Most of you know I’ve grown rather fond of my birds. I used to watch them for hours at the lake, flying in and out to visit feeders by the dining room window. Now we’ve put a feeder up outside our kitchen window so we’re talking serious happy time, every single morning.

“I pray to the birds. I pray to the birds because I believe they will carry the messages of my heart upward. I pray to them because I believe in their existence, the way their songs begin and end each day — the invocations and benedictions of Earth. I pray to the birds because they remind me of what I love rather than what I fear. And at the end of my prayers, they teach me how to listen.”
― Terry Tempest Williams, Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place

I love all of my birds, but I have to admit I’ve got a soft spot for the cardinals. They were always mom’s favorite.

She loved watching them at her own feeder, and now I find the same joy in their visits. I watch those bright red birds in our yard and think of mom – her gentle spirit, her boundless love – and my heart is glad.