The snow was not what we had expected
A layer of warm air turned much of it to ice pellets instead
So less snow, but more noise
At one point it sounded like skeletal fingers tapping
On the sliding glass door
Even the dog wondered who was there.
Today is chop, chop, scoop and lift
As we hurry to clear the driveway as best we can
Sun will help to dry the pavement before
The next set of snow clouds descend
Winter says “Bring it on!”
Cedars holding dollops of snow
Of marshmallow
Of vanilla ice cream
Pure gelato gone huge
Cedars bent by the
Weight of winter deliciousness
And we, right now, are in Maui! We yield to each season, Lord!
The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.
Remember Brody the flour covered dog? He got a date to prom!
This is that very long legged hound, if you recall from previous post!
Here is Ellie in her gown
And with her proud parents!
I was hoping the poppies I bought would bloom before we departed. The first one was orange and I hooray-ed! The second one was yellow and I was delighted!
And yes, spring warmth has finally arrived complete with humidity and emerging ferns!
I bought one fern in 1985. We have shared so many ferns off of the original plant. I have given the root away to friends and now we have them growing nicely at this our third and likely final house!!
Suitcases are packed. Laundry is done. Ride to airport arranged. Cannot believe it is finally time to go! We deliver Lucky to Lizzie tomorrow. Our house sitters are all set up. Woo-Hoo! Happy 52+ wedding anniversary to us!!
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.
Psalm 118:1 NIV
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever.
Psalm 136:1 NIV
And let His people say Amen! And let the Robert Dutina family say Amen! Let all God’s people say Amen!
When you read this we are packing to go to Maui tomorrow! I am stunned writing these details. 🙂
At Wal-Mart I can buy a sack of dried meal-worms. The bluebirds absolutely love them. He is more bashful than she is. They come right to the window to get the food. She looks in and seems to check in with me. I tell her hello. He steals a bite and flies to the tree.
Sadly the starlings have found the feeder. If I am sitting here writing and the starlings arrive all I need do is tap the window and they take flight in fear. Yesterday I filled it for the bluebirds at about 11:00 AM. This morning it was totally empty. I know good and well those bluebirds could not have emptied that so quickly! I looked about on the ground to see if a mammal had tipped and tried to empty it. There were no worms on the ground. It was only a couple minutes before the starlings came by again. Grrr.
Now considered one of the worst nuisance birds in this country, Old World starlings were purposely introduced to Central Park, New York City in 1890 by a well-meaning but misguided man. The original 60 pairs that were released rapidly multiplied. Soon after, the American starling population exploded, and the species spread rapidly throughout the entire U.S. and much of Canada. Starlings are known to compete with, displace, and kill many native birds and their young. Starlings are now considered an invasive species and are despised by ecologists, birder enthusiasts, and business owners alike. So, yeah. They live here now.
Starlings are known to compete with, displace, and kill many native birds and their young. Starlings are considered an invasive species and are despised by ecologists, birder enthusiasts, business owners, and homeowners alike.
So I suppose I will fill it only an inch or two on mornings I am writing. The bluebirds and I can enjoy each other’s company.
Speaking of mornings!! It has been rainy and gloomy for several days here. Temperatures dropped back into the forties and we all felt as if winter had returned. The sky cleared over night and this morning dawned glorious. The sky is that brilliant blue with the newly unfurled leaves looking fresh and tender. By August they will appear tough and worn out!
Last evening we watched a video on You Tube about driving the road to Hana on Maui. Bob woke up this morning ready to take on the curves and the long drive, seeing waterfalls and tropical plants. (I think he is mostly looking forward to the stop for fresh banana bread, he-he-he!!). Today we are starting to pack. By the time you read this we will most likely have taken the helicopter tour over Volcanoes National Park on Hawaii. I have difficulty imagining what that will even be like!
I suppose the bluebirds and starlings will have to fend for themselves then. Our trusty house-sitter Kathy will not be asked to fill the feeder!
Consider the birds of the air, some of them are invasive pests!! DO not be like them. Unless of course you are able to perform their murmurations. That is the only good thing I can say about starlings.
Recently on NPR I heard about a new book entitled, The Other Family Doctor, by Karen Fine, D.V.M. I checked with the library and in a few weeks it was available for me to read. Not wanting to drag it to Hawaii I blazed through it.
I love true stories about animals and most of this book was no exception. For many pages she wrote about the emotional toll that euthanasia takes upon a vet. I almost returned the book to the library without finishing it. But I am glad I read on to the end. She explores many avenues of medical care for animals.It is an interesting read.
This important topic should be written about and discussed. The topic of veterinarians and the wave of suicide hitting that profession should be discussed. Recently I stopped in at Lucky’s vet’s office. As they processed the sample I was dropping off I noticed a sign on the counter informing people of a family saying good bye to their pet, asking others it please be respectful and keep their voices down. That event was not occurring right then. I asked the desk staff if they had read the book. (One of the persons standing there was the office manager.) They had not heard about it but were highly interested. I told them I would be finished soon and they could request it from the library.
If you want to thank your vet or their staff you might consider purchasing the book for their office.
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.
Genesis 1:6 KJV
Our animal companions have their own personality. They bring comfort to most of us and delight us with their antics.
The lyric below was written in 1680 or 90 by Joachim Neander. Sometimes this hymn will rise up within me as we walk and enjoy the spring in Ohio, Kentucky or Tennessee.
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise him, for he is your health and salvation!
Come, all who hear; now to his temple draw near,
join me in glad adoration.
Sung by one of my favorite artists!
How could we possibly experience spring and wonder if there is a Creator?
Listen to the song again and as you read (or sing) the lyrics, address them to the LORD!
Do you know what the opening photo is? Some even harvest these and sell them!
Bob and I love to hunt wildflowers. If you have ever searched for a particular shell at a beach you can relate. We search for Lady’s Slippers, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Larkspur, etc. We have only found Lady’s Slippers in the Smoky Mountains National Park, but the others we can find locally especially at Cincinnati Nature Center (CNC).
photo by Molly
This fellow was so lovely with the sun shining through it! Sadly the ground around it is covered with Lesser Celandine which has earned the status of invasive. The Nature Center is researching ways to eradicate it. If you look at the top edge of the log above you can see the moss blooming! Beyond those tiny filaments are daffodil leaves starting to grow blossoms for 2024.
Another Jack by Molly
One friend told us when they showed a Jack-in-the-Pulpit to a young person they had to explain what a pulpit was! A pulpit is traditionally where a preacher stands to deliver the sermon. The older pulpits sometimes had a cover over them like a roof, thus the flower resemblance. In case you are still unaware, below is a sampling of pulpits! Our church does not have a pulpit or even a lectern. The Pastor just sits on a stool and talks from there.
pulpit samples on line
When we hiked Whipple Sate Nature Preserve we saw Larkspur in many colors. We also saw them yesterday at Sycamore Park in Batavia.
We agreed that walking Sycamore was so much easier than Whipple! The dog loves the trail and was not allowed at Whipple. We like this park because it is level and even paved! We walked along the East Fork of the Little Miami river, too. The sound of the running water, spring song birds … just made me breathe deeply and thank the Lord for His blessings and refreshment!
The wild dogwoods through the other forest trees were a blessing at CNC!
Are you making time to slow down, listen to the natural world around you or nearby? Do you only lament your feeling of being dried up or make an effort to renew your connection with the Source of Life? I hope you will make an effort to do just that this week!
The Virginia Bluebells at Sycamore park were well past their prime. Bob bought me a Bluebell at the Nature Center plant sale. It looks pitiful in the back garden right now. Praying it will rebound and bless us next year with flowers! Just saw that something is eating holes in the leaves. Uh oh!
Take a walk this week and look for treasures in plain sight!
My dear man walking the trail at CNC
The opening photo was take of worm casings. Evidently very rich for your garden!
I was having a spiritual struggle and one person or the spirit from one person seemed to be the biggest challenge. I could not name the spirit but I knew it was there. Finally it was apparent I needed to get alone with the LORD and have a prayer time to throw this thing off. I was prepared to spend many hours if necessary, but surprisingly it only took a couple hours. This is the resultant poem.
At the Cincinnati Art Museum we recently saw a collection of photographs by Georgie O’Keeffe. I was struck by this quote from her. If you have ever seen her paintings of flowers you will have a better understanding of the quote.
“Well – I made you take time to look at what I saw and when you took time to really notice my floweryou hung all your own associations with flowers on my flower and you write about my flower as if I think and see what you think and see of the flower – and I don’t,” O’Keeffe scolded. For the artist, her renderings of flowers were about detail, light and shade, and formal juxtaposition. though many critics read other meanings into these works, O’Keeffe maintained that they signified only the artistic potential not with pencil or paint, but with her camera.
2006.6.1074, 2006.6.1071, 2006.6.1072 on museum wall
200 paintings of flowers and over 2,000 paintings during her career. “In the 1930s, she wrote of her desire to paint the humble flower enlarged and up-close. “I’ll paint it big, and they will be surprised into taking time to look at it,” she wrote. “I will make even busy New Yorkers take time to see what I see of flowers.”
Her first quote was proven true by my visit to this exhibit.
What is it?
For years and years I saw this painting and believed it was a morning glory. This exhibit set me straight! It is actually a Jimson Weed.
So when I paste it in with it’s automatic caption you can see it is listed as
2014.35 Georgia O’Keeffe
Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1, 1932
Oil on canvas
48 × 40 in. (121.9 × 101.6 cm)
Framed: 53 in. × 44 3/4 in. × 2 1/2 in.
What do you think and see of her flower?
How does this relate to Christian life? Throughout the old and new testaments we are referred to as similar to flowers. But if a flower is captured on a canvas it does not fade like a real flower.
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, ‘All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.’ And this is the word that was preached to you.
1 Peter 1:22-23 NIV
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For,
“All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.”[c]
Flowers and grasses do what the Scripture says, but we are born again from IMPERISHABLE seed. We are not like those real flowers or flowers on canvas. We are born again through the living and enduring word of God. That is what the word says. Who am I to argue with it?
Sometimes when I was growing up I got to go to sunrise service on Easter morning. I think my favorite one was held at French Park in Cincinnati. The weather was often chilly and even at times rainy, but we were determined to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord as the sun came up!
My mother worked for many years at a flower shop in Norwood, Ohio. One year she brought home some purple hyacinths and plucked each flower off, wrapped it in wet cotton, wired and taped it. Then she assembled them as an Easter corsage for me. To this day the fragrance of purple hyacinths remind me of her. Though she lived a troubled life I believe her faith in Christ took her to be with Him when her life on earth ended.
None of these things help my soul celebrate the life, death and resurrection of Jesus as much as my gratitude lists. When Ann Voskamp wrote One Thousand Gifts I wonder if she knew how the practice would revolutionize the American Christian church? Certainly it changed her life, but do we ever truly know the impact our writing will have upon others? I wonder.
Have you practiced writing down the gifts in your life that Christ Jesus has bestowed upon you? Have you given Him thanks this Easter? Here are some of my thanksgivings.
Sunshine
Rain in due season
Salvation for my soul
You give strength to hearts that are true to You
Your righteous shall live by faith
our home
the longevity of my marriage
Justice that rolls down and righteousness as an ever-flowing stream
God with us
You know the hairs upon our heads
The Convent of the Transfiguration
my sisters in Journey Together in Stitches
crochet and knit group at senior center
Your Spirit that gives me life
Your breath in our lives
My children
My grandchildren
Laundry now on first floor
small gardens to delight my soul
the bluebirds at the office window
rabbits in Angela’s yard
THE BEAGLE
Grogu to make me smile
Noodle the Corgi that makes me smile
music
music memories from over the years
The Holy Spirit speaking in my soul
My Bible and Bible Gateway tool
Rheude’s small group
Lucky learning to play with her toys
Cooking
Great Smoky Mountains and spring wildflowers there
Medical care
freedom of religion
clouds
spring peepers
gifts
dark chocolate
coconut!
travels we have done
travel planned to Hawaii
blogging friends
New Mexico friends
Neighbors who are friends
running water in our home
crocheting
sewing for our home and others
museums of art
Cincinnati Nature Center
red winged blackbirds
butterflies
armor of God
Abraham’s example of faith and obedience
Andrew Peterson’s music
Learning to be a living sacrifice
loving husband
forgiveness
the Great I am
firemen
police officers
electronic books from the library
my sister
pinwheels
soap bubbles
even to old age He will keep me
black licorice
Spirit of God who raised Christ from the dead LIVES in us
I can entrust my soul to my faithful creator
iPad with keyboard
ear buds for listening while walking the dog
Living Water
Seashells
heating pad
ocean sounds
He walks with me and talks with me
rainbow in the sky reminds me of rainbow around the throne
the Psalms
friends serving in Nepal
New Covenant in my mind and on my heart
Jesus is made unto me wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption
“Pajama church” when you can’t make it to service
His still small voice
Bob’s sense of humor
a good fresh salad
piano music
people I know I can ask to pray – knowing they will do it
cellos
live drama performances
good ham salad
music by Brandon Lake
writing poetry
Mizithra cheese sauce on angel hair spaghetti
broccoli slaw, just yum
Spirit of God helps me write
That is my partial list. How about you? Get a little notebook and begin to list your praises and things you are grateful for! It will work wonders for you 🙂
This day is another time for reflection before the Resurrection Celebration. According to Britannica “The observance commemorates the final day of Christ’s death, which is traditionally associated with his triumphant descent into hell.”
The Apostles Creed says”He descended into hell and on the third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven.”
He rested on the seventh – God rested.
The video below linked with Andrew Peterson’s music really touches my spirit.
Many churches celebrate an Easter Vigil with prayers and baptisms, lighting of a fire, etc. I think I prefer Peterson’s reflection. I am unaware of anyone making music about what Jesus did when He descended into hell. We know from Scripture He set the captives free.
Whatever you believe about His death, what He did before He resurrected, how His ascension takes place, I pray you will put your trust in Him. He is able to prove Himself to you, even you.
Here is an animation of one person’s idea of Holy Saturday. Yes, it is six minutes long, but I think they captured the ideas wonderfully. Hope you will watch it.
May this last day of Holy Week provide time and quiet for you as you prepare to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus!
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 