Scott's Cardinal License Plates:

     When I was younger, about 6 to 8, I lived with my maternal grandmother during the week. I went to a parochial school Monday to Friday. On Friday nights, my mother would come pick me up and I would stay at my parents' on the weekends. My grandfather had just passed away and I stayed with her to keep her company.
     Mornings, she would get me out of bed and start to make my breakfast. That's when I would hear it. "Chirp!" The very sharp "Chirp!" of a male cardinal. My grandmother told me he was letting her know he wanted the sunflower seeds she put out for him every morning. "Chirp!" She would let me help. "Chirp!"
     I would scoop up a cup of sunflower seeds and hand it to her. "Chirp!" She put the cup of seed on the window sill and raised the window. Like a shot, he flew away. From a safe distance, he would watch my grandmother pour the seeds along the ledge. (After all, we were wild creatures and he could not be sure just what we would do if he stayed while the window was open.)
     As soon as she shut the window, he would fly back picking up a seed, breaking it open and taking it back to his family. I would eat my breakfast while watching him. It was like that until 1970, when she sold her house and came to live with us.
     After moving to my parents' house she worried about who would feed that family of cardinals. I only heard her mention it once, but I know she always thought of them.
     My grandmother wasn't into "collecting." Living through the Depression, she had no use for such "frivolity." But every so often, I would notice something new in her room with a cardinal on it.
     When she passed away in 1994, I "inherited" most of her cardinal "collection." Maybe it comes a little late, but I seem to find myself liking cardinals more since she died.