Ozark News

Lately, at the fringe of the mornings, 

when the wild creatures are not afraid to congregate near the house, 

we've been seeing a family of turkeys. 

It's easy to spot the mother. She watches over her clutch of poults with great vigilance.

The little ones run over the ground in a smooth, synchronized motion, like a school of small fish, 

turning and pivoting for the pure joy of movement, anticipating the day they will fly. 

It won't be long. 

When we saw them first just over a week ago, they were earth bound, 

but this morning out on Don's loading ramp a few of them were flapping their wings, 

and graduating from small hops to tiny flights. 

I'm counting on them to grow up and eat lots of grasshoppers out of the garden. 

We certainly get the other kind of help.

   This year the daylilies were beautiful, and I thought the big, bossy doe we call Lily 

had seen the error of her ways or had found greener pasture, 

but she's back, and she has her technique down to a science. 

She stretches out into her giraffe pose until she has located the right stem...

...and when it's in reach, it only takes one or two bites before it's out of sight.

Judging from the hoof prints in the green beans, the daylilies must have been desert.

At least the rabbits are smart enough to look in the window and see if we're home 

before they raid the garden.

By the time the first light slants down through the trees, 

rabbits have hunkered down out of sight to sleep until evening 

and deer and turkeys browse in the shade of the woods.

And that's the news from the Ozarks, 

where the deer are well fed, the turkeys are vigilant, 

and the rabbits are way above average.

Linking with Saturday's Critters

Eternity

Have you ever had one of those “glimpse of heaven” moments? The trigger may have been something as simple as clouds parting to reveal a patch of clear blue sky, or light streaming through an open window, and for a split second, you’ve ached for heaven.

Those moments can be brief and unexpected, and characterized by something close to pure joy, and then maybe there’s a small catch in your throat, and you’re left with an ache for more. I think that’s what C.S. Lewis was referring to when he said, "Our best havings are wantings".

The Bible gives us glimpses of eternity in word pictures, using things we already know and love, to give us a glimpse of the unknown. Let’s consider a few of them:

BROAD VISTAS

Your eyes will see the King in His beauty, and view a land that stretches afar.

Isaiah 33:17

WATER

...the Lord will rule there as our mighty King.

Rivers and wide streams will flow through it...

Isaiah 33:21

 
"I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the End.
To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the springs of the water of life."

Revelation 21:6

LIGHT

There will be no more night.

They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, 

for the Lord God will give them light.

Revelation 22:5

TREES

On each side of the river stood the tree of life,

bearing twelve crops of fruit, 

yielding its fruit every month.

And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

Revelation 22:2

PEACE

"The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent's food.
They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the Lord.

Isaiah 65:25

Though heaven may be mysterious, God never intended the way to heaven to be a mystery. On one of Jesus' last days on earth, He had a conversation with His disciples about heaven, and Thomas voiced what a lot of people wonder about:

"Lord, we don't know where You are going, so how can we know the way?"

Jesus answered:
"I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through Me."

John 14:5, 6

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God,
so that you may know that you have eternal life.

1 John 5:13

Then will the eyes of the blind be opened

and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

Then will the lame leap like a deer,

and the mute tongue shout for joy.

Water will gush forth in the wilderness

and streams in the desert.

Isaiah 35:5, 6

Linking with Still Saturday
Little Things Thursday
and Skywatch Friday

Wild Morning

Some days just seem to be full of animals. Take this morning. Before dawn the only sound that broke the silence was the distant chant of a whip-poor-will, but four does, their bellies heavy with fawns, grazed at the edge of the north woods. By the time bird song filled the air, the turkeys arrived, just over the brow of the hill to the east, where they preened and fanned out their feathers in perfect symmetry. They were joined by crows, two rabbits and a chipmunk.

The bravest of the rabbits made his way to the front yard, where he preened himself...

 cleaned up a few dandilions...

 and helped himself to clover.

But then, there was the flowerbed, and how could he resist? 

"Not a good idea, you say?"

"I'm really just looking..."

"...until tonight!"

 Linking with Rurality Blog Hop
and Saturday's Critters

Phoebe Song

From a branch in the old dogwood tree at the edge of the yard, 

we can hear the Phoebe singing her unique song, calling out her name again and again, 

"Phoebe, Phoebe, Phoebe". 

She has a good reason to sing.  

The construction is completed on her new nest, 

located on a ledge at the top of a pillar under the roof of the front porch.

She keeps one eye on it from the dogwood tree.

Several generations of Phoebes have grown up on our front porch, 

right where we could watch them from the kitchen window. 

They make an awful mess, but a little cleanup seems a reasonable price for front row tickets.

Several years ago, when we had a mason wrap our wooden pillars with cultured stone, 

we asked him to build special shelves at the tops with the Phoebes in mind.

He humored us, and the Phoebes made their preference known by moving away.

For years, we only heard their song from a distance.  

They are finally back, but they ignored our special addition for them,
 and built their nest on the other side of the pillar, away from the kitchen. 

It's made of grass and hair, and covered with bright green moss.

Outside, the Phoebe flies to the supplejack above the birdbath, 

which she has commandeered as her command post, pausing and wagging her tail, 

and then to the top of a tall oak, where her song continues.

And we wait, trying not to count our Phoebes before they are laid.

Linking with Rurality Blog Hop
Wild Bird Wednesday
Saturday's Critters