Cardinals Come Calling

Remember me in the spring, when flowers bloom and robins sing. 
~ Eugene H. Schlegel

Our second "home" for the Ohio trip was a small log cabin* at Coyote Creek Farm. They have only the one cabin at the farm and it is a lovely place - a quiet and perfect escape. The cabin isn't too big for one person and is large enough for a family to stay. 

Here are some photos so you can see how lovely it is. I cannot find my exterior photos (but I'll add them at the end if and when I locate them).

The stairs led to the bedroom.

There's room for three.

The next time we are here there will be more time for reading in this spot.

The walls had glass jars and bottles to let in light (and maybe catch a few spirits like bottle trees**).

Looking down to the living room. There are books and games in the cabinet.

The ladder leads to a loft that will sleep more. I did not climb. The bathroom boasts a large window. Yes, I saw a cardinal out the window on our first day. And yes, the tub is great!

As we settled in the first evening we started hearing some strange knocking. Was it the plumbing? No.
And then it stopped.

The next day we noticed the knocking again. This time it was coming from a different place in the cabin. 

The knocking was never in the same spot at the same time or for the same duration. We could not figure it out. 

On our final morning I was the last one to get out of bed. We didn't have to go anywhere early so I didn't get up. DH was dressed and about to go downstairs to start the coffee when the knocking started. This time the knocking - loud and persistent - was upstairs. DH spied the culprit.

"Quick! Look at the window! It's a cardinal!" he cried.

Sure enough - there was a cardinal pecking at the window. The bird had to be noticing his reflection and fighting "that other cardinal" for territory. It is spring after all and we had been hearing territorial "chips" from cardinals all through the woods.

I got up and went downstairs to finish my packing.*** Just as I rolled my suitcase out of the way and started reading my book I heard and saw the bird on the front porch where it began to knock on the window behind DH.

Is the message "go away" or "let me in"?

Whew! So, the place wasn't haunted. Or was it?
This was the day we would be leaving. We waited for breakfast**** and listened as this cardinal went from window to window - all over the cabin - knocking and knocking. Our landlady confirmed that "it's that time of year." She also said that closing the curtains kept them from seeing their reflections. But we had heard knocking at windows where the curtains had been closed.

The red at the antique window at the top of the stairs had to be the cardinal.

He flew to a bush just at the edge of the woods.

Then he looked at me.

A bit later he was at a different window. Tap, tap, tap....

There are many beliefs about sighting a cardinal - that it's a message from a deceased loved one, a warning or promise about relationships, a foretelling of a change in the weather and more.***** But we are "bird people" and know about the reflections and territorial behavior.
I do find comfort in the thought that they might be heavenly messengers of love, but we have also witnessed the craziest weather over the past few days....and so the weather prognostication might be it.****** Whatever the case, we were glad to solve the mystery of just who was tapping on our window.*******
[I should also mention the Northern Cardinal is a common bird in Ohio. In fact, the cardinal is Ohio's state bird. We saw them fly by as we hiked and drove down the highways and lanes. Cardinals perched in the trees and on fences. They were everywhere - and we loved it.]
NOTES:

*The owners have operated this cabin for at least ten years on their family farm. They brought parts of an old cabin and barn wood to create this refuge. Bits and pieces came together.

http://www.coyotecreekfarmoh.com/
**https://www.wideopencountry.com/bottle-trees-uniquely-southern-tradition/
***I left my things downstairs. For a few nights with no guests it made sense to skip hauling everything up and down the stairs. Yeah, it wasn't "neat and tidy" but worked for me.
****It's a bed and breakfast. Our last day was the first that we had the time for breakfast. The other mornings had us hiking by 9:30 a.m. at locations over 30 minutes away.
*****Google it. You will be up all night.
******We had bright sunshine and temperatures in the high 70s on Thursday. A cold front blew in, the temperatures dropped a bit, and it rained Friday. Saturday was a perfect day - sunshine and temperatures in the 60s. On Sunday we had two big waves of thunderstorms (tornadoes in part of the state) and gale force winds. The winds were so strong we chose to stop hiking in the woods for fear of falling limbs. Today was cold and there were snow flurries as we "discovered the identity of the knockers." See, just a little bit of crazy weather...maybe the cardinals were telling DH not to wear shorts today.
******* There are many songs about "tapping on the window" and "knocking on the door." You can Google that too. I'm not so sure I found the one I sang as a child (or maybe I did - Popeye and Olive Oil cartoon).
FINAL NOTE: Should I mention that I am having a difficult time formatting and editing this post? Funny that.
Oh, and I finally found a few photos of the exterior of the cabin....

Next time we will have to have try the fireplace.