Worried that the five newly hatched birds might be cooked to a crisp, I grabbed the hose and misted the house down.

Betty Smith, the bluebirds' godmother from next door, brought a couple of wooden planks to put atop the metal roof to deflect some of the heat.

When I peeped in to check on the little bits of blue fluff, they were still alive, their tiny beaks agape, gasping, I guessed, more for air than for worms.

At the bird store, I shared my concern with the caring management. When I asked why the female spent so much time in the steaming bird box, I was told, "She's in there, flapping her wings trying to keep her young from suffocating."

I went home, once more pondering the nobility of motherhood.

And, alas, also pondering the tyranny of motherhood, so cruelly personified by Lynn Paddock, the Johnston County woman recently convicted of smothering her 4-year-old adopted son, Sean.

The litany of the unspeakable abuses inflicted on Sean and his siblings described so vividly, perhaps too vividly, during the trial causes one to wonder which was worse for Sean, the death or the tortures he suffered beforehand.

The role of the "good mother" is no piece of cake, requiring endless patience, unceasing energy, eternal diligence and total love without reservation.

Yes, mothering can strain the psyche to the breaking point, but few, at least we pray very few, succumb to the pressure and resort to the kind of atrocities attributed to Lynn Paddock, who will spend the rest of her life in prison for her deeds.

To a dependent, helpless child, a mother, above all others, should be the haven from the storms of life, not the storm itself with unpredictable lightning flashes of rage and violence that become a pattern rather than a sometimes thing.

Someone ventured that, in view of the child abuse she herself had suffered, Paddock's sentence might have been too severe and that a Wake County jury might have convicted her of involuntary manslaughter rather than first-degree murder.

The Johnston County jury didn't pussyfoot around. It said, in effect, "This was the worst of crimes, the unforgivable crime of betrayal of a child by the very person who, above all, is supposed to love and nurture him, no matter what."

Even a mother bluebird, fanning her young in 115-degree heat, realizes that.

As others see us

When Americans traveling abroad run into other Americans, the most common question, after 'Where is the toilet?" is "Where are you from?" And you go on from there.

On a recent vacation in Italy and Greece, I conducted a bit of informal research by asking new acquaintances what comes to mind when they hear "North Carolina."

Michael Jordan came in first. Other contenders were "Your beautiful mountains," the Outer Banks, Duke University and The Lost Colony.

Expanding the mini-survey a bit further I queried English-speaking Italians and Greeks on what they think of the United States.

There were no rave reviews, although one Italian gentleman, noting that America's prestige has declined in recent years, insisted, "Your country is still No. 1, and probably will remain so."

A young tour guide leading us up the mountain to the Parthenon said, "Americans as a people are probably the most friendly and laid back of any nationality I encounter in my work. I love them. But your government is far too meddlesome."

Another labeled us as "a selfish country," a part of a generally selfish world culture that lets millions of people starve to death while enjoying its own creature comforts. "World hunger is the most pressing issue in the world today and your country is not leading the way in dealing with it," he said.

Beware of Oracles

While in Greece, I climbed the mountain to consult the Oracle at Delphi.

Some of you may recall that it was at this very spot, in Greek mythology, that the Oracle messed up the life of Oedipus by predicting that he would kill his father and marry his mother, which he did eventually, unintentionally, of course.

From this tragic tale, psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud fashioned the term "Oedipus complex," i.e., an abnormal attraction of sons to mothers. A byproduct is parental concern when Junior insists on sleeping with his mom until he's 10 or beyond.

My simple question to the Oracle was: "Why do the Greek dogs near our hotel bark in English?"

She did not come up with an answer. Oracles ain't nearly as smart as they're cracked up to be.

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