Thursday Thankfulness

 Happy Thursday, everyone! It's starting out a little cooler than it has been this week, and I understand we are going to be a bit more cool this weekend, which will be welcome where we live in warm and somewhat muggy Florida. It will feel more like fall, and I love that!

Some of you have wondered if our Sand Hill Cranes have come back to Still Waters Pond yet. Well, yes, they do come almost every day...our original Mom and Dad couple who've been coming here for years to nest in the pond each winter, and sometimes their "son" (or daughter?) from two years ago joins them. I assume that's who it is. They weren't able to nest last year because of the drought on the pond, so there were no fuzzy "Colts" (young Crane babies) to watch grow up. But they did have one from the previous year, and although he is now old enough to be on his own, he still hangs around with Mom and Dad, at least until nesting time again,  and then they will tell him to go find his own mate and get on with his life. 

Here is some information from this link: https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/profiles/birds/cranes/sandhill-crane/

"Florida sandhill cranes are a non-migratory species that nests in freshwater ponds and marshes. This species is monogamous (breeds with one mate). Courtship consists of dancing, which features jumping, running, and wing flapping (International Crane Foundation, n.d.). Sandhill crane nests are built by both mates with grass, moss, and sticks. Females lay two eggs that incubate for 32 days. Both male and female participate in incubating the eggs (Nesbitt 1996). The offspring will begin traveling from the nest with their parents just 24-hours after hatching. At ten months old, juveniles are able to leave their parents (Nesbitt 1996). Bonding between pairs begins at two years old."

Even though our pond is still covered with that green algae bloom, the cranes and other birds do not seem to mind it, and I am hopefull that our resident couple will begin their nesting here soon as they have for many years. 

It will be interesting to see what "develops" this winter.  This couple have already begun their ritual mating dance from time to time. It's fun to watch. I will try to get a video at some point if I can.

Speaking of water...I meant to mention last week when I heard that up in the north Georgia mountains they were having a major rain storm and flooding event in an area where we have visited in years' past, and also near where we actually have some relatives living, we were quite concerned for their safety.  I contacted our relatives and was relieved to hear that they were personally safe, but our one "cousin's" (by marriage) brother, who lives next door to her, (and they live beside a river), was in a little lower proximity to the water, and she said although his house was fine, this was his car: 

Thankfully no one was injured, and cars can be replaced, but oh, what a mess and I know it was scary for them to see this happening in the wee hours of the morning! She said the river rose to 16 feet in just a couple of hours' time. That would be very frightening!

Then, much to my surprise, I learned after talking to my sister in law Peggy, that they were actually UP THERE on vacation last week when this storm hit. They were not in the hardest hit area, but close enough, and here is a video she sent me, taken from their hotel room:

Yikes! That's a bit too close for comfort! We didn't even know they were there, but thankfully they were safe.  I praise God for His protection over our family through the storms, and always.  

I am thankful that we've been able to get out and take a few short walks this week. Now that the weather is more comfortable for walking, I hope we will do a lot more of it.  Yesterday I noticed this red "Turk's Cap" flower bush...and there was a Cloudless Sulphur butterfly attached, enjoying a nice drink of nectar.

Turk's Cap flower

When we were kids playing on the playground at our school, there were a lot of bushes of these flowers blooming. We kids used to love to pull off the flowers and suck out the nectar from them. It's very sweet and safe...and we loved it just like this butterfly!  I feel bad now that we probably deprived some butterfly of his dinner, but we sure enjoyed it as children!  Fun memories!

Another memory flash...I pulled this little three tined fork out of my utensil drawer yesterday to stab some pickles from the pickle jar for hubby's sandwich.  It's the perfect fork for that little job.  And everytime I use this little fork, I can hear my mother in law telling me the story that this "Keen little fork" belonged to her daddy, and that's what he wanted to eat with because it was good to stab his meat with.  

Here's a picture of her daddy, my hubby's "Granddaddy Martin". And those are his glasses in that case.

It's interesting to me how something like a "keen little fork" can bring up a memory so fast...for me of my mother in law, and for her, of her father.  I never got to meet "Granddaddy Martin", as he had tragically died from injuries in an automobile accident when my hubby was just about 6 years old. My hubby was very close to his granddaddy, and that was very traumatic for him. But he sure has some memories of the few years he did get to be near him...but those are stories for another time.  It just made me think about I wonder what things will bring up memories of me some day to my family members?  Personally, I hope it will be something good and more than a "keen little fork", but actually that's not bad...seeing the fork and hearing my mother in law's voice in my head made me smile and think about all the other wonderful things about her. So that's a good thing.  And again, those are stories for another day, and there are a lot of them in this blog back in the days before she passed away. She was one of those unforgettable people in my life.

And speaking of unforgettable...here's a picture of Blackie, sitting on top of hubby's laptop...keeping "Daddy" from doing any work on his computer...and making sure that he was getting some attention...

Gotta love him!

In closing...
Here's some food for thought for today from John 14:23-27

23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 

24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 

26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 

27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.