Wednesday Treasures and Interesting Sightings

 Good Wednesday Evening! In the middle of the week I like to look for some hidden treasures or unusual sightings round about us, and today gave me some interesting things to ponder and share!

I was taking a little bit of a back yard walkabout early this morning, and I noticed these white flowers on a tree alongside Still Waters Pond that I had never seen before!  

So I ventured around the wooded lot until I could get a good vantage point to see what I could see, and here is what I saw:

I wasn't too sure just what this flower/tree was, but my thoughts were that it was definitely a member of the Magnolia family...and so I looked it up using the "Google Lens" feature on my phone, and sure enough, I was right! This is a "Sweetbay Magnolia" tree...and you can read more about that below:

"Sweetbay Magnolia or Silver Bay Magnolia, Magnolia virginiana, is a medium to large tree growing taller than broad up to 70 feet or more. It comes from wetlands and is best located where the soil is always moist. They are NOT adaptable to average to dry soil. The 7 inch leaves are leathery, medium green above and silvery white underneath. The leaves are aromatic if crushed and have been used as a replacement for European Bay Leaf used for seasoning. The sweet smelling large white blooms are 2 to 3 inches across and showy. The flowers attract pollinators to the nectar and birds are attracted to the large red seeds that are contained in the cone like seedpods. This is a beautiful and wildlife friendly tree for areas appropriate for it's requirement of moist soil. Provides significant food and cover for wildlife. It is a larval host plant for Eastern tiger swallowtail and Palamedes butterflies. Attracts beetle and moth pollinators. Turkey, quail and other seed eating birds and small mammals eat the seeds."

After reading all of that, I was happy to find this growing along our shore line of the pond...and I will be looking around to see if there are others growing here as well. It's definitely a tree to "hug". LOL.  

Speaking of trees to "Hug"...it looks like something hugged this pine tree a bit too tightly...namely a strike of lightning!! We remember hearing a very loud crash of thunder with simultaneous lightning one day last week or whenever we last had a thunderstorm pass through.  We knew immediately something had been struck by lightning pretty close by, but there was no visible sign of it that we could see at that time.  However, while I was walking around trying to see those pretty white flowers in that Sweetbay Magnolia tree, I put my hand on the side of this pine tree to steady myself, and my hand touched a lot of fresh pine sap dripping down the side of the tree. I thought that was pretty unusual, until I looked around at the other side of the tree and saw this:

(Does anyone else see a face in the tree next to this one, with a mouth wide open looking at the lightning strike in astonishment? Just wondering if I'm the only one who sees faces in trees and such...)

Here's a closer look:  Yes, that is definitely the result of a lightning strike:

It started way up in the top of the tree and came all the way down to the ground:

That is why they tell you to never stand under a tree in a thunderstorm!  Thankfully this tree is far enough away from our house and the neighbor's house so that even if it fell, it would most likely fall into the pond and away from our houses.  But still, that lightning strike was a bit too close for comfort! We are very thankful that God was definitely watching over us and our home when that happened!

Some thoughts to ponder:

Matthew 24:27 NKJV

For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, 

so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

Now for another interesting picture from the back yard...our "little" beefsteak tomato is growing bigger every day! And hopefully with every new blossom, this one will soon have some "friends".  Who doesn't love a fresh garden beefsteak tomato sandwich...maybe with some bacon and lettuce??? I do hope this tomato will continue to grow and thrive!!

Speaking of thunderstorms...we actually did have a thunderstorm this afternoon, but it was more rain than thunder and I really never saw much lightning.  But we are VERY thankful for the rain, because we truly need it!

Still Waters Pond always drinks up every drop of rain like a thirsty sponge...

And now, last but not least, one more unusual photo for today. Just as I was sitting here at my window in my "Room with a view", I saw two hawks chasing each other around outside across the pond and up into the trees. The first hawk had what appeared to be a snake in his talons, and the other hawk wanted him to share! In this picture you can really only see a blur of wings as one hawk took off again to chase the other. Look carefully at the pattern of the wings in the middle of the picture. It's kind of cool.

I hope you enjoyed these little Wednesday treasures; seeing the beauty and uniqueness in our world around us. God's creation is always full of surprises and wonder. Never a dull moment when we stay tuned in to His power and majesty and beauty in His Creation.

Until next time...

"How Great Thou Art", sung at the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem

Have a blessed evening!