on a small but cheerful note (good things still happen)

Anyone else depressed by all the miserable reports on the news tonight?

An asylum seeker poisoning himself and dying after what appears to be dastardly treatment at the hands of the Australian Government. Four hundred dead (and counting) in the earthquake in Turkey. Tony Abbott acting like a turkey. Major flooding in Bangkok and Dublin. Financial doom and gloom.

One way or another, it's all pretty grim.

So here's a cheerful little story, with a happy ending, to lift the pall of sadness.

Frank was rather distressed to discover that a tree he had chopped down the day before, had taken down a magpie nest with it. By the time he returned to clean up yesterday, and discovered the nest with chick insitu, the poor little thing was a little worse for wear - Frank thought it was dead. (This is not the cheerful part of the story)

After a little poking and prodding, and gentle removal from under the fallen foliage, it became evident the chick was, in fact, intact. It had survived its fall unscathed, although it was a little dehydrated and famished. (Things are looking up now)

Frank is a very caring person, and has a special connection with animals. If you want to see him cry, tell him about an injured beastie. (Actually don't, because that would ruin the cheeriness of my happy tale) Anyway, he rang the RSPCA to find out if there was anything they could do to assist a poor orphaned magpie. "Find a tree nearby and transfer the nest into a suitable forked branch. Hopefully the parents will find it and Bob's your uncle."

Perfect. Frank is a tree man. Climbing trees is his thing. So up he went and secured the nest safely before returning to work on the ground. Except he decided the maggie was hungry, so he dug up a few worms and found a slug or two, climbed back up the tree and fed the bird, who fell hungrily upon the food and perked up immediately. (Happy, happy) Since no magpie parents rushed to the immediate aid of their re-instated offspring, Frank ended up climbing the tree four times with his tasty morsels. (Awww - I told you he has a special connection with animals)

Frank came home and told me the story, and I was all 'how sweet... but what if magpie mummy and daddy don't find their little birdie?' Don't worry - he had it covered. Today he popped back to the site. And. There were mum and dad magpie, warbling happily and feeding their youngster.

Ah. What a great little story hey? So when the day is dark and the news grim, remember the magpie who lost its home before being restored to a tree and reunited with its parents. That'll make you smile.