Dramatic Renovation

Last year, a group of swallows built a nest
around the entrance of our workplace cafeteria.

We watched with a smile as many
adorable chicks fledged.

However, because there is a lot of foot traffic
and it is a time when we have to be careful about hygiene,
the staff were having trouble with the swallows
flying in whenever the door opened.

For that reason, this year we decided to cover
the light fixtures and small ledges on the walls,
which serve as easy footholds for nesting,
completely with bird netting.

When they returned from Southeast Asia
after a year away,
last year's nest was gone and covered in netting,
leaving the swallows confused and flying about in a frenzy.

I feel a little sorry for them, but it is for our mutual peace.
Sorry!

However, it seems the swallows couldn't give up on this prime location,
and they tried to forcefully build a nest
on top of the netting.

With the mud and grass that fell when they didn't succeed,
the hallway looked just like a construction site.

After trying several times,
they must have given up, as they disappeared.

One day, I headed to the cafeteria
through the automatic door, which had seen no changes.

When I returned about 45 minutes later,
there was not a speck of dirt when I left,
but at my feet under the automatic door, there were familiar
clumps of mud and scraps of dried grass...

I looked up and was shocked!!

Using the thin sensor of the automatic door
installed overhead as a foothold,
a swallow's nest was 50% complete!

While I was relaxing, eating a rice ball, drinking soy milk, and looking at my smartphone,
the swallows were gathering nesting materials from the distant rice fields
and using those tiny beaks of theirs
to make this much progress on the construction.

It's amazing!
The swallows' nesting skills!!!

However, the location was just too bad.

It was right in the middle of the main employee entrance.
Having chick droppings, molted feathers, and uneaten insects
raining down from above their heads would really be a problem.

I made a bold decision, and the quick-working architect
was unfortunately chased away, and the nest under construction
was removed.

I truly feel sorry for them.

I hope they can find a calmer place
with a little less conflict.

I looked up at the gloomy sky
and worried about where they had gone.

Then, a few days later, after finishing lunch,
there was a small amount of mud at my feet again...

On the power line I looked up at,
a pair of swallows looked at me with annoyance
and tilted their heads.

Whether opposed or hindered,
I want to support the desire to live here, but
it is a troublesome problem.

For both people and birds, raising children
is full of difficulties, isn't it.

#CreativeAwards2025
#EssayCategory