Bird catch of the day!

This past weekend as my husband and I were headed back home
after spending a little time down on the farm,
we were privileged to capture a few photos of this owl.

Gary quickly pulled over on the side of the highway
so I could get a better shot of him.
It was early morning, the sun was trying to wake up,
but as you can tell it was still quite dusky!

I didn't have much time to grab a few shots,
but I was so pleased when the owl turned and looked straight at my camera.
Look at that face!
 And check out the thorn tree he is sitting in!

As if to say, "Okay, you got your pictures,"
he quickly took off in flight.

And that's my Joy4Today that I plan to share

with Stewart M's Wild Bird Gallery this Wednesday,

as well as Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday!.

Rock4Today featuring the Names of God on Rocks

is also featuring more feathered friends on this week's post.

I love hearing your comments on my posts,

but whether you comment or not,
THANK YOU for stopping by!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Apple Bobbing - Well Almost!

I only have a few apples left hanging on my tree,
but have found it quite intriguing to watch the cardinals
as they peck away at the swinging apples!

Click on over to Rock4Today to see my latest "Names of God on Rocks",

or

Click on Bird Gallery to enjoy birding photography from around the world

hosted by Stewart M.

Thanks for your visit!

A Tribute to Earl William Hedlund, Scrabble Player Extraordinaire!

The Ozarks lost an extraordinarily great Scrabble player this past week...

My brother-in-law Earl was an exceptional Scrabble player.
At the age of 93, he was still at the top of his game!

Some of his favorite challengers were relatives,
Donna and Walter Klassen from Canada.

 

Ordinarily a quiet person,
a great challenger (like Walter, above)
seemed to bring out a more sanguine side of Earl's personality.

Earl and his wife Alice (my sister),
became marriage partners on New Year's Day, 1966.
Scrabble partnership followed!
Together they have faced many challenges.
Alice has addressed one of these challenges in her blog,
"Unexpected Journey in 2011".

I'm not sure how long this link will be up,

but a brief synopsis of Earl's life with a few of the ways

that he has been used of God,

is posted HERE!

My Rock4Today post featuring The Names of God on Rocks

is dedicated to my sister Alice.

Click on the highlighted letters to take you there!

Thanks for dropping by!

My Tribute

One of the definitions for "Tribute" from  Websters Dictionary says:

"Something given or contributed voluntarily as due or deserved; 

a gift or service showing respect, gratitude, or affection."

This past week I lost a special family member.

Time at the hospital,

family coming in,

funeral arrangements...

all these are so important,

and blogging had to be placed on the "back burner".

So,

check back later 

for a special tribute post!

Thanks for stopping by!

( In case you wondered,

Rock4Today

 featuring the Names of God on Rocks,

has also been put on hold for a few days.)

Railroad Crossing... and Crossroads Opportunity!

One foggy morning last week as were down on the farm,

...we headed to breakfast with some family friends.

After breakfast, as we stopped at the local store,
 looked across the street...

...and happened to see that the historic train depot was open.

Mayor Henley, who has spearheaded the restoration project,
just happened to be there,

...and was happy to give us a tour,

...and even demonstrated how some of the articles
 were used long ago when the railroad was the lifeline of the community.

Comparing some of the photos from its construction,
to its restoration,
it was evident that Mayor Henley has done a great job
in preserving this part of a small town's history.

The day passed swiftly,
and it was almost time for Saturday night church.

Across the road from the church,
a small sign on a metal gate caught my attention!

Besides the railroads,
community churches used to be the heartbeat of small town America.
Attendance has dwindled,
and now only a faithful few are found in the pews.

On November 7th, Billy Graham will celebrate his 95th birthday.

He is concerned for the future of America,

and says,

"Our country is turning away from what made it so great"

and

"Our country is in need of a great spiritual awakening."

To counteract this problem, 

he has developed a massive effort to reach people

across the United States and Canada

with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This endeavor is scheduled to begin on the night of his birthday,

and is called the "My Hope America" project.

Although he has been famous in the past for mass evangelism,

this time he focuses on the power of personal relationships.

He urges Christians to invite guests into their homes

to share the gospel and learn about Jesus.

My husband and I are making preparations to be a part of this effort.

If you, too, are interested in being a part of this crossroads opportunity,
 click HERE to find out how you can be involved!

Thanks for visiting!

I'll have another post up soon on Rock4Today,

featuring the Names of God painted on rocks.

(Click on the highlighted link to take you there.)

Owl eXcitement!

Last week when I went in for my regular dentist check-up,

I got the scoop and the photos for this post from my dental hygienist!

She stated that as she was going in to work at the clinic that morning,
she heard crows carrying on and making a much louder
commotion than their usual cries.

Her curiosity got the best of her,
so she went over to investigate the source of the crow's outcries.
Note the blue laundry basket...
This is what she and a co-worker used to capture
an owl that was being attacked by the crows!

After successfully placing the basket over the owl,
a call was made to the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
This department is specially trained to deal with wild creatures
who wander out of their natural environment.

If the owl is healthy,
he will be returned to the wild.
If he needs medical attention,
we have a local veterinarian that will tend to his needs.

Many thanks to my dental hygienist Dena Sparks, 

who furnished the material for this story,

and allowed me to publish her photos as well!

Great photos from a cell phone, don't you think?

I've done a couple of other posts on owls,

one of which features "Raptor Rehab of Central Arkansas".

Hopefully this owl was healthy enough not to need rehab.

(Click on the link above to take you to this post.)

To see more wonderful bird posts from all over the world,

check out Stewart Monckton's Wild Bird Wednesday!

And as always,

click HERE to take you to my latest post

on writing the Names of God on Rocks!

Wild Birds and Black Walnuts.... Simple things!

Watching wild birds,

and eating black walnuts...

That's part of what we do when we're down on the farm.

I was so surprised to see this phoebe grooming herself
without any sense of fear of my presence.

It looked up at me, and continued its grooming,
fluffing out its feathers.
I found what held its attraction when it darted swiftly after a moth
without paying any attention to me.
The porch light had been left on all night.
Moths and other bugs had accumulated,
and it was living up to its name as a flycatcher!

I'm not sure what this bird is.
If you know, clue me in!
It may be some kind of warbler?

I was thrilled to have a visit from this pileated woodpecker.
I'd been hearing his loud "Kuk-Kuk-Kuk" call,
but hadn't been lucky enough to see him.

He was quite a ways away,
and spooked very easily,
so I just took this photo through the window.
The moment I opened the door to get a closer shot,
he was gone.

This Northern Flicker was intently going after some bugs or seed.
 I couldn't tell for sure what he was eating.
Not nearly so spooky as the pileated woodpecker,
he seemed to like hanging around close to the house.

Then to wrap up our weekend,
we picked up black walnuts.
My husband loves to crack a batch of them,
 then pick them out and eat them
when it's cool enough to sit by a crackling wood fire.

Those are some of the simple pleasures we enjoy when down on the farm.

In the Scriptures I found a couple of interesting proverbs about a simple life.

Proverbs 13:7 says "A pretentious showy life is an empty life;

a plain and simple life is a full life."

Proverbs 15:16 says, "A simple life in the Fear-of-God

is better than a rich life with a ton of headaches"!

Thanks for your visit!

To see my Name for God this week, click on Rock4Today!


And many thanks to Stewart for hosting a birding blog link-up.
Click on his name above to see birds from around the world!