This week, the weather has been mild and the cardinals have been abundant around our neighborhood. A buff-colored female cardinal plucked red berries from the winterberry shrubs outside our window. The red males fluttered in the bare, small trees and shrubs: the lilac, the Rose of Sharon, the crabapples.
Those richly colored feathers, fluttering wings and curious eyes. Nothing freezes me in place and takes my breath away like a bluebird or beautiful red cardinal landing in perfect view outside the window.
“Heaven birds” the boy who lives next door calls the cardinals. Little signs that our loved ones are OK.
Here is a story about a whole flock of bluebirds feasting on the berries in February 2021, bringing their inspiration and magic right up to the kitchen window.
That winter, they provided an especially comforting connection.
