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cardinal
October 2009 
Red bird, gray tree
Annisa
(Photo courtesy of my cell phone and not the best quality :-)
Today I took a walk at lunchtime, needing to get out of the office and clear my head. I changed into my walking gear, descended 5 flights of stairs and strode out into the bright spring day.
There is an avenue that begins outside my door which takes me into the heart of the campus. It is lined with old, gnarly gray-green olive trees, green benches and red brick buildings. Today I strode purposefully down this avenue, marching away the unwanted worries. As my mind cleared, a thought came to me like a cool draught of water on a hot spring day, refreshing me, putting a smile back upon my lips. As I spoke the thought in my heart, a bright flash of red streaked across the lane and came to rest in the gray olive tree just ahead of me. It was a male cardinal.
I haven't seen one in the city for years, so this rare glimpse was indeed a treat. Here was my chance to observe firsthand the magnificent beauty of the male cardinal, a rare occasion. We do see his cousin, the Pyrrhuloxia, here quite a bit more frequently, but it is definitely not the same experience.
So I stopped, rooted in place, transfixed, unwilling to move for fear of scaring him away. He cocked his head to the side. He was definitely aware of my presence. I took one, excruciatingly slow step towards him, wanting a better look. He hopped to a branch slightly higher. I stopped and waited, passers-by probably thought I was crazy, but I didn't care. One more gentle, slow, slow step. He didn't move, just rubbed his beak on the branch and looked at me. I edged closer. He hopped again, to a higher branch, body slightly behind the branch, actually peeking around the branch at me. I smiled. All right, I thought, I'll stay just at this distance for a while... So, planting my feet where I was, I waited to see what he would do next. As a reward, he graced me with his song.
"Would you? Would you? Would you?" he seemed to say. I smiled again, wondering why he would ask.
~*~*~*~*~
The following is a sample of cardinal birdsong, but not from the cardinal I saw today.
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Like your stroll and the spotted cardinal, this blog post of yours Annisa is a breath of fresh air. Thank you for sharing your meditation.
Samme
I am happy to share the cardinal's song, Samme! It sings of love and springtime and new life. I am enthralled.
Cardinals are quite common where i live, so much so that i have often taken them for granted–but no more. Last week there was a baby cardinal pecking at the office window most of the day–he flew away every time i tried to get a picture, but always came back shortly.
D-
They may be common where you live, but here it was quite the rara avis, rare bird, that captured my attention. It's funny – these little glimpses can startle us out of the stupor we didn't realize we were in, bringing a fresh breath of beauty and suddenly it is as if we've turned around and beauty is everywhere. I consider this particular adorable rara avis to be that kind of gift from the Universe, to me.
Blessings,
Annisa