It was bad enough that my daughter and son-in-law were getting ready for their 10-hour drive home to Tennessee. They were upstairs packing; I was downstairs making oatmeal. Standing at the stove, I heard a slight banging sound over by the refrigerator. Thinking it was the ice maker, I wasn't concerned; I was too busy holding back tears. After such a great time with my kids, the leaving part always rips at my heart. Every time.
If you are a parent of adult children who live far away, then you know how exciting it is to see them arrive and sad to see them go. My daughter doesn't like to see me cry, and I was doing my best to accommodate her. Then it happened. I walked to the fridge and saw what the noise had been. A cardinal. I'm pretty sure birds don't sleep on their backs, but I was hoping to see that beautiful bird open her eyes, shake her head like you see on a cartoon, roll over to her feet, and fly away. She didn't. Even though she looked perfectly fine, she was dead, right there in front of my sliding glass door.
The kids had seen the tiny corpse from their bedroom window, so by the time they came down the stairs, none of us had an appetite. Two trips for luggage, a few minutes of loading the vehicle, and a couple of hugs later, the waterworks were flowing as I waved good-bye to my daughter and her husband. I probably could have made it; the sun was shining, and the birds were singing, but there was one bird that would never sing again. There was another, more colorful one, that wouldn't stop.
The photo for today is called, "Stained Glass" (with a dry brush filter). The reds stand out in the way Cardinals stand out in nature.
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