If you don't have an alarm clock and want to be woken up naturally, you can always leave your window open at night and rise to the song of sparrows. But that happens very early. If you manage to sleep through that, the snooze bar option is the call of the cardinal. The cardinal seems to be a late riser, singing for his mate at about half 9 of a morning. and doing that on and off until about a quarter of 9 of an evening. Mate feeding among cardinals is rather touching, and takes place in a sturdy oak around the corner. How like parrots they look at they kiss beaks. Somehow a sparrow met his end flying into the plexiglass of a bus shelter on Heron Road. Matthew 10:29 says in comfort "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall no fall on the ground without your Father". He sees every sparrow fall.

Give us this Day is the online creative journal of Kurtis Kitagawa, PhD (Edinburgh), MPhil (Oxford), MA (Chicago), BA First Class Honours (Calgary), who, withal, considers himself a student of history. Check daily for freshly composed essays and offbeat creative writing inspired by a life spent in universities, government, and business. Job offers gratefully accepted. Alternative facts welcome, and will not be burned. Nor will their ashes be used as eye shadow!