Mealtime

These doves seems to be enjoying their mealtime together.

I look forward to the mealtimes that I have with family and friends. It is a time of fellowshipping and catching up on the latest news. The food always seems to taste better when you are in great company. There is something about good food and good conversations that make life bearable.

As a child my brothers, sister and I sat around the table. Food was put into bowls and placed at the center. We all took turns filling our plates. You did not leave the table until your plate was cleaned. Being from a big family mealtime was always interesting.

Now I find myself eating alone most of the time. With work schedules and church obligations along with home responsibilities there is too little time to spend at the dinner table. So when I do get to have mealtimes with others I cherish every second we are together.

Osprey Must Move

The ospreys in the area love to build their nest on top of electrical and telephone poles. This is a problem because is causes all kinds of issues like power outages.

There are two solutions to this problem. One, build a nest box on a tall pole nearby. Two, put a barrier over the poles that they were using.

I watched last year as a pair of osprey started to build the nest on this pole. They came back this year and finished the job. They started a family and it was interesting watching them. As soon as the babies were old enough to fly the road crew got to work and took the nest down and put up this barrier.

I wonder how many barriers God has to put up to get me to move on? I want to stay where I feel comfortable. Yet God is showing me a new way. I just have to let go and move forward.

Butterfly Photo Opportunity

Sunday evening I decided to take one last walk around before the sun set. I was not really looking to take any pictures. I just wanted to get out and enjoy the weather.

I was standing by the fence watching some bees when this butterfly landed in front of me and spread its wings. It was a photo opportunity that I could not pass up.

I wondered how many times I had missed opportunities that God showed me because I was not paying attention? He puts them in front of me, opens them up and I just ignore them.

Tomorrow I want to wake up and seek God's photo opportunities and His will for me. I want to be like this butterfly and open myself up to His direction.

Laundromat Good Deed

Today I experienced a laundromat good deed. With the washer machine down I am having to go to the laundromat to get my clothens clean.

This time I had to bring my grandson. So I brought my tablet to keep him occupied. The problem, the battery power was low.

I did bring the charger. The problem, there were no outlet to plug it into. So I ask the attendant if I could use the outlet behind the desk to charge the tablet. She was gracious enough to let me.

While we put the clothes into the washer the attendant left for a short time to return with an extension cord that she had purchased. She wanted my grandson to be able to sit with me as I did the wash.

It was so nice to be the recipient of a good deed.

Muskrat/Squirrel Surprise

I thought before the rain comes in that I would walk around one of my favorite place, Mariner Point Park. I was not prepare for my first surprise of the day.

As I open the car door, gather my camera and fanny pack full of peanuts I felt something crawl up my leg. Imagine my shock at finding a squirrel sitting on my lap begging for peanuts. When I went to open the fanny pack he got excited running all around my legs to get to the pack. With a quick flick of my wrist I sent the peanuts out the door and felt a great sense of relief as the squirrel follow suit.

Once my shock of being accosted by a squirrel subsided I got out of my car and tossed a few more peanuts his way and proceeded to enjoy the morning.

The squirrels were in full force today. They were literally coming out of the woods. So when I notice more movement in a bush I was set to feed another squirrel. But this one was different. It took a minute than I realized that it was a muskrat. He was not much bigger than the squirrels. It must have been a juvenile.

This was a nice surprise. I enjoyed watching as he munched away on the vegetation. All in all my muskrat/squirrel surprises made my day.

Boat Outing

It is hot out there. How do you find a way to cool off? Well these guys found a way. They decided to go on a boat outing.

I like this picture because there are several means of boating just in one shot. What is your pleasure? It can be anything from a kayak to a deluxe motorboat. Whatever it is, getting out is the reason for cooling off.

It may be 90+ today. But when you are out on a boat it feels good.

Symbol of Maryland

They are here. The symbol of Maryland since 1973, the checkerspot butterfly. I have been following the progress of these beautiful checkerspots for the past several weeks.

Ever since I came across the enclosed cage with the sign telling about the restoration of the checkerspots last year I had my mind set on getting pictures this year.

The white turtlehead is the only host plant that the butterfly will use. It lays its eggs underneath the leaves and the caterpillar use the leaves as nourishment. Throughout the complex there are several fenced in areas with the turtleheads growing.

The butterflies in this pictures insures me that the restoration program is working. There were two pairs procreating among the tall grass and many others looking for their mate.

The last step for me is to get pictures of the eggs hopefully next weekend.

Baltimore Checkerspot

One of the neat thing about Harford Glenn is that they are working to restore the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly.

I had noticed that there were several fenced in sections around the property. They had signs on it telling about the butterfly restoration project.

So you know me I have to keep an eye out for these butterfly that are now on the endanger watch list. In one of the fenced in area I came across two cocoons.

It looks like that sometime in the next week they will come out and make their debut. I just hope I get to see this. And when I do I will be posting it.

Count on Old Faithful

When you go to visit Yellowstone National Park you can always count on one thing, seeing Old Faithful erupt. While it was erupting one afternoon I could see a hint of a rainbow forming. The sun was at the right angle to cause this phenomena. It made appreciate God's creation.

The rainbow in the mist reminds me that God is faithful. I can always count on God to show Himself in phenomenal ways. There are many times that I need Him to erupt His blessings on my life.

Today the rains came pouring out and I did not see a rainbow. But that is okay. I just have to look at Old Faithful and know there is a rainbow waiting to show itself.

Butterfly Cluster

I have heard that a mud bath does wonders for the skin. But drinking it makes no sense at all. What could these butterfly find so tasty about mud? Yet here they were fighting for position to get there turn.

There is so much about nature that I can't begin to understand. Yet that is not going to stop me from learning all I can about God's creatures. What I do not know or understand I will research to find the answers.

There is so much about God I do not understand. Yet if I take the time to research and study His word I can begin to see the world the way He wants me to see. When I understand this I might understand why butterflies drink mud.

Surprise

I was standing as still as I could. I did not want the butterflies to fly away. There was five of them clustered together. I raised my camera just as a deer ran out from behind the bushes. I am not sure who was more surprised him or me. Before I could get the shot he was off and running in the opposite direction.

I never know what I will encounter on my nature walks. While I am concentrating on one thing something else pops up. I hate it when I can't get the picture. But I love the excitement of seeing God's creatures in action.

Maybe tomorrow I will be surprised again and get a great picture of it. I can only hope and try.

I Found One

I was determine to find a red-winged black bird nest. Any time that I would go up to a pond to take pictures the red-winged black birds would go all crazy. I knew this meant that I was near a nest. But try as I might I just could not see a nest in among the vegetation.

As I was looking out for turtles and frog around the lily pads I notice movement in the cat tails. To my delight it was  the nest that I  had been searching for. The only problem was I just could not get close enough to get a good shot. But that was okay. I was just glad I finally found one.

I love finding new discoveries. Each day as I venture out into God's world He delights in showing me His wonders. I wonder what I will find tomorrow?

Out Of The Concrete

I heard on the radio the other day that sometime you just need to get out of the concrete to hear God's voice. It is getting away from all the hustle of everyday life and into the stillness of God's creation that you can appreciate all the is good in this world.

How I long to go there right now. I would love to stand in the middle of nowhere and listen to the sounds of nature over the sounds of civilization. The movement of the water and the russling of the leaves would be music to my ears.

But until I can get away I will retreat into my concrete room and try to hear God's voice over all the noise.

Map Turtle

Yesterday I got a rare chance to see a rare turtle. While walking around Harford Glen I came across two guys catching turtles. Since I had my grandson with me it gave me an opportunity to ask about the different types of turtles.

After learning some cool facts about turtles it was time to part ways. My daughter came and got my grandson and I walked around for another hour. Heading back to the car I came across the two guys again and they were all excited about a turtle they had just caught. It was a map turtle.

Why is it called a map turtle you ask? I will tell you. It is because the shell of the turtle looks like a topographical map. What I also learn was that they are rare and endangered. That was why these guys were so excited about the find.

Now I have to tell you that they did released the turtles back into the water. But I know letting go of this rare find was hard.