I don’t need an alarm any more. With the promise of spring came an intruder in the early morning hours and continuing throughout the day. A bright red cardinal has taken possession of a particular branch of my trimmed crepe myrtle and gazes at my office window nearby. At random intervals the cardinal takes rapid flight straight into the window, strikes it sharply with his beak, then again, then again, and flies back to the branch. This three part attack on the window pane occurs for quarter and half-hours at a time. I’ve done the on-line research on this pesky bird and have tried the suggested remedies. Sheets of tin foil hang at random heights in front of the window, silhouettes of hawks are taped to the window pane, a plastic owl sits nestled in the knuckles of the same crepe myrtle. None of these has deterred the bird. It seems that the male cardinal, in a territorial battle, has discovered the male invader in my window. That primal instinct does not accommodate the possibility that the image is merely the bird’s reflection in a glass and not an actual bird.

Knowing this bit of ornithological fact doesn’t really curtail the annoyance in the morning but I find myself fascinated during the day sitting in the office and witnessing the bravado with which this cardinal defends his territory. Obviously tuned into surroundings and danger, this bird quickly dismisses my meager attempts to deter. The foil didn’t slow him down at all, the hawk and owl are ignored. It reminds me of the quickness that we pay attention to the obvious details in our every day world and transactions with our environment and others. But we, as is the cardinal, are often oblivious to the larger picture. The enemy we pose and posture against, the supposed opposition, the competition that we fancy to be ever present are merely a figment of our imagination.

Don’t you suppose we could better use the time, resources, and energy to develop our business, our lives, our relationships rather than in imaginary battle? And for that matter, can you imagine the headache that cardinal lives with? Next week I will share my thoughts on my pond and the stealthy visitor that took my largest fish yesterday.