Red and Melodious

Still pondering yesterday's post about "Rare in November" we wrapped ourselves up warmly this morning and went off on our usual sunrise perambulation, firmly resolved to be content with seasonal greys and browns today and give no thought whatsoever to the matter of colour. We would not go actively seeking colour this morning - we would potter off on our walk with an open mind and "see" what the Old Wild Mother and the early hours of the day held out in offering.

There was certainly an abundance of grey and brown on offer this morning, and that is to be expected on such a day and at such a time of year, but as we were wending our way homeward at the end of our ramble, there were two sudden, glorious and heartwarming flashes of brilliant red in the hedgerow and a triumphant burst of song from the hawthorny thicket. The events were small, intense, vivid and melodious occurrences which transformed the previously bleak November morning into a banner, a concordance and a symphony.

My two Cardinal companions are (I think) this year's progeny, and they were both fairly brimming with colour, curiosity, contentment and song. In all the grey and the brown, they stood forth like lighthouses or beacons, and seeing them there in the hedgerow, we too were alight in the gloom for a moment or two.