Article Surfing Archive

I recently packed up some belongings and headed to a local park where I planned to spend the entire day. I did this because I was overwhelmed with the busyness of life and I knew that I needed to get away in order to have some effective hours of writing for my next book. So I packed the books I was reading, my three journals, a picnic lunch, plenty of water and tea, my camera, and my favorite blanket and I was off for a day at the park. I had no idea that my day would not be spent alone but that I would share it in the company of the cardinals.

I have never been too fond of cardinals. I don't think that they are the prettiest bird really, and so I'll admit that I was not all that excited when I saw cardinals playing right near where I was about to set up camp for the day. I thought about wandering further into the park, but I decided against it because I was certain that I would scare the cardinals and that they would quickly leave me alone. I was wrong. Not only did I not scare the cardinals away, but I almost seemed to attract them to myself. They slowly but surely moved nearer and nearer to my blanket. They were not particularly noisy, but nor were they quiet.

I ended up not getting any writing on my book accomlished that day at the park. Instead, all I walked away with was an entire roll of film of the cardinals (who amazingly enough were not even afraid of my camera) and a few pages of random jounraling and poetry that the blessed cardinals inspired. I ended up enjoying my time with the cardinals so much that I got home and spent a few hours reading up on everything about cardinals that I could find online. Because I now thought that cardinals were in fact pretty, I even ordered a couple of books containing photographs of cardinals for my coffeetable.

I was hooked that day, and I have been hooked on cardinals ever since. People who know me well know that when I commit to something, I fully commit. I have been just as loyal to my cardinals as I have been to any friend or worthy hobby in all of my life. I have made it back to that same park on several occasions just to see if my first cardinal friends would join me. They have not, but I will never forget my lovely afternoon with the cardinals for as long as I live.