Random thoughts on the cusp of departure for a vacation:

Above our kitchen sink, there is a window that opens out to the porch and a view of the backyard. The ledge right outside of this very window hosts an array birdfeeders for the pleasure of my mother’s newly acquired birdwatching/identifying scheme. This morning while I meandered through the kitchen, a couple of birds on the feeder caught my eye: what my mother would call a “Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal”. They were perched pleasantly pecking at the seeds in the feeder, reminding me of the little known fact that cardinals mate for life.

Curious as this may seem in the animal world (they are, indeed, held to a different standard), it made me wonder what other animals remained “loyal” to a single mate. A quick Google search identified other such monogomous animals as: wolves, flamingos, coyotes, barn owls, beavers, bald eagles, vultures, angel fish…. the list goes on. And apparently, in some animal circles, “adultery” creates quite a stir: “Black vultures, though, discourage infidelity. All nearby vultures attack any vulture caught philandering.” Interesting . . . what would the world be like if, in any given social circle, an adulterous mate were attacked by his/her close friends? Well first, if I ever heard of that happening, I would laugh. And then I would applaud.