« I can’t imagine life without cardinals, » I wrote to a friend in California, because when I sent her this picture she texted that her state did not know them. I next sent the photo to an aunt in France, and she replied likewise. This made me check online, where I learned that this beautiful red bird mainly flies in the eastern half of the U.S. and southeastern Canada, and as far south only as Guatemala. Some individuals have been introduced in Bermuda and Hawai’i, but the red cardinal otherwise only calls my part of the world home. I took it as given that everyone knew what to me is a common bird: learning otherwise reminds me I can still learn much and wander far.
