Cardinals in "The Wild"

Little sweetheart, I went for kind of an epic walk this afternoon, farther north than I’ve been in a while. So far, it was dark by the time I finally got home.

At the northernmost point of Riverside Park, there a section of called Forever Wild. It’s trails, a forest and woodland, almost 60 acres. The big highlight in Riverside this year, little sweetheart, is that the parks conservancy have introduced half a dozen goats into part of it so they can feed on invasive species of undergrowth.

I had a mind to go that far up and see if I could spot them but the real treat turned out to be all birds I spotted and a very quiet overgrown spot where I could hear cicadas - I’d been wanting to do a field recording as a base track for our next Dark Outside track.

Right around where I recorded the cicadas in a grove of trees, no sign of the city around me, I saw two cardinals! They were as close as I’d ever been to one. We’ve had a lot of rain of late, and there was almost like a little stream running there because of the run-off. A couple of sparrows and a starling were taking their turns, having a drink and splashing about and the cardinals - at first poised on a railing, only an arm’s length away - flitted down to the spot and joined them.

It was truly magical, little sweetheart, and I felt so very close to you.

I’ve been carrying that blessing my heart all day. Thank you, my angel.

With all my love forever.