Who - oo's out there?

Had a great experience the other night.  Crisp, cool, clear evening and the stars were totally awesome again.  No moon, so if you found a dark spot to be you could see the milky way very clearly.  My husband and I had some time to just sit in the back yard and take in the beauty.  As we were sitting there we heard something land in the tree above us and didn't think to much of it.  We have seen all sorts of birds in our back yard from small sparrows and finches, to large birds of prey including hawks and owls.  Because it was dark we couldn't tell what kind of bird was above us, but knew it had to be pretty big because we could hear  the air being pushed about with it's wings.  We continued to star gaze and pretty soon we heard an owl begin to call from a distance off.  We love to hear them and we get very excited when we hear them answering one another.  Imagine our surprise when the "bird" that had landed above us began to call back.  Now we knew who was above us, we had an owl perched over our heads; it seemed oblivious to the fact that we were there and it was calling back and forth with the owl a few blocks away.  Pretty soon there was a third owl that joined them, because we could hear it's call coming from another direction.  We sat there in stunned silence, just listening to the different tones, pitches and lengths of the calls from these three owls.  We then started whispering back and forth about what they might be communicating to one another.  My husband made me giggle, when he suggested, "whoo-oo-oo's out there?"  We finally had to give up and go inside because we were getting cold.  Our owl stayed perched in the tree and didn't move a muscle and even after we made our way inside we could still hear it calling from time to time.  That made both of us smile in a satisfied way.  We love spending time out in God's handiwork any time we get a chance, even if it's in the dark and we don't know for sure "who-oo-oo's out there?" 

Late Night Drive

My husband and I make a trip to one of his churches last night for a meeting.  I went along to help with the driving and to provide encouragement and support.  As we began our journey it was just starting to get dusky, you know that time of night when the sun is making it's descent on the horizon and the light is beginning to fade.  We knew to be on the alert for deer and other critters because that seems to be their favorite time to move around - dawn and dusk as well as at night.  We weren't very far north of town when we were both pointing out something different, but in the same vicinity.  Let me explain.  I spotted a doe standing near the base of a telephone pole off to our left and Bill noticed an owl sitting at the top of the same pole.  It was a cool sight to see both creatures so close, yet not even aware of each other, both were looking at us.  We saw several more deer and even had to stop twice for them to cross the road.  Good thing we gave ourselves an extra half hour to reach our destination.  Then on our way back we were being alert and cautious again because it was completely dark and as experience has proven again and again, we rarely have a time when we don't see something.  The great thing about last night, is that the full moon was helping us out.  We could see further down the road and the peripheral vision on both sides was great.  We did see a couple doe and a family of raccoons.  Nothing we had to stop for, just slow down and move over.  We are always so thankful for the protection and safety God provides us as we drive.  We rarely put the vehicle in drive without saying a prayer first.  We trust God to clear the way for us, but we also drive cautiously and defensively, especially at night.  Our motto is we would rather make it there (wherever that may be) alive and in one piece than get there as fast as possible.  We just wish more people would do that, especially on those late night drives.  Be careful, you never know what you may encounter out there in the dark late at night.   

A Time for Every Season

We've had out first snowfall of the year (November 1st/2nd), and it's only 2 or 3 inches.  It didn't even stick to the streets or sidewalks.  There are people who can't stand snow.  Me, I don't mind it in manageable amounts, meaning if I don't have to scoop it off the sidewalk or it involves very little shoveling, scooping, snow blowing I'm good.  I think it's very pretty and I don't even mind the cold.  In my opinion, I can always put more clothes on and be toasty.  That doesn't happen the other way around, when it's hot, there's only so many pieces of clothing you can take off before it becomes indecent or something you'll get arrested for.  I can always get warm, I can't always get cool, so I'm all for snow.  I haven't seen a really good blizzard in a long time - oh sure last year we had a few 3 foot drifts in spots, but I'm talking can't get out the door or do anything blizzard.  When I was little we had those occasionally. I remember some of the pictures where the drifts were to the top of the house and you'd have to scoop out of the house, or into the barn and it seemed like it took forever.  One year we had a bunch of yearling calves we had to dig out, they were buried in a seven foot drift.  That wasn't alot of fun either.  We could hear them, but man it was scary wondering if we were going to get them out in time.  We didn't lose any, but we did lose a bull a couple years later.  We knew he was missing we just couldn't find him because he'd frozen to the ground and couldn't move.  Needless to say he either froze to death or suffocated under the snow, maybe both, it was sad.  Helped me gain a new respect for winter weather.  My husband gives me just a little bit of grief over the winter weather kits I put in our vehicles.  They include blankets, hats, mittens, scarves, flashlights, reflective vests, granola bars, beef jerky, dried fruit to name a few things.  They go in the vehicles at the first prediction of snow and they stay there until the snow is long gone.  Precautionary measures - because we travel alot in some remote areas and you never know that kit just might save our lives someday.  I am very aware that winter is one of the seasons that God designed and put into place, it is a time of rest for the plants and the earth.  The winter snows refuel our streams, rivers, and lakes.  I appreciate snow for many reasons, but I also have a guarded respect for it.  In Ecclesiastes 3:1 it says, "there is a time for every season." Now is the season of cold temperatures and snow.