When I was a boy growing up in the suburbs of St. louis, Mo., we always had a family of cardinals living in our back yard.

Mom always said it was good luck every time we saw one perched in the lilac bushes. They were the family bird, so to speak. Also, as a family, we lived and dreamed on the success each summer of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team and I grew up following my hero—Stan Musial—the star of the team.

So, cardinals were a special part of my childhood.

Living in New York City for more than 40 years, I’ll have to admit losing track of cardinals in my life. I’m sure that cardinals stay well away from the energies of the city. In those 40 or so years, I never saw one.

Then, recently, after moving to the country, they reappeared in my life. And yes, again in our back yard. They are the royalty of all birds. They seem to know this and all the other birds do as well. When they approach the feeders, all the other birds move out of their way offering them the best places on the feeders.

The male and the female we named Agamemnon and Clytemnestra and last spring, when they gave birth to two girls and a boy, we named them Electra, Iphigenia and Orestes. When any one of them show up, to this day, we stop whatever we’re doing and pay them honor. They automatically become the center of attention.

This song had to be written.

Cardinal In The Snow

Music and Lyrics by Peter Link

There’s nothing quite like
A cardinal in the snow
All that white
And God’s splash of red
As if He had said
“Here is my thought for the day.”
A cardinal in the snow
Oh a cardinal in the snow
A cardinal in the snow

Bird in my window
More magnificent than the mountains
More beautiful than the valleys
And the rivers
And the wonders of this world
Bird in my window
Only for a second or two
But burned into the scrapbook of my being

Oh dear God
Thanks for making it so
He’s even more beautiful than Marilyn Monroe
This cardinal in the snow
Even more so than the willow tree
Even more so than Van Gogh
This cardinal in the snow

A cardinal in the snow
Oh a cardinal in the snow
A cardinal in the snow

Bird in my window
More delicate than the snowflakes
A graceful ballerina
Standing mighty
A King among his peers
Bird in my window
Guardian of his family name
He’s burned into the mem’ry of my mind

A cardinal in the snow
A cardinal in the snow