At last, one welcome icicle

"Years ago I wrote you, when I was 93, an article titled 'Catbirds and Raisins.' I saw something today that I thought the readers or 'bird fanciers' would appreciate.

"A mockingbird flew down from the roof, sat on a branch of an azalea bush (just overhead were many icicles hanging from the gutters). The mockingbird reached over and drank several sips of water from the dripping icicle. Snow covered the lawn and bushes, but he preferred to drink from the icicle.

"I was stunned when I saw it. I had never seen anything like it before; and because I was inside my house, sitting at a table having my cup of tea, and just looked out my window, close by, at the precise time the bird arrived to take a drink from an icicle.

"[That this occurred] on Valentines' Day made it especially important to me, since I am confined to my house because of a stroke and do not get out to see other things that are important to me, i.e., the malls and stores.

"To me, he was the most important Valentine gift I ever received. Yours truly, Angela..."