Bird Window

Parallel to our apartment's entrance door is a set of double windows I've been cheering-up with my little bird collection.  Some of the birds are gifts, one I made, and a few are ornaments from Target's dollar bins.  One of these days, I want to paint or make a Baltimore Oriole for the window at right (not shown).  I've only ever seen two, the first high in a tree my grandfather pointed out in his backyard, and another in the thicket across the road from my parents' house as I was returning home from one of my long walks in the summer of 2007.  Good memories, both.  And there should be a Cardinal for my younger brother, the St. Louis Cardinals fanatic.  I'll likely paint or make another  Black-capped Chickadee too. 

One of the best things about our old apartment was that it offered a good view of its its side-yard from our bathroom window and it was woodsy enough that we got to see (and feed) birds every day.  Birds would land on our fire escape there too, much to Stuffed's delight.  (He would perch on the window sill as he watched the birds, one of his front paws occasionally up against the windowpane, tail steadily wagging left, right, left, right. . . .)  This apartment's windows, with two exceptions, don't look out onto nature at all, so we all see fewer birds these days.  My bird window and potted plants and vases of grocery store-bought flowers are hardly substitutes for the real things, but in a "Bloom where you're planted" sense, they cheer up the space and are even that much of a balm to the soul.