Wednesday Treasures-A Pause That Refreshes...

Happy Wednesday Morning!

"This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it."

Psalm 118:24

We are off to a rather foggy start this morning here on Still Waters Pond, but it promises to be a sunny and warm day.  Sadly, we are no longer hearing or seeing our sweet Sand Hill Crane family. They seemed to have moved on in the past couple of days.  I guess "Colt" finally got big enough to take out into the bigger world beyond our pond and yard. Perhaps he is now learning to fly. I wish I could have seen him fly for the first time, but maybe they had to take him to a more open space where he would be safer as he takes that all important step to adulthood and freedom. I hope they will come back by and visit now and then, but apparently it was time for them to "leave the nest".  We aren't seeing our Canada Geese much anymore either. I don't think that our geese migrate north as we see them over on a larger lake quite a bit all year long. I believe they just like the smooth wide open space of a big lake where they can swim without so much obstruction of lily pads in the way. Hopefully they will come back here again in the winter like they normally do.  Until then, we will enjoy the peace and quiet of Still Waters Pond with the bluebirds nesting and the occasional Great Blue Heron fishing. There's always something to enjoy watching.

Just while I was writing t his the Bluebirds were busily chasing away a Blue Jay from their nest. 

Like I said, there's always something to watch out there, even in the fog!

And if we get bored here, we can go over across town to where we take our daily walks. Every so often God gives us some real surprises, like this:

This young buck and doe were standing in the road as we were walking by, and we had quite the "stand-off" for about five minutes.  I believe they were just as curious about me as I was about them.

You can see that they are conferring with one another about what they should do. Should we run, or should we just stand here and pretend we aren't here so maybe they won't see us...

I believe they are actually twins, brother and sister, as they appear to be about identical in size, and you can tell they are still quite young...maybe yearlings.

I was SO happy I had my good camera with me so I could zoom in on them, as they were actually quite a distance away from me...

I was afraid to move, and so were they...

So this went on for quite a while...

"What should we do? Do you think we should make a run for it?"

"Maybe if we just ignore her she'll go away and we can go on about our business..."

"No, that doesn't seem to be working.  I think she'll stand there all night if we don't do something..."

"Maybe if we make it look like we are getting ready to run after her she will get scared and leave us alone..."

"No, I don't think that's working.  She's a pretty tough lady. I don't think she's going to leave until we do..."

"Well, then, I guess we are just going to have to make a run for it..."

"Okay...Let's get ready to run..."

"Okay, you go first and I'll stand guard and watch her and then I'll follow..."

And with that they disappeared back into the woods and we were both free to go on our way. But they were right, I would have stood there forever watching them, if it hadn't been for my hubby walking back behind me and telling me it was time to go...

Yeah, sometimes we need someone to take the lead and make us get a move on or we'd be stuck in one spot and never get anything done...

But then again, sometimes we need to take a break and just rest...and listen to nature...and listen for God's still small voice telling us which way to go or what to do next.

"1. As the deer pants for the water brooks,

So pants my soul for You, O God.

2. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When shall I come and appear before God?"

Psalm 42:1-2

So, maybe this was our call to pause and listen for God's still small voice this morning, telling us which way to go and how to order our day.  I know this post went a totally different direction than what I thought it was going to be.  Apparently God knew what I needed and perhaps what you needed as well. So until next time, take a few moments to stop and listen for God's voice this morning before you head out for your day. It's that "pause that refreshes..."

Have a wonderful day!

 

Nature's Calling...

We had a special visitor while out walking the other morning...actually there are two of them...

I always am thrilled to have a close encounter with nature...especially when they are graceful creatures like these deer.

We haven't seen them too often lately, so this was a rare treat, and I was most grateful to God for allowing us the privilege of seeing them, even if for a moment or two before they took off back into the woods to get away from us.

Habakkuk 3:18-19

"18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,

I will joy in the God of my salvation.

19 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."

(I almost thought that said, "and He will make me walk on my high heels"!  I'm glad it didn't say that...I haven't walked on "high heels" in a long time, and I sure don't want to try it again now! Whew! That was a close one!) 

Thank You, Lord, for giving me strength...and for giving me much joy in my salvation as well as in just being Your child.  AND for giving me this beautiful scene in which to delight!! Amen!

Speaking of delight...(my One Word for 2022, remember?)...Well, I truly have been seeing so many beautiful things that delight me this past week.  The Bluebirds have been very entertaining to say the least...there have been two couples fighting over the two birdhouses...or maybe they are fighting over their mates...I'm not sure, but they have been very active. I tried to get a video of them one day when they were literally "air-boxing" with each other in the trees and all around the birdhouses...I guess the "turf wars" have truly begun...but anyway...here are a few pictures that I hope you will enjoy:

It seems as though they are staking out their claims on the two birdhouses, and I don't know which couple is which and who's taking which house...but I do hope we end up with two couples to watch this spring.

This is the male (on the birdbath) and the female on the birdhouse, staking out their claim on the house on the left.

But here we have a couple, not sure if it is the same couple or the other...she is on the birdhouse that is on the right and he is on the birdfeeder angel who is blowing her trumpet...

And this male is looking inside birdhouse #2 (the one on the right)  He did go inside too.

And this male is on birdhouse #1 (the one on the left)

And the female is sitting on the bird feeder hook, just watching and waiting on the male to tell her which way to go:

Now, this was fun. The two couples were flying back and forth in the trees, and to the birdhouses and all around, like I said above, "air-boxing" at each other and fighting for their territory:

You can only see three here, but there were all four of them having this "conversation"":

I don't know if they've settled anything...time will tell:

Ah, one good picture of the male caught in flight...and female just landed:

This female has staked out her claim on house #2:

And Mr. Bluebird is keeping watch:

Then he goes back to house #2 and looks inside again:

I think they are making up their minds:

He turned to me and said, "You'll just have to wait and see what develops, so stay tuned!"

Meanwhile, while all of this was going on with the Bluebird colony, there was a lot of other action taking place on and around Still Waters Pond:

Mr. Bull Goose stake out his territory by standing on the tree stump and daring anyone else to come near:

And the Bluebirds weren't the only "blue birds"  in the trees.  There was a flock of Blue Jays fly in...there were four of them  too, but I only see three here. They were chasing each other around in the trees too:

And this Male Cardinal flew in to get some birdseed, but didn't stay long. There was just too much commotion going on. And the picture is a bit fuzzy, sorry. It's the best I could do. I was having to snap pictures left and right.

There's the rest of the goose flock down in the water;

and Mr. Anhinga was standing out on his perch in the water, drying his wings and enjoying the morning sunshine:

He didn't seem at all bothered by all the commotion on the shore.  I think he was looking down at a fish or something in this picture. He had his mind on his own business:

Or maybe he was looking at this little group of Ring-necked Ducks swimming and diving around the pond. There were two males (black and white) and two females (brown and tan). They spend most of their time diving under water and having a good old time bobbing up and down. They were out there all day playing Marco Polo! LOL

It's hard to get a picture of all four at once because they keep bobbing up and down faster than I can snap the picture!

Ah, there they are:

I love watching them. A couple of years ago there were a lot more of them, and then they didn't come back last year (must've been because of Covid).  But this year there's only 4. But I'm so happy to see them again, no matter how many!

Now, I know y'all think I'm just a terrible "Mommie" that I haven't taken Lily Grace on any adventures lately. Well...I've been busy. But she did pick some sweet little "fairy flowers" and also some Carolina Jessamine the other day, so we put it in her pretty little "Lily of the Valley" tea pot that Aunt Doris gave her for a vase. She and her dog Bailey have lots of fun every day.

I guess this is a good place to stop.  I know it isn't Friday yet, but I may be busy the next couple of days and not have time to post anything, so I wanted to share these photos before they get "stale". 

I've mentioned this little devotional book before.  I love its quick and to the point devotions that point us to a "grace-filled life".

Well,  I was thumbing through it and came upon this one below...and I think this is a good place to close this post for today:

Sometimes we just need to be reminded that God is still working on our behalf behind the scenes, even while we are sleeping.  We can "sleep in peace" and "relax in His grace", knowing that God is in control and He knows exactly what is best for each of us.

So good night my friends. 

Sleep in peace.