Monday, 13 February 2017

The Cardinal

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, The definition of Cardinal is:

-a high ecclesiastical official of the Roman Catholic Church who ranks next below the pope and is appointed by him to assist him as a member of the college of cardinals, or

-a crested finch (Cardinalis cardinalis) of the eastern U.S. and adjacent Canada (including Nova Scotia), which has a black face and heavy red bill in both sexes and is nearly completely red in the male.

Although Ulgedook Cottage is a retired church, the first definition is irrelevant given its previous Wesley United religion.  The second definition is more relevant to me, not because I'm a bird-watcher, but because it was the image on my drinking glass in my parents cottage over forty years ago.  I used the cardinal glass, and my cousin Laurie used the blue-jay glass.  Since then, I have adopted the cardinal as a bird that I relate to.

Learn more about the Northern Cardinal at CanadianGeographic and/or the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

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