Yes, you should plan a trip next spring to this wonder of the world. The Sandhill Crane migration is the largest in the world and well worth your time. Your sense of adventure will rise to a new height as you marvel at these birds. Fly, take a bus, drive, get there any way that you can to witness this extraordinary event. We planned to spend two nights there so we could be certain to witness one sunrise and one sunset. We did not book any special tours or bird blinds and yet we saw plenty. If I had not seen them in New Mexico I likely would have missed them in the fields at first.
Here is a very short clip
Here is a clip from Geographic.
This video is phenomenal. Yes, 8 minutes long, but their photography captures what I could not. Even Bob was challenged in the low light conditions of sunrise and sunset along with the skittishness of the birds themselves! We supported the Sandhill Trust while we were there.
Then off to Cheyenne Wyoming, 338 miles away. As we drove through Nebraska along the Platte River we saw fields with birds, and then more birds!
16 states, slept in 10 of those in at least 3 different motel chains. All but one night was pretty good sleep! 48 years of marriage and this was the longest trip we had ever taken since our one year anniversary trip moving from California to Ohio. In all those miles there was only one moment when we both thought we were about to be in an auto accident through no fault of our own. We still marvel at how were kept safe, day after day, hour after hour.
Most children have an hour or two a day when they get cranky. Low blood sugar, need for parental attention, whatever. And adults can get that way, too! Eating routines disrupted, NO NAPS, navigating strange places, being in the car for hours on end together days on end. We had those moments. Most were navigated with humor, kindness, and sometimes snacks or coffee stops.
Realizing neither of us knew the way at every moment in time, we were able to not take things personally. Accepting the fact that those moments were going to occur almost daily helped, too.
Seeing something new and wonderful or just reflecting on the vast differences between today’s scenery in contrast to yesterday helped restore a sense of wonder.
Things such as is this typical grain storage or caused by the trade wars? We had no answers, just a sense of wonder at the abundance the agricultural families of our country produce. We saw many of these seeming impromptu storage set-ups. There were abundant silos, but these appeared in plenty.
Tire tracks from truck deliveries!Does the fan provide circulation to keep it from spoiling?
We discovered during the trip that we were uneducated in so many areas, prone to still be human, able to travel together long distances and still in love after all these years. Determined to face the chapter of older adults as joyfully as possible we seemed to have at minimum one good laugh a day. Now I wish I had written down those comic moments!
Cincinnati through Louisville to St. Louis. Day #1, 358 miles. We saw the flooded Mississippi and ate toasted ravioli at award winning Zia’s on the Hill.
That day we also saw an eagle in flight and my favorite, the great blue heron!
This is above the St. Louis walkway along the river. The wind and waves were such that the top steps were under water and waves kept splashing up when boats went past.
I kept applying what I saw to myself. Flooding puts river banks and pastures under water. Some say this refreshes the land like no other phenomenon, dropping fresh silt on the soil. Flood me Lord with Your Living Water and Presence in my everyday moments. Open my ears so that when You speak, I will hear You clearly and move towards obedience.
Day #2 St. Louis to Topeka to Kansas City, Missouri, 309 some miles. We stopped in Kansas City Kansas to look around and stumbled upon graffiti artists. Here is a local diva having her photo taken before their art.
Bar-B-Que lunch at Mr. Gates. The after church crowd joined us. I had fun watching and older gentleman watch me make a mess with barbecue sauce all over my face. He was waiting for his family to place their orders and bring his food. They were all dressed to the nines! When I finished they had just placed his tray in front of him. I teased him that it was my turn to watch him eat and not make a mess. Turns out he was blind in one eye and in his nineties. He was a retired preacher and song leader, sort of retired. His son was now in the pulpit. All his sons were preachers. We talked about how important it is to try to inspire the younger ones. I left him to enjoy his lunch with blessings upon the rest of his day and silently upon his life and legacy.
The Bar-B-Que was delicious going down and gave me fits all night! What a way to go though ;-D.
We saw so many different rock formations across the USA and I could not help think of the God Who created them and is represented by the image of an immovable rock. The Living Bible says in Psalm 144:1 “Bless the Lord who is my immovable Rock. He gives me strength and skill in battle.”
Psalm 18:2 (NRSV) The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalm 95:1 (NRSV) O come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! 2 Samuel 22:47 (NRSV) The LORD lives! Blessed be my rock, and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation.
When Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem the disciples were praising God loudly. The pharisees told Him to get them to hush. His reply was “I tell you,” He replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” I wanted to sing the song below and play it in the car at full volume. Sadly, I did not have it on my mP3 player and had trouble finding it on YouTube, too! Pooh. So here it is for you. Turn up your speakers and get ready to get your praise on! Also, the lyrics are below. Followed by two New Testament references.
One Less Stone, One More Voice!
LYRICS: “Now Jesus was going up, on His way to Jerusalem, To be lifted high on a tree that He might draw men unto Him Well, the multitudes began to praise Him, While others were trying to stop Him. He said “If they hold their peace, the rocks are gonna cry out!”
“And here is one less stone, and I’m one more voice, To praise the mighty name, the name of the Lord I am one less stone and I’m one more voice to praises Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord
“Now David was a man of praise, praising God in the sanctuary He praised Him on the trumpet and the harp, and he praised Him in the dance I don’t want to offend anybody, but I’m gonna praise my Jesus He said “If I hold my peace, the rocks are gonna cry out!” And here is one less stone, and I’m one more voice, To praise the mighty name, the name of the Lord I am one less stone and I’m one more voice to praises Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord
“Now David was a man of praise, praising God in the sanctuary He praised Him on the trumpet and the harp, and he praised Him in the dance I don’t want to offend anybody, but I’m gonna worship Jesus He said “If I hold my peace, the rocks are gonna cry out!”
“And here is one less stone, and I’m one more voice, To praise the mighty name, the name of the Lord I am one less stone and I’m one more voice to praise Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord Now David was a man of praise, praising God in the sanctuary He praised Him on the trumpet and the harp, and he praised Him in the dance I don’t want to offend anybody, but I’m gonna praise my Jesus He said “If I hold my peace, the rocks are gonna cry out!”
And here is one less stone, and I’m one more voice, To praise the mighty name, the name of the Lord I am one less stone and I’m one more voice to praise Him
Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord Blessed is the King (blessed is the King of Kings), Blessed is the King (blessed is the Lord of Lords), Blessed is the King (oh, we praise Your name), Blessed is the King (You’re worthy of the praise), Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord
Romans 9:32-33 (NRSV) Why not? Because they did not strive for it on the basis of faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, “See, I am laying in Zion a stone that will make people stumble, a rock that will make them fall, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
1 Corinthians 10:4 (NRSV) and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.
So I spoke with Shannon at Word Press and she taught me how to publish my videos on the blog through You Tube (or other sites). Yippee!
So here is my best video of what it is like to be surrounded by thousands (and the official count that day by the bird counters was a record breaking 650,000) of Sandhill Cranes during the spring migration in Nebraska! They glean the fields during the day time eating last year’s dropped corn from the autumn harvest. Perhaps the red truck will give you some perspective and the traffic sounds in the background the clear idea that no, we were not out in the wilderness.
I am delighted to finally figure out how to post my videos without spending more money for this site ;-D
Oh my I keep getting blessed every time I go outside! Now this is one DETERMINED daffodil. Let no obstacle stand in your way!
So glad the log had holes in it!
And Ta-dah!! The first trout lily on our stone stairs up the hill.
Flower is about the size of a quarter. The leaves resemble trout skin!
When we were thinking about buying this house both my husband and I were each making secret trips here to see if it really was as lovely as we thought. When the trout lilies began to bloom on the hillside, (all wild mind you), I was SOLD! Had never seen them before . Since then each spring we have hosted Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Trillium, Toothwort, May Apples, Spring Beauty, Rue Anemone, Blue Phlox, False Solomon’s Seal and most rare on our lot Dwarf Larkspur. Still am amazed that we live here! -sigh-
Further into the green space we can see Squirrel Corn and Dutchmen’s Britches, Betony Poppies. Sometimes my husband asks why we even go to Smoky Mountains to hunt wild flowers. I stomp my foot (kidding) and remind him we do not have Lady’s Slippers or fields of single wildflowers. And then we pack 🙂
Traveling recently Bob saw a sign for English Style Fish & Chips. Decided we would go there later that day for lunch. Imagine my surprise when we went to order. Along with the typical choice of how many pieces of fish with those chips the menu offered wonton soup, crispy tofu and potstickers. Typical English Fish & Chips? I don’t think so!
Their on-line presence says: “101 Fish & Chips is a family-owned restaurant has been serving up this British Pub favorite in the tri-city area for over thirty (30) years. They use only the finest ingredients, freshest produce and seafood to provide their customers with the highest quality in flavor.”
Oh, I forgot to mention they also sell Beef Lumpia. I do not even know what that is! The fish was lightly battered and the chips were great.
I told you the joys of traveling on a short road trip with my photographer husband, Robert M Dutina. At the time I wrote and posted his photos had not been uploaded to computer. Here are a few samples of what he captured. Enjoy!
Harvesting the Wind – one of hundreds we saw.
You doidy, doidy horsey!Mural commemorating the Underground Railroad.Yes, the Wabash River is certainly flooded!
One of my best gifts EVER was when my husband took me to Ireland to celebrate my 60th birthday. We visited Connemara and learned “Connemara is bounded on three sides by the Atlantic Ocean and encompasses a wide variety of natural and semi-natural habitats. It also has diverse economic resources. Among the more unusual are extensive deposits of soapstone and veins of green marble and vivid white quartz.The marble is a serpentine-rich rock, popular since ancient times as a decorative facing stone. With its ‘forty shades of green’ and its wild patterns, it represents perfectly the landscapes of the Emerald Isle.”
This morning as I looked at one polished piece of marble from there I was struck by a similar sight off my deck!
Same polished piece, turned over.
Lovely marble indeed. Just one of the many, many shades we saw in the showroom. And then outside my window …
Lichen? on standing tree andon fallen trees.
Camera did not quite catch it, but the shades are so alike in my eyes that I was startled. Fond, fond memories from May, 2011!
My husband has decided to take a photo a day for 2019. This had been quite a venture! First it is difficult for him to take just one photo, so he shoots things that interest him or depict the day. Most of them are lovely in my eyes. He deletes and deletes and feels fortunate when he is left with one photo at the end of the cutting session.
Later this year we are planning a month long road trip. We have maps and books and markers to highlight the points of interest and routes. We have ordered triptiks from AAA and planned which route we will take first if winter decides to linger and make our travel miserable. Now if the government shuts down again, that is an entirely different thing. AGGRAVATION! When we visited Yellowstone a few years ago, our trip was cut short by one day when they closed the gates.
Oh my! We took a recent road trip to northern Indiana. It was a gorgeous sunny day. Cold, but lovely. Recently the entire area had drenching rains and then a cold snap. Rivers and creeks rose and ice formed around trees and along the banks. There were even weird shapes on some ponds where the high wind had whipped up the water and it froze in waves. The Wabash river was flooded for miles and miles and miles.
After multiple stops at many places for’ just one more photo,’ my husband realized that at this rate, when we make our long trip we will never make it to St. Louis on the first day! His caveat: “Of course, we have already been to St. Louis.”
I don’t object to all of this unless of course, the car door is left open and it is 20 degrees outside. Solution, turn up the heater and put fan on a higher speed. When we are obstructing the passage of other cars I would prefer a blinker or the flashers be turned on to help them see us as NOT moving. When he got back in the car once and said, “Oops! I left the gear shift in drive.” I almost panicked, but we turned it to gratitude that nothing awful happened and laughed it off. From then on, when he jumped out I checked that gear shift, you betcha!
On the return trip home the next day we got caught in miserable snow squalls. Not many photos. Just glad to get home safely.
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 