Lessons From A Cardinal

   Early this morning, I was greeted by the same male cardinal that comes every morning.  The bird seems to wait for me to bring out the birdseed before calling to its mate.  For the past month or so, the cardinal would even call to me if I was late with his breakfast.  Always as soon was the seed was scattered, he called for his ladylove.  She would come and they would dine together.

  For the past two days, she has not come.  In fact, his calling has even gotten less.  I worried at first then I realized that she is nesting and cannot come.  I decided to watch his actions.  The lovely bird flew down to the seed before I even had the lid back on the bucket.  He was highly anxious to get to the seeds before the other birds.  I watched as he picked up a few seeds, cracked and ate them.  Then, he picked up a seed, cracked it and flew off to the camellia bush with it.  It was only a few moments before he was back and repeated the process.  Ahh, Daddy Cardinals are the best!  He was actually taking seeds back to Mama Cardinal on the nest!  The sweet deed was repeated for quite some time.  

  I was astounded by this act of caring in the critter world.  If a mere bird can be so considerate, so loving and so generous, why can't people?  The more I watch the critters, the less I care to associate with most people.  Perhaps a cardinal could give life lessons to us all.

If you are going to be a tree....be an oak!

  Live Oak Trees have massive and strong roots. To my feeble way of thinking, it seems that we all need a good set of sound roots to survive. Just like the oak tree that stands strong during a hurricane, if our roots are solid and run deep, we can withstand most anything that is thrown against us. 

  I was pondering this fact as I hiked down the hillside to the old oak tree that sits near the marsh edge. This tree has been here as long as I can remember.   During their childhood years, my kids climbed the limbs and pretended to conquer the world.  Like a kindly grandfather, the tree wrapped its limbs about them and cradled them from falling.  It protected them.  Now, I gain a lot of strength from this old tree.  Its roots tie me to the Bayou.  It limbs shelter me from storms.  It just plumb makes me happy.  In the midst of Hurricane Katrina, Mark and I watched as the storm surge sent huge waves over the top of the tree's limbs.  At the time, we thought sure that the old oak would topple.  It did not.  It held strong and survived where as dozens of other trees were uprooted.  The oak tree's roots ran deep.  They sprawled out in many directions and each grabbed hold to the soil with a massive strength.  Our tree withstood the beating and never faltered.  

  We need to be more like that old tree.  If we could send down good, solid roots as to have stability and yet throw our arms skyward to show compassion, our own lives would be far better.

Compassion taught at a young age!

  We are still in Georgia enjoying time with our sweet granddaughter, Mary Ruth.  Her little brother was born on February 28th so we have her fully to ourselves for one more day.  She is a perfect dream and her little brother, Mark Charles, is a spitting image of his sister.  We are so blessed!

  Today after a quick visit to the hospital, we came back to their house to continue caring for our little Sweetpea!  I was quite busy cleaning house and doing mounds of laundry (think cloth diapers!) when suddenly, a fit of exhaustion overcame me.  Mark had Mary Ruth in the highchair eating a banana so I took advantage of the moment.  I dropped to the sofa and pulled a quilt down over me.  Mary Ruth saw my action (or inaction) and immediately became concerned.  As soon as she was free of the confines of the highchair, she quietly made her way to the sofa.  She stood looking at me for a few moments then scooted to her toy bin.  First a top was placed next to me, then her toy phone, a teddy bear and some balloons announcing the arrival of the baby.  Finally, she told PawPaw that she wanted her sippy cup of milk. That was the final gift to help me feel better.  My heart was swelling immensely!  This tiny tot really cared and wanted her MawMaw to feel better.  I could understand if she was a bit older but, keep in mind, she is not even two years old yet!  

  Her Mama, Joanna, is a nurse and her Grandpapa (Joanna's dad) is a doctor.  I do believe that Mary Ruth comes by this compassion naturally!  AND I have to admit, MawMaw felt a lot better after her show of concern.  Mary Ruth is the sweetest little girl on earth!  (And please ignore old MawMaw in the photograph...she did not feel well!)