IIf you are like me this is the dreaded time of the Buckeye year. I get to few or no basketball games, and OSU baseball is still a ways off. The spring game is likewise, and there is not much football news in the papers. Thus, there is not much occasion to wear my scarlet and gray garb, nor to mix with other crowds all decked out. This morning however, I got a real treat in a visit from some Ohio State faithful who were wearing their Buckeye finest.

I was sitting at the breakfast table and 10 feet outside my window were three bird feeders silhouetted against deep green Canadian Hemlocks and a pure white drenching of new fallen snow. Flittering around the postcard perfect scene were four pairs of Cardinals.... 4 males and 4 females. They would light on the feeders, grab a sunflower, and then perch in the Hemlock. The females wore their gray Buckeye sweaters on their chests and their scarlet lipstick on their beaks. The males were drenched from head to toe in the most glowing scarlet you could imagine. I suppose some knowledgeable naturalist would tell you the males' radiant color was so vivid right now because the mating season is fast approaching. Myself, I think it is because they are proud of their Buckeye heritage.

Whatever the case, the brilliance of the scarlet males, just 10 feet away, against the richness of the subdued gray females, for some reason reminded me of a bright sunny day in the 'Shoe. As the birds flittered around, I could imagine an O-H-I-O making its way around the stadium or the crowd jumping up and down for the score. What a way to start a cold winter morning. Most people know that the Cardinal is our state bird. Few realize it is actually because they are Buckeye fans who every day proudly wear the school colors.