Weeks ahead....

I'd like to sit for just a bit

And watch the clouds roll by

And then I'd like to sit some more

And gaze up high

Imagining I'm an eagle....or a fly.

That doesn't rhyme much, I know. But it gives you an indication of what my life will consist of for the next 5-6 weeks. Ya. Ambitionless. Tired out. Exhausted.

Trailer packed.

Suitcase packed.

Truck packed.

I'm sure we'll be back and forth many times but we shall take advantage of these upcoming weeks of sun and water and bugs and being outside.

And I've got this blasted toothache....we'll see about it tomorrow.

Of moths and butterflies....

As you can see by the pictures, both are beautiful!

The moth in the top picture was brought into our office by a fellow who wanted to know what species it was. Robert told me, but my mouth finds it difficult pronouncing those Latin names. When he took it out of the bag, it began to quiver and shake. It may have been afraid, not sure. I couldn't get a conversation going with it at any rate, so I really don't know what it was feeling. But with all of it's quivering, it was difficult to get a good shot. Robert showed me how it eluded its prey. See those large "eyes" on its lower wings? When a predator sees those, they think it's an animal and won't try to eat it. God had his creativeness certainly going when he designed that moth!!

The bottom picture shows a beauty of a butterfly.... the "Olivia-tis".....pretty, isn't she? Her eyes are the loveliest of blue and her hair the color of golden wheat. Like the moth, it was quite difficult to capture her on camera because she moved a great deal but when she stopped I could get in quite close. She has changed into this phase of flitting here and there but very soon will go further south with her family. God will continue to show his creativeness in this little butterfly too, as she grows and matures.

Moths. Butterflies. Both are beautiful.....and I thank God for each of them.

Flying dragons....

Click on that dragonfly. Look at those lovely wings, how transparent and beautiful. The eyes are huge.....I thought mine were big for my face......

Funny how warm weather brings out insects of all kinds. It's like we've been transferred into another realm of crawling, flapping, creeping, buzzing and biting. Quite a difference between winter with NO bugs to summer with ALL bugs. Perhaps their existence is much more pronounced here because the season is so short and in that short time-frame they have to mate, lay eggs, do their pupae thing and hatch.....then make life totally miserable for we humans before fall comes.

Anyway, there is a beauty about them......sort of.......a beauty in the way they're made to survive.

I do enjoy the dragonflies and butterflies but that's about all the beauty I can handle!

Flying the coop....

Just watched a bit of zaplive.tv

Breeze flew the coop today for a little while. She's #1 eaglet. Quite the sight.

Now mom and dad eagle come and sit on a branch looking in on the three of them WITHOUT bringing any food. Tiny had a hissy fit. Looked like he was mad, hungry and thoroughly cussing out his ole' lady.

But mother knows best. She knows that they need to loose a bit of "baby fat" before they can take off flying without too much effort. Right now if they decided to leave the nest, they may get to the forest floor a bit too fast, with a nose dive to boot. So, mom and dad come and sit and observe the three kids doing their aerobics and wingersizes. The kids are catching on to some important things too. Breeze at one point, picked up some nestovers and began feeding Tiny. As they learn how to fly, they are also learning how to parent. They fluff up the grass in the nest, rearrange sticks around the outside of the nest and eat by themselves now.

It has been a great experience watching them hatch and grow and now, almost ready to fly the coop. They've had great examples to follow. Mom and dad eagle have done a great job parenting!!!

The daughter of a friend of ours flew the coop today too....off to England....with the help of some artificial wings, of course. Like the eagles, her parents have done a good job too, and now it's "bon voyage.....Char!!!!"

What now?

Mr. Chernysh
Mr. Frey

( L->R) Joe ,Helen (wife), Patrick (son)

& Lisa (daughter)

(L->R) Kevin (son), Maureen (wife), Gord,

& Rachael (daughter)

I think these two handsome fellows were sent off in fine style last evening with, between the two of them, over 70 years of experience going with them. They had their wives by their sides and most of their children and it was a grand celebration.

And how do you wrap up 70 years of experiences in a few hours. You can't.

I thought it similar to a funeral. We try to express the essence of a person in one short service but it really can't be done.

What we leave behind in either our lives when we die, or when we leave a long career is not simply a desk for the next guy to fill. Oh, no. That part of it doesn't even get into the equation.

We leave behind our work ethics, our morals, our compassion and our mannerisms....all of those things that have an effect on those we work with. So, if we're crabby and complain all the time, spiteful, lack morals, only do what is required of us and not willing to go the extra mile, well, that is how we shall be remembered and those are the negative things that made others a bit like you.

I spoke with a fellow in the office this morning about how he heard a lot about one of the retirees at the celebration which he hadn't known before. It made him feel a bit uncomfortable that he hadn't known this person very well, while he was working. He wished that he had.

We don't get second chances to live life over. I see people every day living miserable existances because they choose not to involve themselves in any way with other people. How very sad.......because in the end, it will be ALL about other people, how we cared about them, how we showed compassion and loved them and took time to be with them and to get to know their hearts and what made them the way they were. It won't be about the position they left!

Because, as I'm slowly finding out, life is not about ME.....it's all about others.

Promise.....

While we ate a delicious meal of Northern Pike with our special guests, the lightning flashed and the thunder roared and growled and rumbled. There were moments when I had to do a bit of lip reading, it was that loud.....and then the rain. Oh that sweet, delicious rain. As brief as it was, it will nourish and give life to needy plants that have been parched after a week or more of +30C temperatures....not that I'm complaining.

But the best part came afterwards. Yes, we did have Saskatoon pie with ice cream, following the main course but that still wasn't the best part.

It was the R A I N B O W.

That curvature of light, that spectrum of color, that colossal arch in the eastern sky, proclaimed once more, the promise of God to his creation. His promise of refreshment to the earth not destruction as it once had been. We have a God that cares about his creations....that's us, by the way, and that care comes in the form of provision. He provides water and Northern Pike and lilacs and Saskatoon berries and sweet smelling grass..........and rainbows.

So, today I want to encourage you that no matter what problems you're experiencing, no matter how dark the storm of your life may be and you feel there is no hope....be assured that after the darkness of that storm will come your very own rainbow. If you don't believe it, I will believe it for you.

And when that rainbow does come to you, remember it long after it has disappeared and thank God for it.

hot...hot...hot....

Great booming thunder, Batman!!!

And I'm not going to complain for one second....even though it's hotter than bushel of chili peppers in our bed............................room.....heh...heh...heh

I was so spoiled living most of my life in an air conditioned home. Now it's aux naturelle sans air conditioner.

It's one of those "experiences" I'm finding, where husband and wife tackle the "how to's" of keeping the house cool. We have come together as a team to achieve our goal and now keep all windows closed during the day with one fan going in the bedroom and the ceiling fan going in the kitchen. At night the windows are opened......and ready for any and all burglars, but at least they'll find a cooler house than if they'd come in the heat of the day. I suppose I could leave them some iced tea as a refreshment........should they decide to come, that is. I always say that if anyone did decide to break in, we'd never hear anything anyway with husband's breathing machine purring away all night. Not only that, I never get a chance to hear the pitter-patter of rain falling on the roof nor booming thunder nor the blaring of sirens and squealing and screeching of tires. There are pros and cons to everything.

So, we'll see what tonight brings. Perhaps an ice pack on the head will do the trick. It's pretty rough when one's internal air conditioner has also bit the dust.....but I digress........

Keep cool and enjoy this heat.