Cardinal Delight

Snow doesn't come often to the city. As a matter of fact, the last snow was all the way back in '68. I remember it well. Daddy's old work van sat at the top of the driveway. Imagine his surprise when he glanced out the big picture window and saw it sliding down the hill. If the giant oak hadn't stopped it, it would have ended up in old man Presley's back door. I don't think I've ever seen Daddy run so fast.

I also remember how we'd just been to the grocery store. Daddy let us off at the bottom of the driveway because he wasn't able to get his van up the driveway because it was so icy. The problem was that we had to still carry the groceries up the hill. We did fine until we heard a sharp grunt and saw Mama lying in the snow cursing like a sailor...surrounded by canned corn and pork chops. I'll never forget what Daddy did. He calmly set his groceries down on the ground, sat on the front step and laughed so hard he couldn't catch a breath. Mama just kept cursing. I have to admit. It was one of the funniest things I'd ever seen.

My big adventure came when I was sledding with my friends. We had the best hill to sled down. It was a long climb back up, but well worth it. It was the perfect steepness, and there was no traffic. The only thing we really had to watch out for were the cars that folks had parked along the side of the road.

One night we decided to go sledding. It was nice and slippery. There was a foot of snow on the ground covered with another inch of ice. When it was my turn to go down the hill, the sled took off faster than I remember it doing before. It was also hard to steer due to the icy surface. Well, I saw myself heading right for old man Vannoy's pickup truck parked on the side of the road. I didn't think to jump off. So I did the only thing that came to mind. I laid stomach down as flat as I could possibly lay, hoping I'd pass underneath the truck from one end to the next. No sooner had I gone under than I felt something smack hard against my shoulder...so hard it almost knocked the wind out of me. Everyone came running to see if I was okay. My shoulder had actually hit one of the front tires. A friend of mine went and knocked on old man Vannoy's door to tell him that his truck was in the way and that I had ran into the truck. His response? "Is my truck okay?" As it turns out, I was okay...and so was his truck.

Yes, those were the good old days. I miss them. So imagine my delight when I woke up this past Christmas morning to see a blanket of freshly fallen snow on the ground. Immediately I felt like a child once again. I wanted to go outside, make snow angels, and play. I wanted to catch snowflakes on my tongue and make snow ice cream. Instead, I grabbed my camera and tried to capture the birds going for a nibble of food from the bird feeder. Most of the time they heard me and flew away, but I was able to capture this cardinal from a distance. Can you see him? I don't think there is any prettier sight than a beautiful red cardinal contrasted with the snow.

Splash of fire

on winter's bough...

Nature's passionate kiss

sings of hope

before flying off

to color another

icy landscape.

I had fun taking my pictures of the snowy landscape...and of the beautiful cardinal that graced me with his presence...looking for a tidbit of food. Hopefully, it will snow again soon. I enjoy the childlike feeling that seems to come with the snowfall.