Sleeping Beauty, a couple of cardinals, and me

When it comes to nature loving, living in Upstate definitely has its perks. It seems as though there's an absolute endless supply of flora and fauna, native to these parts, that a Utah girl like me has never seen before. Thus, seeing things like a real hydrangea blooming in my front yard brings endless delight. Until I moved here, I'd never seen one except the type you buy at Michaels.

The same is true for the fauna. Chipmunks, squirrels, skunks (yes, skunks!), deer, foxes, bunnies, and the like wander with surprising frequency through our backyard. I keep snapping pictures of the bunnies that hop around, then wonder what I'm going to do with those pictures. It's not like you can scrapboook all the bunny pictures so that 15 years from now you can gather 'round at the family reunion and go, "Oh, look at the bunny! Oh, and look at the other bunny! Boy, I sure am glad mom got all those bunny pictures!"

Nevertheless, it's hard not to be intrigued. We've got so many little birds and animals living in our yard, I sometimes have a Sleeping Beauty moment where I imagine that I go outside to the back yard and sing a lovely aria with the birds. Like this:


Please note: she is singing with a cardinal. AND Sleeping Beauty is my favorite Disney Princess (because you have to have one). It could happen. It could.

But really, it's not gonna happen. I have to confess, I am not an animal lover and they seem to sense it. We have a bit of agreement, the animals and I. We live and let live. I get out of their way, and they get out of mine. It's working.

But I do like birds. Remember the robins who came to stay with us last year? They're back, and we're happy to have them. I had a lot of bonding time with mama robin last year who sat in her nest, gestating, while I sat, gestating, watching her from my kitchen window. It was a perfect arrangement.

Best of all, the beautiful cardinal couple (they mate and stick together, don't you know) that took up residence in our back yard returned today. As I opened the blinds in our family room this morning, there they sat on the bush right outside the window.

I couldn't help myself. Who cares about the scrapbooks 15 years from now? I ran like a madwoman for the camera, chanting "don't fly away don't fly away don't fly away."

I returned in time to capture this:


You have to look close to see the mama cardinal. She's brown. Her husband gets all the brilliant red. Why is that? Why are the male birds always the foxy ones? Oh well. Mama cardinal IS in there, she's just sort of blending in with the branches of our bush.

I was so happy to see them back with us. It makes me glad to think that the bird family finds something kindred in our yard to take up residence, year after year. And, honestly, that flash of brilliant red did wonders for our otherwise currently drab and dreary back yard (alas! is that snow you see on the ground? yes, yes it is).
The Cardinal Homecoming. It's always nice to have people (and birds) come back home.