I made a piece for the recent Blarney books show �New life from old bones� and one piece was Marie Curie on a tight rope going up hill balancing husband, children and career. It was a nice piece but did not attract any real interest so it has been recycled here into this piece. I added the bird and gave her a new title and I feel it is what we all confront at different times when the completely unexpected suddenly throws a spanner in the works ( or a bird on the pole). I also suspect this has echoes of Wylie Coyote cartoons and I am sure he was in a similar situation at least once.