How the Early Bird Caught the Worm

© 2005 copyright Raymond C. Evans

It was just a simple saying but I remember it well, every time the folks wanted us to get up early, (which was all the time). It was always pretty much the same, especially with our father, “rise and shine”, he would bellow, then as what he thought proved the need, he would bellow again, “the early bird catches the worm”. This is how he would greet us in the morning motivated by his perspective.

Now I didn’t see any reason at all that I should compete with a robin, especially if I had to get up from a nice warm bed to do it. Catching worms didn’t exactly make me salivate anyway, really couldn’t get very excited to have them for breakfast for sure. Now if the intent was to catch worms for bait to go fishing, from that perspective maybe I would get excited about it. From my selfish perspective, it didn’t really seem that a couple more hours in bed would hurt anything at all.

I guess it’s all about perspective. From my father’s point of view, even if it was 5AM, cows had to be milked and the barn chores had to be done. From his point of view, he was already late. This was reason enough for him, but we boys were more than a little willing to put it off for just a little longer. We would be more than happy about that time to trade places with some city boys.

Not getting the desired results the first time, didn’t delay things too long, “rise and shine” Dad would bellow again, followed very quickly by, “the early bird catches the worm”. This would most likely be the last call, if we didn’t get moving now; we knew that the next step might be a pan of cold water poured over our heads.

We would stand there rubbing the sleepy sand out of our eyes, we were not moving very fast but at least we were moving. “Wash your face in cold water”, Dad would say gruffly. That would be an easy thing to do. Cold water was all there would be until the kitchen stove got fired up enough to heat the boiler that stood behind the stove. Hot water was not on demand such as it is today. If you wanted hot water, the only way to get it was to stoke the fire in the kitchen stove with wood to heat it. Even then it would take about an hour or so to get it warm.

We all know about the robin’s perspective and strategy, get up early while the dew is still on the grass and go bag a few worms. Cock the head to one side, hop, hop, hop, hey there’s one, grab him quick before he gets away, “dang it all”, “missed”. Try again; cock the head to the other side, hop, hop, hop, another one, got him this time. It’s easy to see the benefits here, for the bird. Early bird catches early worm equals early breakfast. But I wonder if any one at all ever considers the worm’s perspective.

A worm might be better off if he just held back a little while and then leaned back in his rocking chair and had a second cup of coffee. After all, one could not expect to build an acre of perfect garden soil in one day anyway. Who gave the elder worms the right to think that only underachieving worms sleep in? What drives those early worms on their quests to show the entire world that they all should join an occupational fast-track? A really smart worm would be well served to let the sun come up a long time before venturing outside. A worm who had completed “worm school”, grade one through twelve would certainly be educated enough to do the math, “early worm plus early bird equals early breakfast”, no, not for the worm but for the bird. This would most likely cause a really smart worm to seek a career change.

After reflecting on the above bit of wisdom, I too, knew that milking cows was not going to be my career. I could see early on that even if the “early bird catches the worm”; “the early worm also gets caught by the bird”!