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My Country Journal
August 2008 – At Home on Holly Creek The Cardinal Alarm While most folks use an alarm clock to wake them in the morning there are those that still rely on the traditional rooster to rouse them. Since we have no rooster on our farm at present, I’m sad to say, a substitute has undertaken the time-honored role, without our blessings. The displaced substitute is like our old rooster in many regards. Both are birds, males, and red in color, very aggressive and punctual. However, the new morning herald is not a chicken, but a cardinal. His method of waking our household varies from morning to morning and is quite unorthodox. He’s in constant surveillance of our house! Some mornings the cardinal begins his revelry by pecking on the metal cap above our chimney. The sound faintly filters down the metal stovepipe and into the living room. This isn’t his most effective method of rousing us out of bed. When he decides it's time for me to get up, the cardinal flies into the high window in our bedroom. Not to worry, he doesn’t ruffle a feather in the process. He flies feet first into the glass over and over again to make sure I’m awake and impressed beyond measure. To wake our son, the cardinal’s most effective means is to peck or fly feet first into the glass panes of the front door. The cardinal enjoys this revelry so much that he continues it through out the morning. Annoyed by the constant pecking at our door, our son devised a remedy. Josiah sat a stuffed toy animal against the glass inside the house, constructing a stuffed animal totem pole to fill many of the glass panes. When the cardinal flew toward the glass, the face of a teddy bear or other such creature stared back at him, startling the bird away. But the cardinal wasn’t the only one alarmed. Upon discovering the bear, our half Pyrenees dog, Cream Puff took to barking at the mysterious animal inside our home. So what’s worse - a dog barking at the front door or a bird knocking on the door?
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Copyright 2003 by Deborah Tukua. 
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