I wrote a few entries back in the early fall about how the bird activity at our normally-buzzing feeders had dramatically declined. In the comments, several readers mentioned that the same thing had been happening to them, too, but suggested it should pick back up in the winter.
Though activity did increase somewhat later in the fall and then in December as winter rolled around, it was still off from what Mom and I had seen the previous winter. And the sightings of "Mr. and Mrs. C" (the cardinals) were few and far between. That made us particularly sad, because like many bird watchers, especially in the South, the cardinals by far bring us the most joy.
SEE ALSO (VIP): Caregiver's Diary Part 33: High Drama at the Bird Feeders
Ahead of last weekend's ice storm, I made sure to fill up both feeders as part of our pre-storm preparations because we both wanted to make sure the sweet birdies had a food source since the ground was going to be covered in ice and slush.
Sure enough, it became Grand Central Station at both feeders for most of the weekend and in the days after, which was a joy to witness, considering we were stuck in the house and going stir crazy. We even got to see the cardinals here and there, a welcome sight since they've mostly kept out of sight this season.
But as of Friday (today), there had been no cardinal sightings since Sunday. It's something I made a brief note of as I planned out my morning and afternoon, knowing I had another busy one with the latest winter storm prep I needed to do for the 4" to 7" of snow and bitterly cold temperatures we are forecast to get on Saturday.
I needed to go to the grocery store, refill both feeders, get trash and recycle together, wash, dry, fold and put away clothes, grab lunch for mom and me, and do a fridge restock once I got the groceries.
Oh, and I needed to work, too. :)
In other words, I had a pretty full plate and was ready to tackle the day. You've gotta do what you've gotta do, right? But imagine my surprise when I went to my car and saw that, on the driver's side (which faces another neighbor's house), it looked like the ice on the driveway from last weekend's ice event had frozen in time and had not melted much since Sunday.
"Joe," the down-the-street neighbor who graciously offered to clear parts of the driveway and sidewalk for me on Wednesday, had asked me at the time if I wanted him to clear the area around our second car, too. But I had told him no, primarily for two reasons: 1) I didn't want to overly take advantage of his kind offer of assistance, and 2) I don't drive our second car as much as I used to.
But I wanted to today because I hadn't in a while, and I know from personal experience that leaving a car sitting too long without running it is not a great idea.
So I was able to very carefully walk over the ice patch (which I was pleased to hear "crunch" as I walked over it), get in the car, and head to the grocery store. I made a mental note that after I got home, put the groceries away, and sat down for lunch with mom, I would grab that ice picker that Joe gave me and would do the "woman possessed" thing with the sizable ice patch that remained in the area where mom and I have our cars parked on the driveway.
That trusty tool, which I could tell had been used a lot, was a dream, and even though it was a lot of work, it was made easier by the fact that the ice was breaking up pretty easily, and the fact that my next-door neighbor (yes, this has been the week for hero neighbors in my 'hood!), who had already been outside clearing parts of their driveway, walked over and went to town on that leftover ice with the ice pick while I shoveled it off to the edge of the driveway.
After he and I talked for a few minutes and joked about how we were "over" icy and snowy weather, he went on his way. I went to put out a second tarp by the front door sidewalk area, the final thing on my "to-do" list for storm prep. Once that was complete, I took a seat on a patio chair for a few minutes to catch my breath and to breathe in some of that crisp winter air.
As I was surveying all I'd done over the last week or so in advance of both storms (and after the first one), my dad popped into my mind. I said a little note of thanks to him, because most of my storm prep knowledge came from him. I thought, "You might have been impressed with how I handled this, dad" because, honestly, I felt pretty good about the work put in ahead of both storms (outside of the generator situation, which I'm still working on, and outside of my attempt to take out the trash over an icy patio when I probably shouldn't have).
I went back inside the house, exhausted and eager to shed the winter coat and get comfortable. After that was done, I headed to the laundry room to get the clothes out of the dryer, making a pit stop at the kitchen sink to wash my hands.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a red flash through the kitchen window.
It was Mr. C, sitting on a branch in one of the azalea bushes, clearly visible due to the fact that most of the leaves were off of it.
He was staring in the general direction of the window, and as I smiled, my eyes started misting up, because Mom and I are big believers in the saying "when cardinals appear, angels are near." And we've gotten in the habit of viewing male cardinals as evidence that Dad is watching over us.
How wild was that, when I had just been thinking about my dad minutes before Mr. C made a rare appearance?
Maybe it was a coincidence, or maybe not. But when I say my bedtime prayers later tonight, I'm going to give praise to God for putting Mr. C in the right place at the right time on a day when my spirits needed lifting, and when my heart was really missing my dad.
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