First Sign Of Spring

Each year, I post my first robin sighting of spring, a sight I dearly love. My header is actually from last year, an early robin in the snow. But the rest are the first robin this year, which I saw last week, though I never could get a good shot. He was looking for worms, and got quite a few. Did you know the robin is an imposter? Just between you and me, he's not really a robin, but a member of the thrush family. He's not even related to the real robins, who live in England and are much smaller and very cute. I've noticed that most of the robins here don't even wait for spring, they come back way earlier, and then get caught in snow storms and all kinds of bad weather. I don't know why this is, perhaps they have the human trait of impatience. Here is a little conversation between a robin and a sparrow.

Said the robin to the sparrow:

"I should really like to know

why these anxious human beings

rush about and worry so."

Said the sparrow to the robin:

"Friend, I think that it must be

that they have no heavenly father

such as cares for you and me."

Elizabeth Cheney

A Glimpse

Sunset - February 2011

"But if I go to the east, he is not there;

if I go to the west, I do not find him.

When he is at work in the north, I do not see him;

when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.

But he knows the way that I take;

When he has tested me, I will come forth as gold."

Job 23:8,10

Taste And See

My goodness how the time has flewn!

How did it get so late so soon?

Dr.Seuss

The time has indeed flewn!! I realize it's almost spring and I have not yet posted my pictures from Christmas day and the week before. I have so many things going on that some posts just seem to get backed up. But technically, it is still winter. So I can post these pictures showing me decorating cookies with my granddaughter on Christmas eve. They are snowmen wearing earmuffs. And what was little Anne's favorite part? The tasting, of course! Looking back to when I was a child, tasting dough and licking the beaters was actually more fun than the finished product. Maybe because life is not about the destination, it's about the journey, isn't it? I think that Anne has already forgotten how those cookies tasted, but she will remember decorating them with me for a long time. Here's something else the bible tells us to taste, and the taste will always be perfect in every way.

"The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." Psalm 34:7,8

The Flowers And The Light

I've been missing the flowers. If it weren't for the grocery store floral departments, it would be a bleak winter, indeed. So here for you are tulips. I couldn't wait for them to bloom so I snapped these beauties at Whole Foods. Only one week till daylight savings time, yes!!

Jesus answered "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world's light. It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light." John 11:9,10

Tonight, Tonight Won't Be Just Any Night

Make of our hands, one hand,

Make of our hearts, one heart.

Make of our vows, one last vow;

Only death will part us now

My title is from the song "Tonight" from West Side Story. And tonight wasn't just any night for us, because we went to see the play. So come along with me and watch some highlights. We will start with a picture of the audience right before the play started. In the front is Phil and our friend Linda. The last two pictures are in the cast receiving line after the play. Our beautiful friend Dorothy, and another actor examining the "blood" on his shirt from the fight scene. It was great fun, and we had forgotten how many popular songs came from this one play. "Maria", "I Feel Pretty", and "Somewhere" among them. The original producer of the first play was begged by many people to quit wasting her time on this play, that it could not possibly succeed because it was a show full of hatefullness and ugliness. Guess she showed them. Of course the show centers around the doomed love of Maria and Tony, pictured in my header. And the words at the top are from the duet where they declare their love for each other. Unfortunately, death did part them, due to people's intolerance for other's differences. But death will never part us from our Lord, and in our new life, differences will not matter anymore, because we will all be transformed. Too bad we will have to wait till then to see such unity.

"But there's far more to life for us. We're citizens of high heaven! We're waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthly bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He'll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him." Philippians 3:20,21

Return Of The Alpacas

Here is the second half of my alpaca post. These are pictures that I took last year. They are not as good as yesterday's because I was farther away and the light was wrong. Several of you asked me if alpacas spit like camels. They do not. Camels, alpacas, and llamas all belong to the same family, however. The camelid family. These alpacas live 20-25 years, and the length of a female's pregnancy is nearly a year. The difference between alpacas and llamas? Not much. The llama is much bigger, double in size and weight. Also, llamas were bred to be beasts of burden and their fur is coarse. Alpacas are bread for their wonderfully soft fur, and items made with it are very expensive. I would love to see a llama as well. Maybe one day...

"Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfullness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O Lord, you preserve both man and beast. How priceless is your unfailing love! Psalm 36:5,6

The Magic Returns

This weekend, we passed by the alpaca farm again, and they had babies! They are the little white ones in my third and fourth pictures, I guess they are half grown now. I could look at alpacas forever. They have been around at least 6,000 years and are native to the Andes Mountains of South America. Their fleece makes a lightweight and warm fabric that is as soft as cashmere. The Incans called it "fiber of the gods." They measured their wealth by how many alpacas they owned. Every single alpaca born here must be blood typed and registered. At one time, alpacas were thought to be magical. And they do have large, childlike, magical looking eyes, almost hypnotic to look at. They will usually run up to see me, as they are friendly, gentle, and curious. And one more thing. The mothers hum to their babies. Does it get any better than that?

"Ask the animals and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you...which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind." Job 12:7