Our clothes dryer started taking a really long time to get things dry a couple of weeks ago, so today I finally decided to check out the exterior vent. I was expecting to find a bunch of lint and junk, but I was surprised to find a whole bird’s nest in one four-inch duct.

It’s the Fourth of July, so I’ve been reflecting on how our country was founded on the principle of harboring the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free”, but I decided to tell the bird family to “Hit the road, Jack!”

As I started hauling scraps of straw, torn-up tarp, feathers and plastic bag out of there, I was thinking, “I hope whatever bird made this nest isn’t in there, planning to attack me when I stick my hand in.” I did get quite the surprise when a little bird jumped out of there — I jumped back myself and fell off the ladder. Sarah thought the whole thing was pretty amusing. I also found a little bit of egg yolk on my shoe and on the ladder, so it appears I unintentionally killed a pre-baby bird. (Not any worse than the chicken eggs I ate for breakfast yesterday though.)

The photo above shows my triumphant pose at the top of the ladder (and what I look like after not shaving since Sunday morning).

My apologies to “They Might Be Giants” for the title of this post.