I’ve enjoyed watching this little family of house sparrows fluttering around the backyard this week. Right now, the baby birds are sticking pretty close to the mother even though they are big enough to pick up the sunflower seeds themselves. You can tell the babies from the mother by the yellow lines around their mouth.
“That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet.” ~Emily Dickinson
A beautiful field of red corn poppy and blue cornflowers sown along the roadside near Reelfoot Lake.
“Lord, make me now
As happy as the field.
With flowers enriched … “
~Eileen A. Soper
“A kind word is like a Spring day.” ~Russian Proverb
While out for a walk on our country road, I suddenly came face to face with a startled rabbit. He was frozen in his tracks and was sitting like a statue with one eye intently gazing at me. Clearly, he had not expected this encounter. After sizing each other up, I proceeded forward, and the rabbit took off like a shot.
“Courage is facing your fears. Stupidity is fearing nothing.” ~Todd Bellemare
One of my favorite memories of Mother’s Day is of my Mom going out to our rose bush on Sunday morning to select a special red rosebud for each of her kids to wear to church. A red rose is worn on Mother’s Day by those whose mother is still alive and a white rose is worn by those whose mother has passed away. I didn’t realize at the time the significance of the color red, but now as a Mom and a Grandma, I look back with a thankful heart to have had her guiding hand and influence in my life all the years that I was growing up — to have had her wisdom and counsel during the years that I was raising my own kids — and now to have her friendship and listening ear as our kids have obtained their own independence. Thank you, God, for Moms.
“I am, for the most part, who I am because my good mother was who she was.” ~Richelle E. Goodrich
On a recent trip, flying in and out of Memphis, our plane briefly took us along the path of the Mississippi River. It was fun seeing an aerial view of the area.
“Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.” ~John Lubbock
Every spring I look forward to the arrival of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak as they migrate through our area. They summer north of us and winter south of us, but during migration, they stop over at our feeders to feast on black sunflower seeds. The males are black and white with red chevrons, while the females are brown and white with whitish stripes over the eye. While they are here, they liven up the back yard with their beauty and presence.
“We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love … and then we return home.” ~Australian Aboriginal Proverb
A wild pink rose with a tiny green grasshopper growing along the side of our country road.
“Some people complain because God put thorns on roses, while others praise Him for putting roses among thorns. ~Unknown
walking on a country road 