Kristine, John Jay Audubon, the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and ME

     A good friend of mine, Kristine, recently gave me a book, Song and Garden Birds of North America, by the National Geographic Society, copyright 1964. Luckily for me Kristine salvaged the book while cleaning and dismantling the home of her deceased parents. Kristine knows I like birds because of my bird photographs that I share with the "Circle Ladies" at church.
     Reading in the book I find that the male Rose-breasted Grosbeak species won John Jay Audubon's heart and was a bird that influenced him to explore the world of birds and display it before others. "The evening was calm and beautiful, the sky sparkled with stars...Suddenly there burst on my soul the serenade of the Rose-breasted bird, so rich, so mellow, so loud in the stillness of the night, that sleep fled from my eyelids.  Never did I enjoy music more."
     My heart began to beat fast as I realized that this, too, was a bird that that made my head spin with joy.  For two springs now the Rose-breasted Grosbeak has visited my bird feeders, staying for a couple of weeks on its migration north.  After that first spring I had to get a camera and capture this and other beautiful birds.
     Do you think that John Jay Audubon and I have even a tiny bit in common?  I wonder.......