Friday Foto Friends~More Excitement on Still Water's Pond and Beyond!

Happy Friday everyone! I have some exciting news!

There are two eggs!!  Yesterday morning, on George Washington's birthday, our early morning view of the Sand Hill Crane nest showed TWO eggs!  So now, my plan to name the new "colts" in honor of President George Washington and President Abraham Lincoln is going forward as stated earlier this week on President's Day, when we discovered the first egg.    I think we will call them George and Abe.  I know we don't know if they will be male or female, and it is actually quite difficult to tell the difference even when they are adults...but we could call them Georgianne and Abby instead. LOL.  

This picture was taken early in the morning, hence the lighting is not great, but I could clearly see the two eggs with my binoculars.

Mr. Sand Hill Crane continued to stand guard while Mama rested on the nest. Once in a while they would actually change places so that Mama could go get something to eat and stretch her legs a while.

As you can see, the Canada Geese are still out there swimming around, occasionally getting too close for comfort and Papa Crane takes off after them with loud shrieks and flapping wings...

They both continue to maintain the nest, adding more sticks and mud and repositioning the eggs to keep them in the best spot.

Yes, watching these proceedings pretty much occupies a good portion of our days right now.

And yes, the geese are still here...mostly just relaxing in the water, but with occasional forays into the Crane territory just to keep things popping.

It seems like they are gathering together to plot their next move to harrass Mrs. Crane!

I still don't know if the geese are building a nest here or if they are just hanging around to be pests, but either way, they keep things interesting and we enjoy all the activity.

So what else do we do with our time besides watch the birds?  Well, let's see, 

 We take walks in the woods and notice the contrast between life and death you might say...

This fungi is growing on this dead tree branch...the fungi is a living organism that actually feeds on decaying wood.

The woods are full of this Deer Moss, which grows on top of the sandy leafy soils of our woods. The deer do eat it apparently, hence its name, but it is really a type of lichen.

Just another way that God provides for His creation!

Amazing that this cut section of an old tree is still laying there in the woods...

I wrote about this same piece of wood HERE, about 4 years ago, when this tree was still fresh cut.

Same photo from 2020...when I thought it looked like a baby in utero, a child waiting to be born that was cut off from the living before it had a chance to be born...some poignant thoughts...

And here is another fascinating dead tree, reaching up to the skies, surrounded by living trees. The woodpeckers and insects also find this as a good food source and/or a place to build a nest.

Amazing the natural beauty that we can find around us when we open our eyes to God's wonderful creation.

Besides our walks in the woods, we also took a nice ride through the woods yesterday afternoon and had supper with some dear "old friends" from our previous neighborhood in the Ocala National Forest. I forgot to take any pictures, but we enjoyed a delightful dinner of homemade chicken and dumplings, and/or chili...salad, cornbread, biscuits, and a delicious cinnamon and nut Bundt cake for dessert. I was told not to bring anything, but I still took a couple of containers of fresh strawberries, which we enjoyed along side our cake with some whipped cream.  It was all wonderful. Our friends live on a small lake where I used to take a LOT of pictures back when we lived there.  And guess what? They also have a Sand Hill Crane couple nesting right now in the middle of their little lake!  It looks just like ours!  'Tis the season for new life everywhere!

This is actually a picture I took of a Sand Hill Crane nesting on that same little lake back in 2018.  Their current Crane Mama and nest looks pretty much the same now. It may even be the same family as it was back then. They do come back to the same nesting grounds over and over again!

Here's some thoughts for today from Proverbs chapter 3:24-26

24 

24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid;

Yes, you will lie down and your sleep will be sweet.

25 Do not be afraid of sudden terror,

Nor of trouble from the wicked when it comes;

26 For the Lord will be your confidence,

And will keep your foot from being caught.

This morning's sunrise!

Arise, shine;

For your light has come!

And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.

Isaiah 60:1

Well, It is now nighttime and about time for me to start shutting down for the night.  Thank you for visiting here, and I apologize if I haven't gotten around to visit you yet. I am still trying to get caught up with everyone as I can. I probably need to quit watching the activities around here so I can read your posts!  Thank you for your patience!

God bless you all, and have a wonderful weekend!

Rise and Shine

"Rise and shine

and give God the glory, glory

Rise and shine

and give God the glory, glory;

Rise and shine and (clap!) 

Give God the glory, glory,

Children of the Lord!"

 The Red Shouldered Hawk is in the treetop, rejoicing to see a new day!

The sun is rising in the east and reflecting on Still Waters Pond

          Isaiah 60:1 (NKJV) 

"Arise, shine;

For your light has come!

And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you."

Hope your day is filled with the joy and the Glory of the Lord!

 Sailing away into a beautiful day!

2 

"For Such A Time As This" - Updated 6-12-17

We studied a little about Queen Esther in our Bible Study this morning, and it reminded me of this post that I wrote last year...and this still speaks to my heart today...perhaps it will yours as well...

Have a blessed day my friends! 

"Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom 

for such a time as this?"

Esther 4:14b

Have you ever come to a point in your life where you had to take a stand that might be unpopular, perhaps even dangerous to your own life situation...but yet you knew that to remain silent could be more dangerous or significantly damaging to the lives and/or circumstances of others?  Not a pleasant place to be.

Queen Esther was in such a position...and if she chose not to act it could have meant the death and destruction of the Jewish people during the time of their captivity in the Persian Empire.  However, in order to act on behalf of her people Queen Esther would need to put her own life in grave danger by requesting an audience with the King.  You can read all about this in the Old Testament book of Esther.  Esther was very courageous...and even though it was against the law for her to approach the king, she knew she had to do it.  In chapter 4, verse 16, Esther says, 

"And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!"

(click on this video for "Esther's Song" by Ashley and Micha'el BenDavid)

Esther did not perish...and neither did the Jewish people...because God had gone before her and prepared the way.  She was a chosen vessel "for such a time as this."

Perhaps you have had experiences in your life where you had to decide between right and wrong...and take a stand for the sake of "the people"...whether "the people" be your spouse, children, parents, friends...or office staff, employees, your business, place of employment,  church, school, community, neighbors.
Possibly your action meant that you might lose your job, your position in the community, church, friendships...and sadly even family relationships.

But to choose not to take action could mean something much more detrimental to "your people".

I kind of compare it to the slogan, "Friends don't let friends drive drunk"...and so you take the keys away.  You have just a moment to act...and it could change the lives of those around you forever.  When you see someone headed for destruction and you choose to remain silent, refusing to get involved...you tacitly become just as guilty when they careen into the path of another vehicle and hit them head on, possibly killing or seriously injuring innocent bystanders.  You may not be the one that goes to jail for vehicular manslaughter, but you will live for the rest of your life with the guilt of what could have been done "if only I had taken action".

As I stated in the beginning, to take such a course of action may not be widely appreciated by everyone.  However, some may never even know what you did to stem the tide of the impending tsunami, diverting it away from the danger zones. The important thing is to know in your heart when it is the right thing to do...and to act accordingly, leaving the results to God...not seeking any glory for yourself...but giving thanks to the Lord for His guidance and protection for "your people"....

"Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom

for such a time as this?"

"Arise, shine; for your light has come!

And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.

For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,

and deep darkness the people;

But the Lord will arise over you,

and His glory will be seen upon you."

Isaiah 60:1-2