BOMBER PRIDE - High School Graduation - Arkansas style!

Okay, before you panic about the title,

and before I link up with Jenny Matlock ,

I better clarify that "Bombers" is the mascot name for our local high school!

A fighter plane sits mounted near the front door.

Parents wait outside the gymnasium as the graduates don their caps and gowns.

The procession begins with honor graduates leading the way.

Former teachers line the pathway as the class marches to their seats.

When the last graduating senior is in place,
the student led ceremony begins with the pledge to the flag...

Solemn moments...

Speeches...

Laughter...

Applause...

Cameras...

Hugs and handshakes...

Finally - Diploma in hand!

Pictures...

...And before the last graduate receives her diploma...

The celebrating has already begun...
 Beach balls fly...

The graduates of the class of 2013 are presented...
Caps go sailing into the night air...

Family and friends rush onto the field to congratulate the graduates...

Cameras click...

Hard work has paid off...
Happiness abounds...

And there's a little clowning around!

Wait...
Is that a hint of sadness on this grandmother's face?
Or is she just worn out from all the festivities?!!!

Maybe it's both!

Sadness because of how quickly the time has passed!

Seems like only yesterday I was holding this boy as an infant,

beaming as only a proud nana could!

Yes,

also a little tiredness!

It's hard to admit that my body is not as young as it used to be,

and that I don't have as much energy as I once did.

Live your life well, grandson!

Life passes so quickly!

Make every moment count.

Make wise choices!

Know that you have family behind you,

loving you,

cheering you,

supporting you,

and always wanting the very best for you.

I guess the wisest man who lived summed it up well with these words:

"Young people, it's wonderful to be young!

 Enjoy every minute of it. 

Do everything you want to do;

 Take it all in. 

But remember

 that you must give an account to God for everything you do."

Ecclesiastes 11:9

Congratulations to the Graduates of 2013!

To enlarge any of the photos above,
simply click on them.
To see my latest Name of God on Rocks,

click HERE!

Thanks for stopping by!

There ARE two eaglets!

A good friend told me she thought there were two eaglets in the nest by David's Trail,
I had not been fortunate to see both of them on any of my prior trips.

Last time I went, the momma and the daddy eagle were sitting in trees
not far from the nest,
but this time they were nowhere to be seen.
The juvenile had grown since last visit,
but his coloring was still strikingly different from his parents.
 

He was much braver than before and tottered at the edge of the nest.
When he stretched out his wings, I thought I saw the head of another eaglet.
I waited and waited, hoping for a chance to verify this... 

...and then,
just as I got in my Jeep to drive away,
TA-DA!!!
I saw the other eaglet!
He does exist!
(To see how much they have grown,
click on this LINK to see an earlier post.)

If they could talk, 

I could only imagine the conversation that went on between the two of them.

"I'm hungry!"

"When do you think the parents will get back with some food?"

"Do you think they just left us here 

and expect us to catch our own food now?"

I think God must love eagles.

He mentions them quite frequently in the Bible.

 "You know how I carried you on eagles' wings 

and brought you to myself." 

Exodus 19:4

Do you ever picture God with wings?

The Psalmist said,

"He will cover you with his feathers. 

He will shelter you with his wings."

This verse has been a comfort to me many times,

especially after we were in a car accident 18 years ago,

and I felt like God or His angel held me and protected me from danger.

To see other beautiful winged creatures,

why not click HERE to take you to Stewart's Wild Bird Blog Hop!

To see my latest post of Hebrew Names of God on Rocks,

click HERE!

Beauty and Poison Ivy - Side by Side!

My iris bed was getting a bit too crowded,
so last year I moved most of the bulbs over to the side yard,
which just happens to be on the bank of a small wet weather creek bed.

The iris bulbs seemed to like it okay,
and put out quite a few beautiful blossoms along with their usual long green spikes.
However, they were more difficult to maintain than I anticipated,
and I was frustrated to see the three leaf clusters of poison ivy appearing along side the irises!

This reminded me of Jesus' story in Matthew 13:24-30 where He tells

about the farmer who had weeds that came up in his crop.

The farmer didn't pull the weeds up, because it might uproot the good plants.

He waited till harvest time to take care of the problem.

Well, I'm not sure whether to try poisoning the poison ivy after the iris blooms are finished,

or whether to just cut them down.

But I do know that I don't want a big dose of poison ivy rash breaking out all over me

so I think I'll just enjoy my irises from a distance for now!

My husband says,

"Leaves of three, let them be."

In other words, stay away from that three leafed poison ivy plant!

May you enjoy a poison ivy free summer,

and may you not be fooled by hidden dangers - poison ivy or otherwise!

Click here to see my new venture with "Names of God on Rocks!"

Broken Mockingbird Eggs

A few days ago I found this broken mockingbird egg
on the ground near my little garden spot.

I looked around trying to find where the nest was.

I didn't find the nest, but I found the parents.
They didn't seem overly concerned about anything,
and were busily doing their daily grooming ritual.

"Awhhhh! that feels good," she seemed to be
saying as she scratched behind her ear.

And as she looked down at me from her perch in my mulberry tree,
I could imagine her thinking,
"Really? Do you find me that interesting?"

And the answer to that is,

"Yes, Mrs. Mockingbird.  I do find you that interesting!"

King Solomon was a man who found nature interesting.

Considered to be the wisest man who ever lived,

he authored most of the book of Proverbs

 and also the book of  Ecclesiastes.

Sometimes I wonder if the way he became wise

was by learning from his many mistakes!

Maybe wisdom often comes with a price?

...A willingness to risk making a mistake,

but even more importantly,

a willing mind to learn from it?

What do you think?

For interesting wild bird posts from around the world,

check out Stewart's blog hop!

To see my most recent Names of God on Rocks, click on highlighted letters!

 

Yikes! This is about the Birds and the bees?!!!

Aiming my camera lens through my window,
I was trying to get a few good shots of my bluebird,

...when suddenly there was a flurry of action!

This was not a planned photo!
I just happened to catch it!
I felt like a photographer on a nature show!

My white lilacs were bee-utiful this year!

So were my lavender ones!
This bumble bee seemed to think so, too.
I found it interesting that most of the lavender lilacs had four petals,
while most of the white lilac blossoms had five petals!

I'm always so amazed at the many, many wonders of God's creation.
I would have liked to have gotten a close up of the bee from the front,
but I didn't want to be hollering "Yikes! I got stung!"
Do all bumble bees have that little round bump that this one has,
...or do you think he has a tumor or something?!!!

To see this week's Name for God on Rocks, click HERE.
(I'll admit, this Name is a bit unusual,
but I needed a "Y" for Jenny Matlock's Alphabet link-up!)

Thank you also to Stewart for allowing me to link-up in his gallery of wild bird blogs!

The Eaglets are stretching their wings!

Look at the color of the eaglet!
He looks like he took a bath in soot!

Several times in the short time I watched him,
the eaglet stretched out his wings,
and flapped them in the air without ever leaving the nest.

With the advent of the leaves,
it's getting more and more difficult to watch them
or catch good shots of them,
...so unless I get some unusually good shots
this will probably be my last eagle/eaglet post.

For those of you who have followed my eagle chasing,

thank you!

To see my Name of God for this week,

click HERE!

For a great blog hop link to other Wild Bird Posts,

click HERE to take you to Stewart's gallery.