A Car-di-nal

I was reading a book to Vi and her friends at school this morning, and every page had several animals. The kids would point and say the names of the animals, as 2-year-olds do. We got to a cardinal, and Vi said, very deliberately, "That's a Car-Di-Nal."

Many of you know that Vi is the namesake of my late grandmother, Vigolia. Vigolia's favorite bird was a cardinal. Whenever I am feeling down, tired, sad or frustrated, a cardinal will appear.

Just like today.