Cardinal In My Garden

Since we don't have cardinals here in the Pacific Northwest, I've relied on this little fellow for a number of years to add a spot of cardinal charm to my garden. When the wind hits him he makes the most delightful whirly sound and I'm rather attached to him.  He's faded but aging fairly well and would have been home free, so to speak, if I hadn't stepped on him last week and snapped one of his wings.  My daughter was helping me plant some flowers in various pots and we set him aside while we put new dirt in his pot and then I forgot where he was and unceremoniously stepped on him and broke one of his wings in half.  I certainly wasn't about to throw him away and figured he'd just have to do his best to whirl with a wing-and-a-half. My daughter, who is one of the most resourceful people in the family, wouldn't hear of that and patiently sat with the crunched wing and a tube of super glue and now he's all in one piece again.  We go to great lengths to avoid bird disasters here. 

Which reminds me of the years we used to live next to a five acre blueberry field which came under siege from birds when the blueberries were ripe.  The owner of the field resorted to a number of deterrents, one of which was to cover the field with nylon nets, a laborious task which helped protect the berries.  Unfortunately, the birds were occasionally tangled in the nets which was a distressing sight for a bird lover to say the least.  Every night when we walked our dogs I'd carry embroidery scissors with me and rescue any birds who were hopelessly tangled.  Once the bird was cut free, I'd do my best to repair the net and hope nobody noticed.  Fortunately, the owner of the berries was one of the nicest people on the planet and forgave my indiscretion.  He gave us lots of blueberries too -- really nice guy.