Wednesday Treasures from Still Waters Pond and Beyond

Happy Wednesday! I know, the day is almost over, but it's been a busy day and I am just now sitting down at my computer to read and write and try to get caught up with "stuff".   This may be a montage of various pictures from the past few days because I don't have a lot of "content" to talk about.  

It's been too hot to take very many walks lately, and the promised rain storms we were supposed to get here this week have not yet materialized in our neck of the woods.   Tonight it was a couple of degrees cooler (actually, quite a bit...84 now as opposed to the 99 we had earlier in the week), so we took a walk and went past the "Century/Agave Plant" that I've told you about over the past month. 

 I last told you about the Century Plant HERE.  Well, that picture above is how it looks now! It finally "gave up the ghost" and laid down to die.  It had a good life and brought some smiles to many people as I've posted pictures of it over the past few weeks here and on Facebook.  But like Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 

"To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven:

2 A time o be born,

And a time to die;"

And so I guess this plant finally reached the end of its season.  I hope that when it is my time to lay down and die it can be said that I brought some smiles to many people along the way. That, along with sharing the love of Jesus with others is a worthy goal and purpose in life.   Oh, before I forget, I wanted to share this song with you that our choir sang this past Sunday morning:

You may recognize the song as familiar verses from the Bible, John 3:16-17

John 3:16-17 KJV

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,

 that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

If I don't share anything else with you ever again, this is the most important message that could ever be shared.

I guess I could just close this post with that, but I did have some other pictures I wanted to share with you, so here we go:

I watched this interesting scene the other evening out in our yard beside Still Waters Pond.  If you look carefully at the tree, you will see at first one bluebird sitting on a branch, and up in the branches above you will also see a Red Shouldered Hawk, and they are both watching each other very carefully.

Here's a close up of Mr. Hawk:

Pretty soon Mrs. Bluebird joins Mr. Bluebird on that branch, and Mr. Hawk continues to watch them, but they don't seem overly concerned.

This little standoff continued for quite a while until finally Mr. Hawk decided he'd better go look for his supper elsewhere and away he flew.

A little later I captured this picture of Mrs. Bluebird in her house, sitting on her nest. She is looking out the window and her mouth is open as if she is either gasping for air because it is so hot in there, or she's calling for Mr. Bluebird to bring her some supper.  Either way, it's quite a picture!

This is where she is sitting. That is Still Waters Pond in the background, but it might as well be called "No Waters Pond" right now, as it is getting so dry you could just about walk across it, but I wouldn't recommend it. The bottom of that pond is pure muck, and you would sink up to your knees very quickly...yeah...it's yucky! I know, I've tried it before!  That's why we need that rain so much! It will fill back up once the summer rains start, but until then it is pretty dry!

In between all the other excitement of the hawk and the bluebirds, Mr. Ruby Throated Hummingbird has been coming and going to the bird feeder, minding his own business and enjoying a cool drink of sugar water...

Hi there folks!  Nice to see you again!!

Speaking of the Red Shouldered Hawk again, I told you recently HERE about how unhappy the Hawk has been about having so many trees removed from the lot next door to us.  Well, I took a walk over to that lot the other evening and I was surprised suddenly by a rush of activity and some very loud screeches coming out from among some trees.  I was shocked to see not just one, but THREE hawks fly up into the tree above me, and they were all quite upset with me for being in their territory!  I managed to take a few pictures...I believe the two that you see in this tree are actually juvenile hawks, so apparently there WAS a nest in the area and no wonder Mrs. Hawk had been so distressed!

These two stood there squawking at me for some time, while Mama Hawk apparently went back to hunt for some supper for these noisy kids.

I was getting nervous about the way they kept looking at me, like I might become their dinner if I didn't watch out! LOL.

Very soon Mama flew to this branch and they joined her there, so I am thinking she actually brought them some supper:

Mama left them again, and they continued to keep a "hawk eye" on me, so I decided to start heading back to home:

Besides, it was starting to get dark, and this was the last view I had of one of the hawks watching me go:

However, when I got back to our back yard I was able to see Mr. Bluebird one more time, standing guard over their house as the sun was finally setting behind me.

And with that, I think I will let the sun set on this post and put it to bed for the night.

Psalm 113:3 NKJV

"From the rising of the sun to its going down

The Lord’s name is to be praised."

Amen.

Friday Foto Friends...Around the Pond

 Here it is late Friday evening...and I am just getting around to posting this! Most of you won't see it until Saturday, so we could call it Saturday Foto Friends instead! LOL.  I really don't have a lot of great photos this week that I haven't already shown, so this will just be a mish mash of stuff from around the house and Still Waters Pond.  Let's see, where shall I begin?

How about with this Red Shouldered Hawk that was sitting up in a tree overlooking the pond this afternoon?  He was watching for something to have for supper I bet!

Sorry he is hiding his face behind that little branch...I was kind of at a distance and really couldn't see him that well, so I just started taking pictures, trying not to call too much attention to myself so he would stay put.

I think he knows I'm there anyway...

Right after this he took off flying across the pond and that was that...

Speaking of across the pond...one day this week we were driving around on a road on the other side of the pond, and it used to always be so full of brush and trees, etc., that you couldn't tell there was a pond there.  But someone recently bought that lot and cleared away the brush so now you can actually see the pond and walk down to it, and so of course that's what I did! This gives you a different view of the pond from the other side and also the back side of the two islands that are in the pond...

Years ago someone had built a pier over to that island and then beyond it onto the other island that is closer to our house.

It crossed over this canal to that island...

And there is what is left of it...it isn't functional anymore...I would not dare to try to walk on it.  I did kayak under it a few times back when I was strong enough to kayak around the pond.  Maybe I can find one of those pictures of under that dock...

Here are a few pictures from a couple of years ago when I was able to make that trip around the pond in the kayak...and here I am getting ready to go under that old dock...

We must always remember to stop and "smell the water lilies" along the way...

This is looking up from underneath the dock...I was a lot braver a few years ago than I am today...not sure I'd do that again now, but then again...maybe I might...I do miss going out in the kayak...it was so peaceful out there...

There were the Cat tails along the way...

And here I am...I made it around the pond and lived to tell about it, and brought home a lily to prove it! Again, this was a few years ago...I need to rebuild my strength in my arms before I venture out like that again anytime soon...

Now, back to the present...I was trying to see if you could see our  house from the other side of the pond, and thankfully you cannot!  At least not from this vantage point.  The islands tend to block the view...

And this is the view of that old dock from the shore, the way it looks now:  Kind of like the bridge to nowhere!   Or, a bridge too far, or something profound like that...

And here is an added bonus! These aerial views of Still Waters Pond were taken from a real estate series of photos via drone!  This gives you a pretty good idea of where the islands are:

That is our house to the left above, and pretty much in the center of the photo below, next to the pond:

Our house on right side of photo next to pond:

This one shows our shed, down on the left:

And again, that is our house down on the bottom center. You can see the highway on the other side of the trees to the left, and a business on the far side, top of photo. Because of that highway, our pond is not as quiet and tranquil as one would believe from my photos, but we've learned to just tune out the noise and enjoy the beauty, and listen for the songs of the birds instead...it's a good lesson to learn in order to have peace in the midst of the noise of the world...

Hope you enjoyed this bird's eye view of Still Waters Pond!

Here's the only other picture I took today of our turtles sunning themselves out on the little marsh island:

And we had a lovely sunrise yesterday morning...

I picked what I call "Fairy Flowers" in the yard yesterday...little tiny wildflowers that are popping up everywhere!!

And so I decided the fairies needed to come out and enjoy them as a centerpiece...

The view from both sides...

Last night our "kids" came over and we made spaghetti for supper, and they were "delighted" with this little fairy garden on the table.  My kids humor me a lot you might say...

And Lily Grace was getting ready for Valentine's Day...she sent out a few Valentine's Cards to some special friends...

Lily Grace says to send you all a great big hug and Happy Valentine's Day (week ahead!) too.

Today's verse on my little devotional book says:

"The Lord  God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet,

and He will make me walk on my high hills."  Habakkuk 3:19

Notice that says "high HILLS", not "high heels".  LOL.  I think most of us are past the age of wearing High heels...  And I love that this verse reminds us that God is our strength...and He will give us the strength we need to walk on whatever "high hills" may come before us...and even into the deep valleys on the other side of those hills. God is with us...our ever present help in every situation.  May we always remember that no matter what obstacles are in our path.  And who knows? Maybe I'll get that strength I need to make it around the pond again soon. That is my goal...as God gives me His strength day by day.

Okay folks, that's it for tonight! Have a blessed and beautiful weekend!

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!