Phylus Rawlinson Park

the pensive, the adventurous, and the gregarious

A delightful way to spend a Sunday afternoon,

 wandering along the pondside paths,

 picking wildflowers and cattails, 

stopping at the sound of a bird's song.  

Occasionally breaking out into a song of praise.

I am thankful for these ardent admirers of the natural world, the children that break away from the path to discover what lives under the logs, where animal tracks lead, to peer into the pond to search for life.

more rainbows

Leslie st, just north of Elgin Mills

rainbows

aaahhh...the dilemna...

do I run up the road to the second choice scene

or do I drive to the better backdrop and risk missing it?

I ran up the road.

land full of water

In the last MERF newsletter (www.merf.org) there are 7 stories of people who suffer to hear the Word of God in Iran.  A family taking a 48 hour hazardous bus ride, a tortured young man,an eager young woman, an impassioned father and daughter, a former addict, a young couple that will need to meet with the police when they return, a daughter who has lost her preacher father.

Quoting from the newsletter;  Each in turn seems to have a story that marks these ordinary believers as anything but ordinary.  They have come together - often with some difficulty and never without risk- not because of the pull of some well-known speaker, but because they delight in Christ.  Just to sing His praise together thrills them.  How seldom do they get to unite their voices with others, rejoicing in the one they adore!  What joy from praying with one another and sharing together around the throne of grace!  For some, this is the only time they are able to experience the fellowship of the saints before returning to a land which is even yet a "dry and weary land where there is no water".  They thirst for fellowship, and the Lord has providentially provided at intervals this oasis for his people through MERF.

Ours is a rain drenched country, with countless lakes and rivers, extensive aquifers.

Ours is a freedom drenched country with countless churches, study groups, programs on the radio, television and internet.

Do we thirst?

Joyful

It has been raining for a few days now.

Yesterday the children and I read the story of Elijah and King Ahab.  The land of milk and honey  had no rain for 3 years.

I cannot imagine.  Yet how many people don't scratch out an existance under these same conditions.

A few weeks ago we had a similar wet spell and the ditch in front of our house couldn't empty fast enough.  Joyful puddle jumpers became joyful ditch jumpers.

I imagine that the people of Israel might have done the same thing.

ducklings

not unlike any mother

preoccupied with her brood

a nudge here,

 a quack there, 

educating the wee ones 

my own little brood following me

calling them back when they stray

teaching them

showing them

wide eyed wonder

 as they watch the ducks

and then

the rain came pouring down,

duck weather.

and an angry little boy,

forgetting

 how enjoyable the walk was

and weeping

because mom wouldn't stop

so that he could find a pebble.

human nature,

forgetting the ducklings

and mourning a pebble

(mom couldn't let her camera get soaked again.)

debutantes

Why feel sad about the apple blossoms

 that have fallen like confetti around our feet

when the lilacs have taken center stage

and the peonies and poppies are waiting for their turn as garden debutantes?

Today I will remember to treasure  the gifts that have been granted for this day.

I will be thankful for what was, and not pine for yesterday.

 I will be hopeful for the future...yet not wish to usher it in too quickly. 

 

lilacs

looking out our front window 

we can see the lilacs in full bloom

perfuming the air

when we stand on the porch

2nd chance Pansies

dug up, discarded pansies

deserving of a 2nd chance in our garden

which of course means digging up a new flower bed

and an aching back

blooming little pansies

2nd chances, 3rd chances,

 70 x 7 chances

Marten's canada geese

Mill Pond

Last week we went to Mill Pond to observe the Canada Goose and other waterfowl.

This scourge of the cultivated green space is quite a magnificent creature.

It can fly at a speed of 40 km per hour, and when chased up to 95 km per hour.  However when the goslings are half grown the parents molt and are not able to fly till the tale and wing feathers are grown back in.

According to the information boards at Mill Pond many geese have become lazy because of the overabundance of food and some will not migrate.  Feeding the geese adds to this problem. (We read the signs after Norah had shared her apple).

Geese do not mate until they are 2 or 3 years old.  That is why the huge flocks of birds you see in the fields or around ponds don't all pair up and nest (and like their human counter part teenagers hang around and eat and socialize).

Geese mate for life.

To gain an appreciation watch one of my all time favourite movies Fly Away Home.

Promise

An illustration of God's promise

repeated by the children.

A reason to rush out into the rain drenched orchard and gaze in awe at the heavens.

spring

Apple blossoms

we spent an hour sitting on a blanket under the apple tree, munching on some lunch, playing "imagine you are the size of a dandelion" when suddenly this little chickadee joined our party.

tulips