When I took my trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway I didn’t have very much specific in mind. But there was one thing I wanted a picture of: a cardinal. I know, I know: to you eastern folks this is no big deal. They flit around in your backyards every day. But we don’t have cardinals out here in California, and I wanted a picture of one.

Unfortunately, they turned out to be skittish little things, always flying away when I caught sight of one. In the end, the best picture I got was from my car window. I was driving into Floyd, Virginia, for dinner, and found one sitting on a branch right off the road. I lowered my window and took a bunch of shots. Someday maybe I’ll do better, but for now this is the best picture I managed to get.

May 7, 2019 — Near Floyd, Blue Ridge Parkway, Virginia

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AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with The Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

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