"A Natural Tribute is a Profound Tribute..."

The sun smiled down as the desert began to come to life with the freshness of spring. Flowers shyly opened their petals. Bees and butterflies bustled about their tasks of gathering pollen and nectar. Birds chased each other through the skies, constructing nests to house the season’s fledglings until ready for flight.

Two yearling border collie puppies lay in the shade of the sweet-smelling honey suckle, watching as the birds flew from ground to trees with nesting materials for their humble homes. As the puppies’ uncle, a large white and black border collie named Bo, watched over the girls, he carefully licked each of his paws to wipe off the dust from his morning rounds. 

“Uncle Bo,” asked Morgan, a merle-colored border collie who was always sharp to notice when any little thing was different. “Are bird nests always so brightly colored?” She pointed with her nose to the sparrows’ nest in the rain gutter, and then to the robins’ nest in the oak. Then she pointed to the ravens’ house in the big pine, and the finches’ dwelling in the locust tree. 

“What do you see, Morgan?” asked Bo, who like many dogs wasn’t always quick at noticing exact colors.

“The nests are all in colors this spring,” explained Morgan. “I remember them being mostly brown last year. Now I see red, white and blue.”

Bo looked carefully. “You’re right, Morgan!” Bo sat up and looked serious. “What a wonderful tribute.”

“What’s a tribute, Uncle Bo?” asked Nessie, the red and white pup who had been listening dreamily to the conversation without comment.

“A tribute is something done in honor or remembrance of something, Nessie,” explained Uncle Bo.

“Oh,” said Nessie, ready to go back to sleep, but not wanting to miss anything important.

“Uncle Bo,” questioned Morgan, “tribute for what?”

“The red, white and blue in those nests are from flags of this country, Morgan,” Bo explained. “They were flown in honor of people who died in a great tragedy back when the leaves started to fall last year. The people called it September 11th or 9-1-1.  Now I believe the birds are continuing that tribute by rescuing the old flags and carrying on the colors.”

“Oh,” Morgan pondered. 

“What happened?” Morgan and Nessie asked together.

“Well, girls, as near as I can figure out, our country where we live was attacked by evil men.”

“Oh, that’s terrible!” exclaimed the girls together. “Are we safe here?”

“Yes, girls,” said Bo. “I think we are safe here. But many dogs and cats lost their people that day. Many children lost their parents.” 

“Oh, Uncle Bo! That’s so sad,” whimpered Morgan. “How?”

“Well, Morgan, you know those big metal birds that fly overhead?”

“Yes, Uncle Bo. You’ve told me the people call those planes, and that hundreds of people fly around in one at a time so they can go places that are far away and travel really fast.”

“That’s right,” Bo said. “Well, some evil men took control of some of those planes and flew them into two big towers in a place called New York City.”

“Why didn’t the dogs or people on the plane stop them?” shouted Nessie, “I would have bitten them and made them stop!”

“I know you would, Nessie, and I would have too,” Bo said soothingly. “Many dogs and people would have bitten them, had they only known. But the dogs on the flight were carried in a special area to protect them from the people, and the people on the flight were too trusting. They believed that the evil men only wanted them to fly somewhere different. They didn’t know those bad men would make the planes crash into big buildings where 50,000 people worked. Of four planes taken over that day, only the passengers on one plane were able to fight back. That plane crashed in a field in sight of a school, but not into any buildings where other people would have been killed.”

“Oh, Uncle Bo! What about the 50,000 people? Did any escape?”

“Nessie, Morgan…brave acts happened that day. Many firefighters and policemen were killed trying to rescue the people in the buildings, and many who worked there died when the fire came too close or when the buildings collapsed. But somehow, through lots of miracles, many escaped. A boss for the train station ordered the trains to shut down, and made a final train pick up anybody left in the train station below the building. For unexplained reasons, many people were late to work that day or were doing things with their children instead of being at work. Much bravery was shown in getting people out of that building. Of  the 50,000 people there, maybe about 5,000 died. That’s one tenth... one out of every ten. It was so terrible, and still could have been so much worse.”

“The buildings burned and collapsed?” asked Morgan, quietly.

“Yes, Morgan,” Bo continued. “Imagine having a big tree house with a stairway up to the top of a giant tree, taller than any you have ever seen. Imagine that all the animals living in the tree had to come down that narrow and twisting stairway to get to the ground. Now imagine if a forest fire started that tree burning and all the animals had to take turns coming down that stairway to get to safety.”

“Wow, that would be frightening,” whined Morgan. 

“I’d jump,” barked Nessie.

“Some of the people did jump,” Bo continued. “But they were too far up to survive. The fire fighters later said the sounds of people jumping were horrifying.”

“I would have caught them,” offered Nessie.

“I know girl,” Bo comforted. “We all would have wanted to do something. Many dogs are still working with the rescuers trying to help find the missing so they can be buried properly.”

“So what did people do?” asked Morgan.

“Well, girls, pets around the world responded by loving their people. They could tell their people were upset and scared and worried. Pets licked their owners more and stayed by their feet and guarded them when they were home.”

“That’s good, Uncle Bo,” Morgan nodded.

“People started loving their families more,” Bo said seriously. “Husbands hugged wives and children. Wives hugged children and husbands. Neighbors hugged neighbors. Coworkers hugged coworkers. People hugged their country by wearing red, white and blue and flying flags everywhere.”

“So a little goodness came out of something really evil?” asked Morgan, trembling a bit from the sadness of the story.

“Yes, Morgan,” Bo nodded, “Out of something wicked and evil, good began to conquer. People became kinder and more loving when thinking of that horrible day. They were reminded how precious is the gift of life and loved ones. They flew those flags from their cars and houses. They wore flags on t-shirts, jackets and caps.”

“Well, how did the birds get the red, white and blue cloth, Uncle Bo?” asked Nessie.

“As the flags on the cars grew older, they began to tatter,” explained Bo. “Normally people are very careful with their flags. But the flags on the cars sometimes flew off when the people were driving very fast, as humans often do when they rush from place to place. These lost threads and forgotten old and worn flags landed in ditches and beside the roads. Birds of every kind saw the noble symbols lying in the mud, and rescued every last one. All around the country, birds big and small continue the tribute by rescuing flags and building nests with those honored red, white and blue threads. This year’s nests honor those who died, and honor the love of country that belongs to be shared by all who remain.”

“Oh, Uncle Bo,” said Morgan, “That’s wonderful. I’ll never look at a bird’s nest the same way.” 

“I want a closer look,” barked Nessie. She began jumping up and down under the sparrows’ nest. 

“You’ll never get there that way girl,” laughed Bo. “You would be better off trying to learn to climb a ladder or a tree!”   

“Ha, Nessie,” teased Morgan. “You should have paid more attention to those Agility class lessons!” Nessie gave Morgan a playful nip, and Morgan responded in kind.

“Come away girls,” Bo called. “Let’s go show our people some extra love and attention.”

The three trotted off to find Mum and give her an extra lick of love, while the busy birds stuck to building their nests of patriotic tribute with salvaged threads that would gently house the spring’s hatchlings and ensure September 11th would never be forgotten in the legends of the winged ones and humans alike.