For me, life is fairly simple: love God, love your neighbor, do your art. As a Christian, my first priority is loving God, and I believe a part of loving Him is being grateful for what He's given us. Here in the Ozarks, we have much to appreciate and enjoy. And so this blog attempts to do a little of this: appreciate God's wonders, and share them with you, my neighbors.
Friday, February 13, 2015
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Shadows
Monday was Groundhog's Day, and the weather here was balmy and beautiful. The woodchuck could certainly have seen his shadow, had he been up, but unlike those people in Punxsutawney, we chose to let him sleep.
The day was sunny enough; the red squirrel would have noticed her shadow if she'd been looking in the right direction, but looking for nuts and watching her back were far more important.
It's a silly tradition, after all, one we've heard since grade school, that if a groundhog sees its shadow that day, there will be six more weeks of winter. But it speaks to our longing for spring, and the warmth and light that come with it. I have a bit of a conflict this year, because the only snow we've seen so far sprinkled over the ground like powdered sugar on a Weight Watcher's cake. And I love snow.
Snowdrops are blooming, and those small white blossoms are always a welcome sight, reminding us that no matter how long it takes for spring to get here, it will surely arrive. They call to mind the promise God made long ago:
As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease.
Saturday, January 24, 2015
Winter's Palette
When winter arrives
Colors escape to the sky
And leave the earth bare
They who dwell in the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs;
You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy.
Psalm 65:8
Linking with Skywatch Friday
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Breakfast Blind
I can't imagine a better bird blind than our kitchen window. From the warmth of our breakfast table on a cold winter morning, our attention is drawn to dark silhouettes against the sky in synchronized flight, darting and pivoting together as if connected by invisible strands. Cedar Waxwings swoop our way and line up, briefly, on a supplejack vine over our bird feeder.
These sleek birds must have just picked up their jackets at the cleaner's; not a feather is out of place, and in their early morning flight, they dipped each wingtip and tail in the waxy glow of sunrise.
They leave as quickly as they came, and the others replace them, nuthatches and goldfinches, tufted titmice, chickadees, cardinals, and downy woodpeckers. They come for the sunflower seeds, and on frozen mornings, a mix of peanut butter with oatmeal and seeds and raisins. How could they resist?
At the piercing cry of a Red-shouldered Hawk the small birds scatter, but moments later, we discover that it is only a Blue Jay doing his best hawk imitation. He raids the feeder, gulping one sunflower seed after another in swift succession, lifting his head after each swallow. Don, who's fond of counting things, established that this one broke the old record for sunflower seeds consumed at one sitting, which was 50, with a whopping 76 seeds. It's a wonder he was able to lift off.
Our breakfast is finished and the day's work is ahead of us, but there's nothing like starting the day with an arial display.
Linking with Wild Bird Wednesday
and Saturday's Critters
and Saturday's Critters
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)