâché bird in the nest. She picked the bird up at a garage sale.