July Jaunts

  This month, I've taken several excursions--both not far away. The first one was on my bike, beside the high-voltage power lines. Here's a picture of the male osprey I saw, landing on the nest:

  Yesterday, I took a walk at a nearby park; it was about a 3-mile jaunt. Here's the bridge I walked across to get there:

 

   I saw a female mallard duck swimming in the river:

    I noticed a brown creature hopping across the trail. Upon looking closer, I discovered this tiny frog:

  Later, I found a few more. I thought this would make an interesting picture...let me know what you think.😏

 

  
I also walked along the edge of a potato field--here are a few potato blossoms among the million others:

  What kinds of jaunts have you taken this month? Let me know in the comments; don't just read--respond!😊

Fifty Shades of Brown

  I've been pondering this issue for weeks, even before the George Floyd incident. I know people are unhappy with what they think was racism; maybe it was. However, how will looting and toppling down statues solve anything?
  People would do well, when considering issues of skin color, to realize three things:

1. There is only one race.

  Since we all come from Adam and Eve, there is only one race of people. There wasn't a Hispanic Adam and Eve, a Caucasian Adam and Eve, or an Indian Adam and Eve...they were just how God made them to be! People moved to different parts of the world, but we all come from the same two people.

2. We're all related.

  You may be from Switzerland, England, or Australia; but since we all come from the same two people, we're all related. Even if we're sixteenth cousins four times removed, we're still kin.

3. Nobody is black or white.

  If you don't believe me, then take a black piece of paper and hold it up to your "black" skin. Is your skin the same color? No, it's brown. And if I were to hold a piece of white paper next to my skin, I wouldn't be white either--I'd be brown, too. I'm just a lighter shade of brown than Martin Luther King Jr. and the Ethiopian eunuch.

  So, shall we change the song to "Shades of brown from dark to light/They are precious in His sight"?😊

                                P.S. Hope, our cat, is both black, white, AND brown!!

The Creativity of God

I'm sure you've all seen tulips...

                                           ...BUT HAVE YOU EVER LOOKED INSIDE?

Or the inside of a jack-in-the-pulpit?

                                             Ever knelt to see ground ivy growing in the grass?

Or seen a lady's slipper blooming as you pass?

And if you don't like flowers, how about birds?

From the "blue" indigo bunting...(did you know they're really black?)

...to the pileated woodpecker, for whom wood will be no lack...

The evasive spotted wood thrush, who sings the sweetest song...

...to the black-throated blue warbler, that hides the whole day long...

Okay, you're still not satisfied? You can't see God's creativity because you aren't a bird-watcher or looking for flowers?

Well, here are some animals, then!

From the pesky little groundhog, (or a woodchuck, if from the South,)

...to the jumpy little frogs, with their frowny little mouth (which one do you like better?)

Maybe you'd rather see a chipmunk, who's just peeking from the sod?

Now have I proven to you

THE CREATIVITY OF GOD?!

When I Took a Bike Ride, I Saw...

                                                    Two moose, including this one.

                                      A pair of ospreys; this is the female landing on the nest.

                                           Here's Mr. Osprey, keeping an eye on me!

                A butterfly, which I've identified before but can't exactly remember the name of.

                                                   Deep-fried fiddleheads, anyone?

             Here's a Northern Flicker, keeping a sharp lookout from his home in the birch tree.



            This squirrel picture wasn't taken today, but I thought it was too cute not to post!😊

The Bird Nerd Reports

Thought I'd show you some of the birds I've seen this year:

This is a hooded merganser. I had seen them before, but never gotten a good picture.

Here's an agitated female mallard, taken the same day.

This bird is a white-winged crossbill.

These are wood ducks, the first time I'd ever seen any.

Here's an European Starling, in a snowy tree.

This yellow-rumped warbler (or myrtle warbler,) was outside my window just this morning.

We've been hearing a pair of birds for a while, just up the road, but we could never figure out exactly what they were. Now, according to this picture I took on our walk this afternoon, we think it's a red-shouldered hawk.

Have you been seeing any interesting birds lately?

Meet Corona

  I hadn't heard of Corona until last month, when she visited Washington and stealthily made her way to the East Coast. Every day we ask, "How many people have entertained her now?" or "How many have succumbed to her deadly grip?"
  She's caused a lot of panic in the world. People, in fear of her, rush to stock up on flour. Toilet paper. Bread. Molasses. Canned food. (Why not ice cream? That's an essential in my mind.😉)
  Two people have recently had Corona who live/were in our county, so now Corona has control of our local library. She's closed down the thrift shop, the gift store, the restaurant, only deeming grocery shopping as essential. She's even taken control of what we WEAR. Now people have been seen with face masks and disposable gloves on! And most everyone has that bottle of hand sanitizer in their pocket, or wipes in their car.
  Worst of all, she's canceled church services all across the globe. Birthday parties. Writers' conferences. She's allowed for bike rides, though, or for walking the dog (at least in Maine.)
  A few good things about Corona? Well...those are few and far between...but she's actually encouraging families to stay home and spend time together. And she's helping me save my money, instead of buying those tempting stickers.😏 And--may I say it?--she's also encouraging old ladies to have white hair (instead of going to the hair salon) and discouraging movies and drinking. Isn't that great!?

COVID-19 vs. Sin

  "Where's all the toilet paper? Where did all the baby wipes go? What will we do without enough sugar?" People (including us😉) are now walking around town with little bottles of hand sanitizer. Church services are being held live on Facebook. We can't go through a day without asking how many cases of the coronavirus are in Maine. How many cases are in the world. How many people have died from it.
  All this hoarding, too. People are CLEANING OUT the paper products, hand sanitizer, and disinfectant wipes. NO bread left (except for the expensive kind.) NO sugar or flour. And where are they keeping all these extras?
  This got me to thinking; if the whole world can go into a frenzy over something like a virus, then why aren't Christians going into a "frenzy" over sin? You know--why can't people be hoarding Bibles instead of toilet paper? Why aren't people asking how many people in the world today have died without knowing Christ? Maybe this virus will make some think about their souls. I hope so. It's hard for me, as an introvert, to mention Christianity to someone, but I could certainly get out from behind my comfort-zone respirator (that protects me, supposedly, from the sin virus) and tell them about God!
  Remember, that man with the cart-load of flour and bottled water needs to hear the Gospel! The woman who wears a face-mask and disposable gloves, who wipes down every nearby surface, and who stays 6 feet away from everyone needs to become a Christian! There are many dying from the coronavirus, but there are MANY more who die without Christ.