Messengers from beyond

Photo 209507985 / Cardinal © Howard Nevitt, Jr. | Dreamstime.com

A cardinal perches in the tree outside my window. If the legend is true, and a cardinal is a soul who has left my world, who is this crimson bird come to visit? Mom? Dad? My brother? Willow The Best Dog There Was? Brother of Red? Tom or Diane Brooker? It was at the Brookers’ funeral that I first heard the cardinal legend, after all.

A second cardinal alights, then dashes away. A pair, then.

Or perhaps this is just a genera...