and a cardinal in a pear tree

I promise you, he's in that pear tree.
I didn't see the female, but the male cardinal looked straight at me,
from right there --->
yes, right there --->
as I opened the dining room curtains, and he kept looking at me as I stood there, both of us silently communing for several minutes, as I sipped my coffee and waited for the computer to come to life.

I could see him as clearly as I see the text upon this screen.
Yet, somehow, with him in that dark hollow surrounded by lush greens right there --->
he seems to have vanished: a brilliantly hued red bird, blended into the background, as if he were a figment of my imagination.
I saw him, and we watched each other for at least five minutes, until the hum of the machine brought me out of our reverie.

Now, if you'll pardon me, I have a seminar today and I still need more coffee and breakfast.
Yes, I mean breakfast this morning, not brunch.
It's far too early for brunch.
June 8 was World Oceans Day, of World Ocean Month, as our White House so magnanimously proclaimed on my birthday62.
I have the Capitol Hill Ocean Week virtual conference today and it begins in just a few minutes...
and I don't want to miss a thing!
(smile)