Ruby {day nine}

He visits every day, this feathered friend with the zebra-striped back and scarlet head. The red-belly woodpecker – misnamed, if you ask me.

The wily squirrels steal what red belly comes for: the suet that hangs in a cage from the river birch tree. No matter how tightly I clasp the cage, or from which branch I suspend it, the squirrels outsmart me. I bang on the window and crack the back door to yell into the cold like a crazy lady. I may or may not reach down with one hand as I stand on the threshold, clench a fistful of snow from the back step and lob it at a particularly obstinate rodent. I don’t do this when the kids are home. They are protective of their squirrel friends.

I try for days to catch the red belly woodpecker with my camera, but he is skittish, an introvert. One cautious turn of the doorknob and he’s gone, careening toward the protective canopy beneath the white pine. Finally I smarten up and snap his picture right through the glass, as the snow tumbles around him in fat, lazy flakes.

I wait for him every day, glancing over my shoulder as I scan Facebook or reply to emails. As I write at my grandmother’s antique desk in the sunroom, I turn my laptop at an angle, so I can glimpse the backyard through the French doors. I don’t want to miss him.

That flash of ruby against steel grey sky is just enough to steady me through another day.

What are you glimpsing lately that's given you a jolt of joy?

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