Birthday Reflections, subtitle: Blessed Beyond Measure!

It's my birthday today, my 74th birthday to be exact.  Birthdays are a time for reflection so here are a couple thoughts I've had today...

1.  Gratitude!  I have to admit I check the obituaries more frequently now that I used to and it has struck me that many of the people listed there did not have the gift of 74 years. I am BLESSED.  

2.  Gratitude!  It's a beautiful morning to be alive and I'm in such good health.  I realize that this is only due to mercy and grace of God and I am deeply and profoundly grateful for these gifts.  Oh sure, it isn't as easy to jump out of my recliner as it used to be and the twinges of arthritis are there in multiple joints BUT I have strength and mobility in spite of it.  I am BLESSED! 

3.  Gratitude!  I'm deeply grateful for my husband and family that surrounds me.  We do not take it for granted that we have ALL our children and grandchildren living near us - what an enormous gift that is.  And I'm so grateful for the help they are to us, Anne and Kenji every single day in a multitude of ways, but the others chipping in cheerfully and sacrificially as needed.  The therapy that the gym provides for us is of inestimable value so we're grateful to God that He has enabled Anne and Kenji to provide this for us for ten whole years now!  I hate to think where we'd be if we hadn't had it.  We are BLESSED!

4. Hope.  The older I get the more profoundly I grasp that God loves me and is at work in me and that is my ONLY hope for this deeply flawed and sinful person.  I am amazed and grateful for that grace.  Without it, it would be difficult to come to the last stretch of the journey and be overwhelmed by regrets and disappointments.  But by grace I know it's all been dealt with at the cross and I AM FREE.  Free to love, to serve and to be joyful.  "This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast, and one which enters within the veil."  Hebrews 6:19  Hallelujah!

5. Expectancy.  I know without a doubt that as long as God gives me life He has a purpose for me.  When I have fulfilled His purpose, He will take me home.  So I can wake up each day and be filled with assurance that this isn't just another day - it is a day of purpose and I am filled with expectancy, not just for today but for the days (and possibly years) ahead.  I don't dread what's ahead, even though I know some of it might be very hard indeed.  I have full confidence in God's wisdom, sovereignty and grace that will be sufficient for whatever He allows.

6. Astonishment! When I look back on my life I am simply astonished at the paths God has taken me on.  If anyone had told my 18 year old self the destinations, relationships, privileges and yes, hardships, my journey would have, I simply would not have believed it.  What an absolute adventure life has been and it's been way better than anything I could have ever dreamed up for myself.  Let the adventure continue!  

Ghosts in the garden and immigrants in the creek

 One of the downsides of gardening in the country is the danger of field drift from the ag fields around us when they spray their crops.  We've lost some favorite plants to drift and it's always a heartache.  We have good relationships with the men who farm the fields around us and over the years they've become pretty good at letting us know when they are going to spray.  If it's on a day with low wind or wind that doesn't blow the spray in our direction, we consider ourselves blessed.  And when we know ahead of time, we drag out our stash of old sheets and run around, covering all the plants we think most vulnerable, mostly roses and young trees.  It does lead to some questions from people who drive by and see things draped in sheets!

Last night the farmer across the road let us know they are going to spray this morning.  We got out and covered the things.  Thankfully, there is NO wind today - something that almost ever happens here in the flatlands.  So they have sprayed and we can now remove the sheets and save them until another day.

On another note...the only animals I know of that will actually domesticate themselves are ducks.  We have had a wild duck come and join our domestic duck flock but it's not common.  And sometimes they just decide to relocate.  Our neighbor has a lovely flock of ducks and he has a nice pond for them, too.  But this year, one pair of his ducks has decided they prefer our creek to his pond.  They wandered over here and have since made themselves very at home in a shady spot on the north bank of the creek.  

Who wouldn't love life in this shady and cool spot?  There's a bullfrog that lives near them and I imagine them conversing congenially with each other.

The neighbor tried several times to call them home but they stubbornly return.  He quit trying when he was out there going "Quack, quack, quack!  Come, duck!" and didn't realize Anne was walking the dogs and heard him.  He must have felt slightly foolish because he hasn't attempted to retrieve them again and they remain on our property.  We check every day to see if they've escaped the coyotes another night.  So far, so good.  They are lovely ducks and I love to hear their soft quacking.  He has some louder ducks over there and when they quack they sound like they are laughing hysterically and they make me laugh every time.  My mom often said, "It doesn't take much to amuse a weak mind."  Mine must be weak because those ducks amuse me enormously.  

Mid-morning Visitor!

 One thing I have learned from years of life in the country is that there is ALWAYS wildlife around but we are often not in the right place at the right time to see it.  Sometimes years will pass without seeing a snapping turtle in the creek or a salamander in the yard or a snake in the grass. Toads are not uncommon and birds are somewhat easy to track because of their sounds, the deep hoo-hooing of an adult great horned owl, the hungry squawk of a juvenile GHO, the shrill whinny of a screech owl or, once in a great while, the "who-cooks-who-cooks-for-you" call of the barred owl.  Occasionally we'll find a newly hatched fox snake looking for shelter in the garage or a bull snake that has made one of the outbuildings his hunting ground.  We welcome them all, as they are our best rodent hunters and are not aggressive.  But years can pass without a personal encounter.

So this morning, after our early encounter with the juvenile great horned owl (see previous post),  I was surprised to hear Pete come running into the house (at our age we don't run for anything).  He said, "Come, look!  A snake!"  Grandson Lucas was here helping me with VBS preps so we were immediately up and out the door - we haven't seen a snake here in a couple of years, even though we know they are here.  Pete had been on the golf cart north of our old garage when he saw it.  I was surprised it was still there when we got there...until I discovered the reason it was still there was that one of the tires was holding it down!  Poor snake. Pete moved the cart and the snake, somewhat dazed, slithered away, every so often giving a shake to its head like it was trying to get a kink out.  It was a good sized snake, maybe 3 - 3.5 feet long.  A fox snake, probably one of last years hatchlings.  It took shelter in the thick Virginia creeper vines hugging the side of the garage.  

I happened to wonder, how many snake eggs are in a clutch of fox snake eggs?  Turns out there are a LOT! 6-29 by some accounts.  Of course not all survive but it did encourage me that if we have a breeding population of them on the farm, there are likely several more around.  May they live long and prosper. 

Here's a video of the stunned snake making his getaway.

Early Morning Visitor

This morning I woke up early but happy that there was nothing urgent waiting for me, I pulled a pillow over my head for a few more minutes of rest.  I was almost back to sleep when Anne quietly opened the bedroom door and said in a loud whisper,  "MOM!  Mom!  There's a great horned owl in the chicken house and I can't get him out!"  Something urgent after all!  I threw off my nightgown, jumped into some clothes and grabbed some thick leather gloves on my way out the door.  We had an old blanket in the garage so that came with us.  As we trotted out to the chicken house I kept thinking, "How in the heck did an owl get in the chicken house?"

Sure enough, there he was.  Isn't he a beauty?  It's a juvenile, way too small for an adult but a beautiful young thing, for sure.  Anne said he kept blinking at her, first with one eye and then the other.  Zoom in and look at those feet!  

Anne had tried to shoosh him out the north door which is right there but he wasn't convinced.  So I held the blanket in front of me and approached with caution.

I gently put the blanket over him and he backed further between the plywood but I was able to use a wooden stick to nudge him forward into the blanket.  He was making his defensive "click - click - clicking" as I reached down and scooped him up.  Thankfully, this wasn't my first owl rodeo - I've done this several times before.  As I was walking away with him I was thinking that this probably isn't legal but it seemed our best option.

I was really glad I had thick gloves on and several blanket layers because you would not believe the strength in those talons. What a grip.  No small animal would have a chance once in those claws.  We surveyed the area and decided to take him over by a big tree to release him and see if he was injured.

I set him down and gingerly lifted the blanket off.

He shook himself once and then up, up and away he flew!  What a beautiful sight it was.  Here's a link to that video.  

Afterwards I realized how easily he could have gotten in - we have large windows on the south side of the chicken house and three of them were open, tilted in.  The young pullets have taken to roosting on the top of the tilted windows at night, a practice I tried to discourage but if you've ever tried to discourage a chicken from its favorite roost, you'll know what I was up against.  So there they were, sitting ducks for any laser owl eye to see, perched within somewhat easy reach.  I haven't counted the chickens but there was one pullet wedged back behind the owl in the plywood.  Anne got her out and she is apparently unhurt.  There was no evidence of a kill and ALL the other chickens were hiding on the west side of the machine shed, safely cowering in the elderberry thicket which is impenetrable.  I walked over and called them and they came running out, squawking their tales of adventure.  It gets light so early now and their automatic door opens for them so they are out and about at the crack of dawn.  

Just yesterday I had stood there inside the chicken house looking at the window openings and thinking, I need to put poultry netting over those openings so the sparrows don't come in and steal all the food.  But of course with VBS looming I decided that was a project that could be put off another week.  It has moved up the priority list and will get done today!  

And now we know the GHOs are alive and well in Nettle Creek!