Earlier this week my post about Kentucky Bison went out with two of the same video. You see, my weeks have sort of become a mishmash and I have lost track of writing and posting. Maybe this is the new me?
I hope to get a new schedule for writing and posting. Until then, I may or may not post five times a week. Try to keep up! Oh, that was note to self?!?! LOL
How many times do we actually get to see the tongue of other animals? His lovely tongue was after the catalpa bean pods. (Underside is more white than this gray/black.)
A few seconds of yum!
Sort of like when you need just one more piece of pumpkin pie!
It wasn’t until Bob printed this that I saw the face of the fawn behind her! photo by r m dutina
photo by r m dutina
“And they walked up the hillside” so camouflaged had I not seen them go up I might have missed them totally! Deer are common in our area, but I do not tire of them (unless of course they are eating my garden plants!) I think one reason I love the white tailed deer is that deer are mentioned so often in Scripture.
The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.
The blog opens with a painting by Ludolf Backhyusen used by the Ignatias.NYC in a newsletter.
In 1999 The Printery House published an icon called Storm on the Sea of Galilee. I was so impressed, I bought myself an 8 x 10 copy. It hangs on my office wall.
I was asked to write a devotional for our crochet and knitting group of Convent Associates. I chose this icon and the meditation below. The Matthew 8 story seemed to be surfacing in many places all at once , so it seems timely.
I have been re-reading The Cry of the Deer by David Adam, Meditations on the Hymn of St. Patrick. At the end of chapter entitled “Death is Not Fatal” Adam has Exercises. This one goes with the icon!
Meditate on Psalm 23 – “The Lord is my Shepherd.” Make an affirmation by reading very slowly, giving meaning to each word. The Lord is my Shepherd . . .
Then read Matthew 8:23-27
Pause Be still and know that He is God and that He is present … peace … etc …
Picture A calm lake, beauty, a lovely place.
Allow a storm to hit it.
A violent storm. The waves are wild, the wind is fierce.
Trees are bending, branches are breaking.
It gets dark. Things get worse.
Things are really out of control. Chaos.
Then . . .
A still small voice.
It pierces the storm and somehow triumphs over it.
Peace be still.
And there was a great calm.
Who would have believed it a minute ago?
It was like the end of the world . . . everything
doom and disaster and
now
the still waters.
Ponder This is not a picture of a lake. It is my life.
Stormy, tempestuous, violent.
Strange, unpredictable winds blow.
Many a time we are in danger of sinking.
So many storms are because we ‘go it alone.’
We do not call upon Him. And Jesus sleeps.
“O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer.”
“Save us, Lord!” they said “We are about to die!”
Wake Him.
Call upon Him.
Know that He is the Lord and Saviour.”
Promise To wake His Presence in my life.
Promise to call upon Him in my need: “To Thy Cross I look and live.”
Affirm: “With Jesus in my vessel I can smile amid the storm.”
Prayer “Lord Jesus, the sea is so large and our boat is so small.”
“Lord, save us or we perish.
I arise today
Through the strength of his death and burial.
I give absolutely all credit to David Adam for this meditation.
Our bluebirds seem to have left for other locations. When I was cleaning up the front flower bed recently I hung out a suet block in place of the dried mealworm feeder. The block was untouched for days and days.
This morning I noticed there were dents in a few of the edges. As I sit here writing a couple sparrows have come to feed on it. One was feeding and one was on the look out. So nice that the birds look out for one another! If only we each did that more in our circle of influence. Next time I looked up they were gone and a hawk was flying over. Truly, we do not feed the smaller birds as bait for the hawk!
The hawk lives nearby and we see it frequently.
The sparrows returned soon after the hawk flew over. There is one munching and watching me type now. I think he drops as much as he eats, but I have not looked to see if there are other birds below him that are being provided for. Do not want to scare him off!
He took off on his own. There are flecks of suet all over the ground. I suppose if other birds do not get them the vole or whatever it is that lives underground in my flower bed will come up for a fattening feast. I am fairly certain the vole cannot climb the iron post the suet feeder is hanging from. Guess even the vole deserves a feast now and then? Uncertain about that as it digs tunnels through my flower beds and under the plants, etc.
When there has been a weeks long drought, little rain, followed by weeks long drought. Does that mean when it finally rains it is moving day for the worms? They were all over the drenched sidewalks when I walked Lucky this morning. Itty bitty short ones and longer adults.
Then when we crossed the street in front of our house in the road was the longest, largest night crawler I have ever seen! At least ten inches long!! I was soaking wet and could not get my iPhone out of my pocket, but really, this surpassed Two Men and a Truck! More like a freight train!
Gloomy gray day, but the retention pond is getting more water, the dog poop scooper was easier the rinse (in the down spout). Lucky and I are indoors and getting dry as I work in the office on the blog.
Grateful for the much needed rain! 🙂 Yes, I am tempted to run out there with the camera now and see if I can show you that GIANT night crawler!! Naw! the rain is still coming down.
Also grateful that I no longer need to put bait on hooks. One year our son fractured his arm and had to wear a plaster cast most of the summer. One of the ways to amuse him was to go fishing. His cast went down to his fingers, so me, Mom, got to bait the hook each time he drowned a worm. Oh yippee! It was a gooey summer for me! He has a son of his own now, and so far, no broken arms!
Across the meadow
a maple tree reaches out a golden arm
it’s hand is crimson, but not the rest
some branches are bare
that crimson hand beckons me
someone else wrote the question
“When the leaves fall with such abandon,
do they not know winter soon follows?"
Reading “May I have This Dance?” by Joyce Rupp, I came across this quote.
I remember sitting on an old porch in Edensburg, Pennsylvania. It was the sixth of October and the hills were radiant with color. The golds and reds of the trees swayed in the strong breeze and I sat there hurrahing the dying leaves. The thought surprised and rather appalled me: How could I love the colors of death? How could I be so callous? How could I eagerly cheer for the forest leaves as they sailed to their death when I so strongly wanted to hold onto life? I was astounded at how easily the trees let go of their treasures. I was dismayed by the stark contrast of this acceptance of death and my own tight grip on life.
Joyce Rupp – October
My brain gets a little confused over chlorophyll and leaf colors. I heard one scientist over simplify saying all the colors are there all year ’round. We just see the chlorophyll as most prominent. At that my brain is going if the green of chlorophyll is mixing with the yellow then shouldn’t the leaves look blue? Arghh! Scientists confusing simple ol’ me.
During the growing season, chlorophyll is continually being produced and broken down and leaves appear green. As night length increases in the autumn, chlorophyll production slows down and then stops and eventually all the chlorophyll is destroyed. The carotenoids and anthocyanin that are present in the leaf are then unmasked and show their colors.
A color palette needs pigments, and there are three types that are involved in autumn color:
Carotenoids: Produces yellow, orange, and brown colors in such things as corn, carrots, and daffodils, as well as rutabagas, buttercups, and bananas.
Anthocyanin: Gives color to such familiar things as cranberries, red apples, concord grapes, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and plums. They are water soluble and appear in the watery liquid of leaf cells.
Chlorophyll: Gives leaves a basic green color. It is necessary for photosynthesis, the chemical reaction that enables plants to use sunlight to manufacture sugars for food.
Certain colors are characteristic of particular species:
Oaks: red, brown, or russet
Hickories: golden bronze
Aspen and yellow-poplar: golden yellow
Dogwood: purplish red
Beech: light tan
Sourwood and black tupelo: crimson
The color of maples leaves differ species by species:
Red maple: brilliant scarlet
Sugar maple: orange-red
Black maple: glowing yellow
Striped maple: almost colorless
That makes more sense to me, “As chlorophyll production slows down and then stops – the carotenoids and anthocyanin that are present in the leaf are then UNMASKED and show their colors.”
So in my poem I am uncertain if a red maple seen from this distance is holding the ‘hand’ of a sugar maple? Regardless the leaves are not entirely fallen, but most have. I am truly aware of winter when the leaves of the invasive honeysuckle shrubs fall. Then we are in for the worst winter can send our way. The last couple winters have been very mild. Wonder what climate change will send our way this winter?
If the folklore abut the woolly bear caterpillars is to be believed this will be a harsh winter. Time will tell!
Jesus had much to say about growing plants. These lessons still apply to us today, though most of us no longer live in an agrarian culture. Read what was written in the book of John.
“I am the true Vine, and my Father is the Gardener. 2 He lops off every branch that doesn’t produce. And he prunes those branches that bear fruit for even larger crops. 3 He has already tended you by pruning you back for greater strength and usefulness by means of the commands I gave you. 4 Take care to live in me, and let me live in you. For a branch can’t produce fruit when severed from the vine. Nor can you be fruitful apart from me.
5 “Yes, I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in me and I in him shall produce a large crop of fruit. For apart from me you can’t do a thing. 6 If anyone separates from me, he is thrown away like a useless branch, withers, and is gathered into a pile with all the others and burned. 7 But if you stay in me and obey my commands, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted! 8 My true disciples produce bountiful harvests. This brings great glory to my Father.
9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Live within my love. 10 When you obey me you are living in my love, just as I obey my Father and live in his love. 11 I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your cup of joy will overflow!
John 15:1-11 TLB
Vine and branches also applies to shrubs and branches. Once while driving the Natchez Trace we came to rest area/ tourist information center that had these shrubs growing along the sidewalk. I was enchanted, especially since purple is my favorite color! (The Natchez Trace Parkway is a 444-mile recreational road and scenic drive through three states. It roughly follows the “Old Natchez Trace,” a historic travel corridor used by American Indians, “Kaintucks,” European settlers, slave traders, soldiers, and future presidents. Today, people can enjoy a scenic drive as well as hiking, biking, horseback riding, and camping along the Parkway.)
Aren’t those berries lovely?
More recently, while on retreat at the Convent of the Transfiguration Spirituality Center I found the shrubs once again. (Photograph above)
I cut one branch. The shrubs were loaded with berries. I knew in a just a few weeks the frost would make everything less lovely. One branch would not destroy the future of the shrub.
Holding the lovely branch, I pondered the fact that Jesus is the Vine and I am just a branch. The shrubs I encountered were producing a bountiful harvest of berries. I, too, want to stay close to my Savior and produce a crop to His glory. These berries are attached with tiny, rather fragile stems.
Eventually I took the branch into the library of the Center and placed it on paper so it would not mar the furniture. The retreat was just for a day or two.
Before I departed I disposed of the cut branch, a clear reminder to cling to Christ and stay connected.
Curled leaves, withering branch cut off from the shrub.
The memory of that berry rolling down the spine of my book still makes me giggle. Isn’t it amazing how tiny things can bring us joy if we are willing to slow down and look for them? May your day bring you splendid surprises.
Joan Chittister is a well known Benedictine nun and author of a tremendous amount of books. Over many years she has inspired me to grow deeper with Christ. I get a weekly newsletter from her ministry. Here is a quote from a recent newsletter and a link should you want to read the entire article for yourself. Much of what they put in the newsletter is taken from her books.
Because of beauty
Confucius may have said it best: “Everything has beauty,” he taught, “but not everyone sees it.” Seeing it, the spiritual person knows, is the task of a lifetime. It is also the reward of a lifetime well-lived, lived in balance, lived from the inside out as well as from the outside in.
Open your eyes to the beauty around you today. This morning was my turn to walk the dog. It was the coldest morning this season. Just meant time to get out my winter coat, and gloves, etc. Had to stop to capture this leaf for you.
After the many days of glorious yellow, red and gold leaves raining down upon us this frosted outline was too lovely to not admire!
Watch for treasures in plain sight. They truly are all around you!
Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don’t claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent.
Jalaluddin Rumi
(I had to look this up to be certain this is the work of Rumi the poet I am familiar with. Indeed, it is the same man. Never before saw the first name attached. Go figure.)
Made a retreat at Convent of the Transfiguration recently. As I left the last service Saturday evening it was almost dark. As I walked from one building to another, movement caught my eye. From behind the ‘chapel’ and over its roof a flock of birds flew. And then there were more and more of them. I stood in awe for several minutes. When I got back to my room I wrote,
"And billowing over the roof of the church
Comes tens, no twenties,
No, countless birds
Occasional chirp or call
But mostly just flying in formation
Over the roof into the sky with a swirl
Seemingly hundreds in the dusk murmuration." Molly L Dutina
This wonder which I have seen in other autumn skies was never this up-close or so personally touching before. Had I exited the convent earlier or a few moments later I would have missed it entirely.
Rumi wrote, “Feel the artistry moving through and be silent.” Truly this was holy artistry from the hand of the LORD on high.
These formations are not limited to the USA. Watch the evening sky and I pray you get to see one for yourself!
Here is a short film of a massive murmuration
If you watch to the end, you can sigh and say, “And then they are gone!”
Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights above.
Wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds,
Psalm 148:1, 10 NIV
Yes, LORD, with all of creation we praise You. Thank you for this blessing. You know I do not appreciate starlings when they empty our feeders in a matter of minutes, yet they do fill Your sky with wonder when they form their murmurations. Thank you for letting me see this one up close and share it with my reader friends. You are the King of all glory. Amen.
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 