Smoke and mirrors

Hey, it's been a rotten week what with an idiotic movie getting elevated to a freedom of speech blockbuster, fracking earthquakes in Irving, and that cold wind off the lake at work. So I just want to say thank you to Pope Francis for taking conversations to a different place. Atheists, Catholics, old folks, young adults, and just about everybody I met was contemplating questions of spirituality, Alzheimers, bureaucracy, corruption, greed, and even hope in this Christmas week because of the Pope's addresses.

Cardinals are on my mind, not so much as part of the Church hierarchy, but as part of the bird entertainment I receive as a bonus on the job. A lovey-dovey pair of cardinals have discovered their own reflection in the mirrors of the math/science exhibit. The male and female prance around in front of the mirrors, challenge the rival in the mirror, posture and poop. That's nature for you.

  

Saw the amazing El Greco portraits at the Met last month. The Biblical scenes don't work for me, but the portraits have powerful emotional depth. So here is a different sort of cardinal:

© 2014 Nancy L. Ruder