Guess What I Did? A New Adventure

Guess What I Did?  Yep! I finally "sailed" to the other side of the pond!

With all this wonderful rain we've been having, our pond has filled up to a depth that finally made it possible to even try and explore its depths!

There I go.  Yes, you will  notice that there is a rope tied to my kayak. That was because we weren't too sure how deep it was further out, and we decided for the first trial run to attach a rope so I could be pulled back to shore if I got stuck (or too scared to paddle! LOL).

Of course, those of you who have followed me here for a while know that I have been wanting to get on that little island in the middle of our pond ever since we moved here last summer. I tried to walk across to it when the pond was almost dry, (you can read more about that adventure HERE), but quickly discovered that looks could be deceiving. The "dry" bottom of the pond was really muck, and I quickly had to retreat from that idea!

 Alas, when I paddled my son's kayak to the island, I could not figure out a way to land it there and be able to get out of the kayak on my own...it took three people to get me out on the flat shore, so I knew there was no way I could graciously climb out of that kayak by myself and climb up the hill on the island. It would have been a disaster that would only be funny to those watching from afar!

 So I quickly abandoned that idea and paddled back to shore to untie the rope (and get my camera) so that I could go ahead and paddle around the island to see what was on the other side.

So these pictures are what I saw as I paddled around the other side of the island:

This was the grassy marshy area where the Canadian Geese had their nest earlier this spring, which apparently did not develop any goslings as they abandoned their nest and flew away one day. Then the Sand Hill Crane couple started spending their nights here, but when the pond dried up so badly, they too flew away and haven't been back.

Now the water lilies are blooming profusely all over the pond. They are so pretty, I had to balance myself in the kayak, trying not to lose my hold on the paddle while I attempted to take pictures...

This is a lovely picture of my foot. Not sure how this picture got taken. I think it was during my balancing act.

Finally reaching the far side of the island. It's not really very large...certainly not big enough for Gilligan and his crew, but just a pretty peaceful little cove where the fish can swim and the birds and land...

I debated about going all the way around the island, and decided not to because I wasn't too sure how deep the water was on the other side.

So I turned around and headed back toward home.

 Another view of the cove before I left.

 "I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, 

through which God speaks to us every hour,

if we will only tune in."

George Washington Carver

(a quote I found in a favorite little book, "Beside Still Waters")

 "My heart is awed within me when I think of the great miracle that still goes on,

In silence, round me--the perpetual work of Thy creation, finished, yet renewed Forever.

Written on Thy works I read the lesson of Thy own eternity."

William Cullen Bryant

This is my favorite water lily picture of the day:

And then when I got back to shore, my son decided to take his turn in the kayak:

 He also just went to the other side of the island and then turned around and came back to shore.

And when he came back to shore, my sweet daughter in law decided to show us how it's really supposed to be done. She is a more experienced kayaker than we are.

Look at her go!

She was paddling so strong she left quite a wake behind her little craft...

 And Lo! and Behold! She made it all the way around the island!!!!

 Here she comes! Our great explorer of the day!!!

Yay for Rose! She proved it could be done!!! I'm so proud of her!!

 And thus ended our wonderful little kayaking adventure for the day!  Then we went and picked up some BBQ for lunch and had a wonderful day.

Later in the day I saw this lovely Little Blue Heron fishing in the pond:

So now we can add him to our list of different species of herons and water birds visiting Still Waters Pond.

Never a dull moment here on Still Waters Pond!

Just a thought from God's Word:

"You are my hiding place;

You will protect me from trouble

and surround me with songs of deliverance."

Psalm 32:7

I hope you enjoyed this little journey around "Still Waters Pond"!  Now that I know I can do it, I hope to get out there more frequently, as long as the water stays high enough to make it!  Thank You, Lord, for Your blessings on us!!!

This Adventure Called "Life"

First of all, I want to thank all of my friends here who have been praying for me since my last post and during my recent surgery.  I am here to say that your prayers have been answered, and yes, God certainly did have His angels watching over me throughout this whole "adventure".  I like the sound of the word "adventure" better than "ordeal", don't you? If we can view our events in life more as an "adventure" rather than as an "ordeal" to be endured, we can look for all the ways that God has been with us and blessed us throughout the "adventure".  And that is what I want to share with you today. During my hospital stay, God demonstrated His Presence with me over and over again. But here are a few examples that really blessed me.

During the night following surgery, I woke up and noticed this picture on the wall of my room.

The sunrise seemed to just glow, beckoning me to look deeper. If you notice the two people standing on the shore, you will probably just think of them as a couple of lovers standing on the shore enjoying the sunrise together. But when I looked at this picture I saw Jesus standing there beside me, reassuring me that He was indeed with me through all of life's journeys, and especially right now, so I was able to settle down and rest peacefully knowing He was there with me.

When I awoke the next morning, I looked out the window next to my bed, and this was what I saw:

 Do you see the cross in this picture?  Here again was the Lord's message to me..."I am with you always"....

That evening our pastor came by for a visit, and he remarked about the beautiful picture of the butterfly on the wall above my head.  I had not been able to see it as it was above and behind me, and it was actually the next day before I could get a view of it to take its picture while they had me sitting up in a chair for a while.  Here again was a gift from God, a picture of "new life" as the butterfly escapes his cocoon and develops into this beautiful creature and flies off into his new adventure....
This reminds me of our hope in Christ Jesus found here:

2 Corinthians 5:17

 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

Going back in time for a few minutes, here are a few picture my hubby took as I was being prepped for surgery:

When we entered the pre-op area, we both noticed this lovely purple and lavender outfit laid out for me to wear to the grand event:

We also noticed the table with the many items and labels and things that would begin this journey:

Here I am all dressed up in my lovely new outfit, ready for the "ball"...

 I think this picture is showing that I am wrapped up in those lovely warm blankets that come directly out of a warming unit and cover you with the most lovely feeling of warmth and comfort you can imagine just prior to surgery...

In this photo the anesthesiology team is preparing for my epidural (nerve block). I did not know I was going to have this procedure until I got there, and once it was explained to me I agreed it sounded wonderful and was all too happy to comply. This epidural stayed in until a couple of days after surgery, giving me the ability to control my pain relief as needed...and it was a wonderful advantage.  I woke up less groggy and much more comfortable than what I've experienced in previous surgeries.

 Thankfully there are no pictures of me in recovery.  I don't think I looked quite this chipper.
This picture was taken as I was waiting for the doctor to come and release me for discharge...ready to go home!

Thankfully, I am now writing to you once again from the safe and comfortable confines of my home. And just as Judy Garland (Dorothy) repeated over and over again in the "Wizard of Oz", "There's no place like home...There's no place like home..." I totally agree.  Although I must admit I had not thought about some things that I would experience when I got home, like my inability to get up and down into low chairs, our bed and other important places.  When you've had any kind of abdominal surgery, which I have, you discover just how hard those tummy muscles work in moving you up and down and all around.  Last night when trying to get into bed it was quite an interesting  and painful "work out"...and I totally now understand why the mechanics of a hospital bed are so important and necessary.

It also became apparent to me how important those support grab bars in bathrooms and showers are. I believe that all homes should be equipped with them regardless of whether or not you think you will ever need them. Trust me, you will need them at some point in your life. 

For now, I am once again relying on "My Father's Cane" to assist me as I get up and down in difficult places. (Please click on that link above for a very special story about this cane).

So now my job is to continue this journey of recovery and healing, one step at a time.  I am so thankful for my sweet hubby, who is nearly worn out with all of my "demands"....Here he is after filling the bird feeder for me so I can watch my birdies come and go.

We have also been blessed by dear folks from our church who have brought by meals for us, even this past week while I was in the hospital they made sure my hubby and son living here at home did not go hungry, which was very thoughtful and kind of them. Yes, they are capable of feeding themselves, but it was the fact that it showed that people care and are willing to help out in time of need. I am so very thankful for how God provides even more than we think we need. He knows how to bless us.

So, thank you, again, dear friends, for your prayers, messages of healing and encouragement...and for just being there. You are a great joy and blessing to me.

In thinking about Dorothy and "The Wizard of Oz" quote, "There's no place like home..." I was reminded of this little ruby slipper pin that I have,

And I thought about the "Adventure" of our lives again, and this journey we are on toward "home"....

We are all on our way "home" to our eternal home with Jesus...and I love that He comes alongside and walks with us, reminds us of His great sacrifice for us, and gives us glimpses of the new life we will one day be enjoying with Him forever.   Yes, Dorothy was right, "There's no place like home...", and our home is heaven...but until Jesus calls me "home", I want to serve Him any way I can right here at this temporary "home" in this "adventure" called life!  How about you?  I hope you are on this journey with me. If not, why not ask Jesus to lead you home with Him today? 

Let the Adventure Begin!

If you read my post from Friday Fotos HERE, you will remember that I was sort of challenging myself to a little "adventure" toward the end of the post.  If you recall, there is a little island in the middle of "Still Waters Pond", that I have been long desiring to find a way to reach and explore.  The Sand Hill Cranes showed me that the water in our pond is only about two feet deep in some areas, and I know it has to be less than that over in another area that is closer to the island...and my thought was, if a Sand Hill Crane can literally walk through the water over to that island, why can't I?

Of course, I have no desire to walk through that water barefooted. The bottom of the pond is obviously mucky and who knows what all lies beneath the surface of that dark murky pond?  However, if I could find some waterproof boots that go high enough so I wouldn't get wet, then why not walk across to the island once and for all??? Sounds reasonable doesn't it?

Well, today I kept talking about this to my hubby, and he said if I could find some boots he would approve my walking over to the island.  With that encouragement  I drove to our local ACE Hardware, because we had been there a couple of days ago and I happened to notice that they had some knee high rubber boots on sale there. What I didn't happen to notice was the price...and when I got there and realized those boots would cost me almost $40.00, I decided that would not be a good use of our hard-earned money just so I could walk through the water to a little island to see what was on the other side.  So, sadly I drove back home and was about to give up on the idea altogether when I remembered that my hubby had some waterproof snow galoshes (overshoes) stored somewhere in our shed...at least I thought that is where they were.  It ended up they were in the guest room closet in the farthest corner behind the most boxes of stuff that I could possibly reach without having to pull everything out from in front of them...Anyway...I found them!  Just because my hubby's shoe size is a men's 12 and my shoe size is a ladies' 9 wasn't going to stop me at this point. Besides, they go over the shoe, so they need to be a little larger, right? 

And since it was such a beautiful day, and it would seem that I have all this nervous energy bottled up inside me, why not go on an adventure?  Hubby said he would take pictures of me as I went, but since there was only one pair of boots, I would be the only one walking through the water.

 There I go with my trusty walking stick and my camera around my neck. 

 When I got to the point where I thought the water would be the shallowest, I started testing the water levels to see how deep it was...

 and I tried to walk out a little ways into the water, but honestly, it was so mucky I immediately sunk right up to my ankles and it was obvious that if I went any further I would be in too deep and stuck in the mud in no time at all...  Those Sand Hill Cranes made it look so easy! But then again, they don't weigh nearly as much as I do...and their feet are made for walking in mucky ponds apparently.

 These "rear view" pictures are not very flattering of me, and I was wearing my old baggy jeans cause I certainly didn't want to ruin my good ones in that mucky water.

Sadly, I had to give up on the idea of crossing in the water to the island.  However, I was undeterred in my mission to at least see what was on the other side of that island.  So I managed to walk around the edge of the pond on top of the mud to where I could at least see what was over there...

 Before I started my journey around the bend, I noticed that I had another friend visiting the island...

 He wasn't too sure about my being there so close...but I kept going in the opposite direction anyway so as not to bother him.

When I got around the bend of the island, I realized there is not one, but two little islands there...and someone had definitely been there before and had built  some kind of dock. (Above picture)  It appeared that perhaps someone had camped out under there at some point, or maybe just something blew under there in a storm and got stuck there.

Below is also evidence of another little dock that is no longer in use...

Apparently at one time someone had built a dock connecting the two islands!

And then I was really surprised to discover this dock connecting to the smaller island from the "mainland".  I don't know the condition of those boards, and it appears there is no way to get onto it from the land as it is quite high above the ground...also, this leads me to believe that the water in the pond used to be quite a bit deeper. Probably after the hurricanes it was quite full, but over the years we haven't had as much rain and the water level is quite low in most of the small lakes and ponds in this area.

 This view is of the larger island around the bend from where I can usually see it from our yard. It really is just a small strip of land, probably not more than 15-20 feet wide, but interesting none the less...

Well, look who's here!  Our lovely White Egret friend has flown over to this side of the pond, probably thinking that he was safely away from my prying eyes...

They sure do get nervous when people get too close...so up he went, flying over to another spot a little further away from "danger"... (see his reflection in the pond? I wish I had gotten a more complete reflection...I love these flight scenes)

 Perhaps this will be a better spot for fishing...

 I can tell by his stance that he is getting ready to fly again. I hope I can get a good picture of that...

Up, up, up he went, but he was into the trees before I could get focused well enough to snap the photo.

With that I decided I'd better turn around and work my way back home before I fell  into the water in all my excitement of trying to take pictures...Thank goodness I had my trusty walking stick with me...it really did keep me from slipping down into the mud. Now that would have been quite the picture! However, hubby was too far around the bend to see me at this point and he would have never gotten that picture! 

So all in all it was still a great adventure, even if I wasn't able to actually step foot on the island, I at least was able to see what was around on the other side! And it was quite enlightening.  Since we moved here last summer we have not seen any other people around this pond, even though there are some other houses hidden over on the other side. I don't think the other people are nearly as interested in life on Still Waters Pond as I am.  But that's just fine with me. The fewer people bothering the "critters", the more "critters" will come around.  I just have to be careful that I don't scare them away too much!!

We were reading in our Lenten Devotions for today from Isaiah 58:1-14.  A couple of verses stand out to me tonight as I am re-reading this passage in light of my "adventures" today, and also in thinking about my other "adventure" that I will be going through next week:
 
Isaiah 58: Verses 8-9:

"Then your light shall break forth like the morning,

your healing shall spring forth speedily,

and your righteousness shall go before you;

The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer,

You shall cry, and He will say,

"Here I am."

Verse 11:

"The Lord will guide you continually, 

and satisfy your soul in drought,

and strengthen your bones;

You shall be like a watered garden,

and like a spring of water,

whose waters do not fail."

These words give me great comfort and encouragement for the days ahead, as I prepare my heart for a closer walk with the Lord during this season of Lent and preparation for Easter, and also as I go through surgery and the period of recuperation and healing that follows. It is always good to know that God is right here behind, beside and before me, guiding me continually. We are so blessed to be His children! Now, THAT is the best adventure of all!!!