Cardinal Requiem

Like many young people, one of my first real exposures to a wide variety of people from different cultures and backgrounds came when I went away to college.  The culture shock wasn't so much in the destination - I went to school about five hours from where I grew up - as it was the students.  On my floor were kids from around the country, to say nothing of Brazil, India, Kenya, and Moldova, a country that I actually had not heard of before hearing that particular student introduce himself.

One of my most profound culture shocks, however, came when I met another student with whom I shared a special interest - birdwatching.  This girl told me that her fondest wish at college was to see a cardinal.  

Ok, maybe if the Kenyan or the Brazilian (neither of whom ever expressed any interest in birds) had said that I wouldn't have been surprised.  But this girl was American - just from the opposite coast as me.  It never occurred to me that they didn't have cardinals in the Pacific northwest.  When this girl saw her first cardinal, she told me that it was exactly what she'd hoped for - a male, with blood red plumage, standing out brilliantly in a holly tree on a day blanketed with snow.  For years I had trouble understanding how she could be so excited to see such a common (for me) bird.  Years later, nerding out in a San Francisco park watching a Steller's jay hopping in front a park bench, I finally got it.

Today is World Wildlife Day.  In zoos, we celebrate and cherish animals from the distant corners of the map.  It's important to remember that wildlife is all around us, however, even in some of the seemingly least-hospitable places.  It's important to save the rhinos in Africa and the tigers in Asia.  It's just as important to save the remnants of wild we have living around us, and saving it starts by noticing it and cherishing it.

I found out early this morning that this friend, who'd I'd since lost touch with (through no fault of hers - just the usual drifting apart after graduation and moving to opposite coasts) is not expected to be with us much longer.  I was gutted when I heard, and I wish I'd spent more time with her in our post-college life.  

I'm going to remember her every time I see a cardinal.