Queen Autumn

I told my co-workers that I would wear a costume for Halloween. Every year a handful of employees will dress up. Some will go all out, while others will just wear a hat.

I wanted my costume to represent me, the real me. I thought long and hard about my costume.

It was kind of chilly this morning. So I threw on a sweatshirt that my cousin sent me. The sweat shirt is me because it is from Niagara Falls like me. It has fall leaves on it which is my favorite time of year. And it is a fall color.

I bought me a orange wig, a crown and threw on some fake leaves. I pronounce myself Queen Autumn. Somwhat do you think? Is It me?

The Great Pumpkin

One of my favorite cartoon this time of the season is "It's The  Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". It takes me back to my childhood and the innocence of my youth. Life seemed so easy than.

I can relate to each of the characters in this Halloween special. My favorite is Snoopy. I never get tire of all the adventures he gets involved with. He lives in his own little world of a vivid imagination.

There are many times I would love to escape into my own little world. Life can get so hard and complicated. I long for the simple times when all I was responsible for was cleaning my room.

Life is not so simple anymore. But I am alright with that. Like Linus who has complete faith that the Great Pumpkin would arrive, I have faith that God who is greater than the Great Pumpkin or anyone else will arrive to guide me.

The Great Pumpkin, the Easter bunny and Santa Claus are all stories and not real. I am glad that God is real and not just a story for a season. He is the Story for all seasons.

Seagull First

Anytime that I am around any body of water, I know I will see at least one seagull. They always are the first to go after the breads, crackers and peanuts that people toss at the ducks, geese and squirrels.

This time I saw a seagull first. I was watching them glide along the water and wonder what they were doing. Than I saw this seagull catch a fish. This was a first for me. They actually work for their meal sometime.

I love it when I see God's creatures doing what God created them to do. We all have been created to do good works. When we seek to do God's will for our life, we make the world a better place.

Each day when I make my way out in this world, I hope that God see that the first thing I do is seek Him first.

Inside And Out

Ever notice that the wings of a butterfly looks different from the inside and out? Sometimes the inside of the wings are more colorful, and sometimes the outside holds more beauty. Than there are some butterfly's wing that looks good from the inside and out.

People are like that as well. They may look great on the outside but hold some darkness on the inside. Than there are others who are not attractive to the eyes but the beauty within shines bright. There are a few that has it both ways.

If I had to choice, I would want all my beauty to come from the inside. The outer being grows old and looses is beauty over time. I know because I just have to look in the mirror to see what little beauty I had is gone.

Yet, the inner beauty can grow when we allow God to be in control. I want the inner beauty to shine bright for all to see. So as I grow even older I seek God's guidance. With His help my beauty will shine.

The Treasure Box

When I got to be part of this pass year Fourth of July parade, I made the treasure box to put on the float. I gathered up little trinkets, costume jewelry and an old chest. With a little bit of hot glue, I created this decoration.

This got me to thinking. What would I put into a real treasure box? If I could gather up what I hold dear to my heart, what would it look like?

I would like to think that it would be overflowing with precious memories of all the good things in my life. With each trinket a story of bravery, sacrifice or love would be attached.

But my life has been a simple one. My treasure box is full of costume jewelry and old picture frames that are worthless to others. Yet, I do hold dear the memories that they hold for me.

My treasure box is priceless to me. And that is all that matters.

Love The Sparrow

I just love the little birds that are in every bodies' backyards. One of my favorite bird is the sparrow. They are such a simple little creature. Yet there are so many different species that is it hard to pick just one.

The sparrows that I have been watching this pass year has entertained and taught me about God's love. If God cares enough to provide these silly playful birds all that they need, how much more will He provide this playful somewhat silly person all that I need?

God's eyes are on the sparrow. He watches over me as well. I know He love His sparrows. I also know He loves me. Thank God for the sparrows.

In Your Face

It look like this robin had something in his face. I don't know if he was trying to wear this moth or if the moth was trying to get in his face. Whatever was going on it was funny to watch.

So many times things get in front of my face and keeps me from seeing what is happening around me. I allow these things to take my focus away from God. I need to get the distractions away from my face. But, that is not always easy to do.

I know that this robin made the moth a tasty meal. I just wish I could do that with all the things that get in my face.

Eat Like A Squirrel

When you think about what squirrels eats, the first thing that comes into mind is peanuts. Over the many years of watching them I find that they eat a wide variety of food. This one is eating a mushroom.

Squirrels eat all kinds of vegetation. I see them hanging off many limbs and stretched out as far as they can reach to get the sweet morsels of fruits, nuts and flowers. It is this wide range of food that completes their diet.

I often look at what I eat and realize that it is not healthy or consist of a wide range of food that is needed for my body. I need to rethink my diet and eat like a squirrel.

A Closer Look

As I was driving by the marsh I pulled  over like I always do. Nothing unusual. Off in the distant I see my swans. A good two dozen Canada geese are swimming together like always. Than something catches my eyes.

At first I thought it was a pigeon. It was acting really weird. So I got out my camera took several shots. When I took a closer look, I could see that it was not a pigeon but a belted kingfisher. The reason it was acting weird was that he was trying to eat his catch of the day.

I love visiting the marsh. I never know what I will get to see. But when I take the time to get a closer look  it is always a nice surprise.

Quitting Is Not An Option

Three times he tried. Three times he failed. Yet quitting it not an option for this hawk. If he quit he would not get his next meal.

There is so many times I want to quit. I had a bad day at work, so I want to quit job. My kids are driving me crazy, so I want to quit motherhood. My husband doesn't understand me, so I want to quit my marriage. Yet quitting is not an option.

When I have these bad days I just turn to God. I know that God will never quit on me. He gives me the strength and the wisdom to carry on in spite of the difficulties.

Quitting is not an option. With God's help I never have to.

Duck Hair Do

Talk about a bad hair day, this duck needs to do something about his hair do.

I hate waking up in the morning and looking into the mirror. There is always a section of my hair sticking up like this duck's features. No matter how much I comb it it just will not stay down. I end up sticking my head in water to wet down my hair so that it will bend to my will.

There was another time that I had to stick my head in water. That time it was not me making my hair bend to my will. It was when I was bending my will to God.

The day I decided to give my life over to God was the best day of my life. Not only did I get a new hair do, I got a new life as well.

Now this doesn't mean that my life is perfect. What it means is when ever I have a bad hair day, I just turn to God to put my hair back into place.

Fearless Fox

First thing this morning I set off to getting back into the routine of walking again. As I got out of my car and made my way to the path someone pointed out a fox nearby. Boy was I excited about getting some pictures since I have not seen the fox all summer long.

This fox seemed to be fearless. As I was taking the pictures many other people were walking by and the fox kept his ground searching for food. Even when there were dogs walking by the fox showed no fear. As I got closer he even sat down to check me out. It wasn't until a dog started barking that he finally went into the bushes.

This is very unnatural. A fox should not be comfortable around people. Yet here he was excepting of us as though it was normal.

Many of the creatures here at the Mariner have come to except the coming and going of people. I think one of the reason is that most of these people respect these animals and keep their distant. Even I have the sense not to press my luck.

Even though the fox acted fearless, he had the sense to hide when danger got just a little to close for comfort. But I am glad he let me get close enough to get my picture.

Pending Storm

Today all my focus was spent dreading the pending storms throughout the day. You see I am afraid of water. I can not handle the thought of being surrounded by water of any kind. Driving in any kind of rain storm puts me into panic mode. So I prayed and prayed.

God knows my fears. He knows what I can handle. Today I had to go out several time. The blessing was that it fell in between the storms. Also my daughter left work early to take me to the doctor appointment because she knows my fear as well.

God makes a way through each storm in my life. I know there are times that I have to face my fears. Yet through prayer I get a helping hand. Even though I will always dread the pending storms, I know from where my help comes from.

Butterfly Wonder

I wonder how long butterfly stick around? It seems like that through out spring, summer and autumn they are fluttering around enjoying their short life. The beauty of these delicate creatures decorates the changing landscape. I will hate to see them go.

I wonder what the reason for this. Why did God create something that has so much beauty last only a short time. What ever the reason I can only guess.

I also wonder why God brings other beauty into my life only to have it go so soon. I want to hang onto them for the rest of my life. Yet God reasoning is beyond my understanding.

So until they are gone for good, I will seek them out, share pictures of God's butterfly wonders and enjoy the other blessings to the fullness of my ability.

Pumpkins Pumpkins And More Pumpkins

Pumpkin, pumpkins and more pumpkins.The pumpkin patch. It is full of possibilities.

When I look at these orange spheres of beauties my mouth waters at the thought of a juicy pumpkin pie. The aroma of fresh baked pumpkin bread brings fond memories of autumn days gone by. Not to forget the joy of carving these each October brings out the child in me.

 Fall is my favorite time of year. The heat of the summer is over, and then cold of the winter days are still a couple of months away. The trees leaves are changing, and soon they will show their true colors. It warms my soul every year.

It is time for me to pull out my favorite recipes and get down to baking pumpkins, pumpkins and more pumpkins.

Had To Go For It

Today I decided to go for a ride. It has been too long being trapped inside recovering from surgery. The sky was blue, temperature just right and I was feeling pretty good, so I had to go for it. Just like this hawk taking off to catch his prey, I took off to get some pictures.

He was just one of the many pictures I took today. The first stop was the marsh where my swans live. They were there along with some wood ducks, geese and turtles.

The next stop was the pond by the hotel. I usually look for the resident wood duck. But he was not there. This time I got to get close to an egret, a few mallards and more geese.

 The third stop lead me to the industrial pond with the three fountains. There I got this hawk, a grebe and of course geese.

After my meeting with the writer's group I made my last stop at the Mariner. It was nice walking around there again. It was like visiting an old friend. Birds were everywhere along with the squirrels and the sound of whole ganders of geese.

I had to go for it, and it turned out to be a beautiful day.

Blood Moon

I could not sleep last night. Why you ask? Because I wanted to get pictures of the blood moon. Started from four am until six I kept my eyes on the progress of the eclipse.

What made this even a better experience is that I did not have to leave my home to get the picture. I just opened the window, sat on the love-seat and snapped away.

When I heard the rain through out the night, I thought it would end up too cloudy to get the shot. The storm soon moved on and than it was clear.

The blood moon is rare. It reminds me what a wonderful Creator we all have. If you missed it this morning. It will happen again in April. I will have my camera ready.