Feed the Birds

My friends M and S feed the birds.  Daily.  Their favorites are the pair of Kentucky cardinals who regularly visit in their yard.  Mr. Cardinal is particularly friendly.

He knows when it is feeding time, and comes to the appropriate window to remind M or S when they are late.  "Appropriate" is a window where he can actually see one or another of them.

If he cannot find them in a window, he comes looking.  Into the roofed and partially screened patio.  Into the house.  Into the dining room.  Into the kitchen.  When he finds a person, he peeps a bit, then sings his melodious song.  S says, "Its as if he were saying thank you for feeding him and his mate."

One Sunday morning not long ago, S was enjoying coffee and the newspaper in bed.  She heard the cardinal's song, and thought to herself, "He's really close by.  Must be in the trees outside my window."  She went on reading.

Not much later, she felt something on her feet.  Something light-weight.  Something moving.  I'd immediately think gecko or cockroach.  Once would have thought kitten.

Peering around her newspaper, S found --- Mr Cardinal.  He'd come in through the open window in another room to remind her that the feeder was still empty.  He sang to her before she got out of bed to usher him back to the open window and the newly-filled feeder.

Smart bird.  Trusting bird.  

Give thanks for those wild creatures who brighten our lives!
Don't forget to pray.