A little visitor...

While sitting at the dining room table yesterday, I happened to glance toward the living room window where I spotted the brilliant red that can belong to only one bird here in New England...

I begged him to stay while I ran to get my camera, and he kindly obliged.

I love it when I spot one of these beauties. Cardinals were my mom's favorite birds, so I naturally think of her when one visits.

It's been a very strange winter here in New England as we've only had to shovel the walkway and end of the driveway once thus far. The lack of snow coupled with warmer than normal temperatures have made for quite a pleasant winter for this non-snow/cold lover.

However, we were hit with a mega snowstorm the week before Halloween, when the trees were still covered with leaves. The weight of the snow on the full foliage branches was just too much. In addition to losing major branches from multiple trees, we also lost entire trees in some cases, including a maple next to our driveway, an oak in the side yard, and yet another in the back yard.

This maple tree that sits in our front yard also lost some major branches, but it could have been so much worse. I'm thankful that it is still standing, providing a perfect spot for the cardinals to visit whenever they'd like. Happy February, everyone.... Donna