Notes from the Bird Whisperer

I love it when Nature teaches me something about God.

Terry and I were walking along a shaded path at the edge of a golf course one Spring morning. Birds were just beginning to be active in Alberta, and we were hoping to add to the Year List we keep. Since we had recently returned from Arizona, we hoped to list any local birds which were not necessarily seen down south.

“Chick-a-dee-dee!” I heard. We stood still to able to see this energetic little bird as it flitted from branch to branch.

“There it is!” We had heard that Chickadees are friendly birds, and would land on an outstretched hand. We decided to try it. Terry stretched out his arm, and I got my phone into position.

Thrilled is an understatement when a Black-capped Chickadee actually landed.

“Sorry, friend, we don't have any seeds.”

It didn't seem to matter, the Chickadee just sat there, eyeing us curiously before flying off again.

Further along the path we spotted Boreal Chickadees, who are found more commonly in wooded areas.

"Put out your hand. Let's see if they'll land, too," said Terry.

Sure enough, a Boreal Chickadee landed on my hand. I could clearly see its brown head, as opposed to the Black-capped variety. Its round black eye looked my way as if to say, “I trust you. Don't you have any seeds for me?”

Terry was ready with the phone and captured the special moment.

It was only later that I realized that the Chickadees we encountered that day were a perfect picture of trust. Fearlessly they came to perch, to say hello, and potentially to have their needs supplied. That is what God wants us to do, to simply trust Him as the Chickadees trusted us.

Requiem for Baby B

When we bought our 2009 Keystone Outback trailer in March, 2010, our principal put the following notice in the school newsletter:


 Mr. and Mrs. B. have a new baby.
 She is 21 feet long and weighs 4800 lbs.
 She arrived last Friday.

A month later, we were accepted into the SOWER ministry, an organization in which those with RVs can travel in US and Canada helping churches, camps, orphanages, Christian schools and other ministries, with whatever they need. This was for the future, we thought, as I wasn't quite ready to retire just yet. 

Baby B's maiden "voyage" was  couple of weeks after this, as we camped with some fellow teachers at Gull Lake, during a highway clean-up weekend. Terry wondered what on earth we had gotten ourselves into as the snowflakes whirled around us. 
"It's May, after all!" he thought.
 It's a good thing we experienced this practice run, though, as the trailer battery died (this was before Terry used two batteries for the trailer) and the furnace stopped in the middle of the night. The weekend told us we didn't like camping in the cold.

Our first SOWER experience with Baby B. took place at Stillwood Camp and Conference Centre near Cultus Lake, B.C., in July, 2010. On the whole it was a positive experience, and we enjoyed living in our cute little trailer for three weeks.

Fall 2011-setting off for Arizona

Our first fall-winter SOWER stint began in the fall of 2011, at Gospel Rescue Mission, in Tucson, AZ.
After Christmas, we travelled to Texas, Alabama, and all the way to the Florida Keys. Baby B did well. That season was the first of nine seasons of SOWER projects, mostly in California and Arizona.
Baby B also accompanied us to five two-week sessions at Gleaners in the Okanagan, as well as a few summer camping trips.

After we cleaned up the mess in Baby B. after the accident [see previous post], and had to leave her for the last time, I threw my arms around Terry, and cried. 

Here's our last view of Baby B. looking back in our rear view mirror, where we left her to her fate, one dull, grey day in March, 2020.





Later, we found out that indeed, Baby B. had died. She had sustained too much damage, and the trailer was written off.

All that's left are wonderful memories. 
Thank you, Lord, for the ten years we had together. 

We're awaiting the next part of God's plan.
I wonder what the future holds. 
We don't know the future, but we know the One who holds the future. 

We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. Proverbs 16:19 (NLT)

Laughter is the Best Medicine

Here we are, from this...

 

to this.

Our mandatory self-isolation began the other day, after we crossed the US-Canada border and the guard read aloud the conditions of self-isolation.

“Do you understand?” he solemnly intoned.

“Yes,” we replied, not daring to ask any questions. Basically, we knew what to do. Don't stop anywhere to get groceries, go straight home. We did have to gas up once, to get home, and prove to the insurance company the exact date of our entry back into Canada. Since we were coming home a month early, we needed a receipt to get a refund on our travellers' insurance. A month early means it is not spring here in Alberta.

Except for the geese flying overhead, not quite sure where to land. And the robin pair we saw as we walked down the deserted country road. Tiny pussy willows were trying to burst out. Those are the real signs of spring, right?

It's snowing lightly right now. What else can you expect for March, in Alberta?

We're warm and cozy, though, in a rural farmhouse that's not our own. We're mostly set for food, having brought all of our fridge, freezer, and pantry contents from poor Baby B (the trailer). We're eating well,just like at home.

Our children promised to bring whatever we need.

Nick's visit was the highlight of Day #3. He brought our winter boots, and an exciting cardboard carton.

We knew what was in it, but he didn't.

“OK, Terry get your phone ready,” I said, as we visited with our son, leaning out of his van from a safe distance.

Terry snapped a picture of me holding up a book from the box of ten books.

It's a book from the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. So what is the significance?

A story of mine is published in it!

Actually, it has Terry's name attached to it. Since the story had to be told from his point of view, his name appears as the author.

Laughter is the Best Medicine is for sale through Amazon, and in stores, as of April 14, 2020.

Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land. Proverbs 25:25

Quinoa, Paprika, and Soup Stock

Have you ever seen quinoa, paprika and soup stock stuck to a screened window?  Wish I had taken a picture. But let me start at the beginning.

Our trip back to Canada proceeded without incident for the first two, long 12-hour days.

On the third morning, what a surprise to see fresh snow outside our spot at Walmart in Helena, MT! Oh, I forgot, we're no longer Down South.
We set out anyway, at 6:00 am, driving very carefully over the mountains, northward bound. On a couple of occasions, Terry used 4 wheel drive for the slushy road. Finally, we were on a straight stretch. Daylight, and the road looked bare.

 Note skid marks!

Terry was keeping up to the traffic. All of a sudden the trailer began fish-tailing behind us. Terry calmly kept his foot off the accelerator and brakes as we swung back and forth across both lanes of the I-15, ten miles north of Great Falls. Alas, his efforts were in vain as the car finally came to a halt on the other side of the grassy median. No other vehicles were in immediate sight, and none in the oncoming lane.









      It took me a few seconds to realize the trailer was on its side!

The recovery driver detached the hitch and lowered the car.















Long story short, the next two days were filled with wading through the rubble to retrieve our possessions and packing them into the Ford Expedition, which sustained no damage whatsoever.

Praise God, we are all right as well.

The fridge hangs out of its socket in the wall by one electrical wire, visible at the top. The next day the freezer contents were still rock solid, and transferred to the fridge freezer in our motel room, along with the food supplies we had bought for our self-isolation in Canada.

The slide which holds our bed has detached from its track.
I hope that means it's a write-off!

Like the COVID-19 pandemic, how things can change in a moment.

God is the same, though, and never changes. We're just waiting to see what the future holds.
Leaving soon for Canada, hopefully crossing the border Thursday morning.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  Romans 8:28

Valentine Messages

My Valentine's preparations started early this year. I made valentines for the younger grandchildren in January, to make sure my cards would reach them before February 14. It takes about two weeks for snail mail to reach Canada from the US. I forgot to document them with my iPhone before I mailed them, though. They were cute, with super hero figures cut from some Christmas wrapping paper I'd salvaged from a tidy-up job at our January project. No one saves used wrapping paper these days except those of us who see a future use for it!

Then I sent texts to the teenagers, with photos of heart shaped rocks with a message inscribed on top.
I was pleased that my January work buddy showed me how to add text to photos. What a useful skill!
Thanks, Betsy! I love it when someone explains another feature of modern technology to me.

At our latest project at Phoenix Christian Preparatory School, the five couples who are working together went out to dinner on February 13, to beat the anticipated rush on Valentine's Day. While we were waiting for our food, I passed out tiny candy hearts with messages on them. The instructions were: "Make a sentence out of at least two of your hearts, and say it to your Sweetie." Some of us got real kisses or hugs, as per the hearts that said 'Kiss Me', or 'Hug Me.'
Some had acronyms which none of us understood, like 'GOAT'.
I thought I knew what this meant. My mum used to call me 'koza' in Czech, which is what you say to someone who is being silly. The word means 'goat', and is a term of endearment mixed with a mild rebuke. So I began my sentence to Terry:  "My dear goat..."  Everyone laughed. Strangely enough, two days later I was looking through my old notes of sermons, and one young pastor had used this expression: GOAT, and explained that it meant "Greatest Of All Time."  OK, now I know!
Did you know that YAAAS! accompanied by a fist pump is an expression of extreme excitement?
Well, now I know!
There were more, but I didn't research them before we began our game.

Some read-Be mine, Let's Hang, Laugh, Love...

Christians are to be "letters from Jesus", "written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts." II Corinthians 3:3

Meanders and Undulations

Remember the saying,"going around the mountain one more time"?  That's what today's hike felt like. We had worked our first week at Father's Heart Ranch and were hiking with the McClinticks, our partners for this project. (We had worked at Cherry Valley with them four years ago.) The morning looked promising weather wise, with a lovely sunrise.

It wasn't far to the trail head in their jeep, kind of in our neighbourhood. We looked for the start of the Kim Nicol Trail, using the map that the guys had downloaded on the apps on their phones.

The guys march on ahead

Soon a fork appeared in the road, and Bill and Betsy wanted to take the short way. Only, the short way went straight up a hill.

Bill and Betsy zoom up the hill.










"Let's take this road to the right," I said to Terry, thinking we would meet our friends on the other side of the hill.





So Terry and I take the circuitous route, and meander back and forth, carefully following the trail markers. There was always one more curve to go around, and always those undulating hills, up and down, although not as steep as the first one.
No sign of our friends, though.
Finally they call, and with relief, we meet, kind of in the middle.

Terry walks slightly behind me, to make sure I stay on the trail. The sand is hard to walk in, and I concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other.
There was not much to see anyway, only scruffy low creosote bushes.
I think that's the same mountain in the background that we see from our campsite!

I like going downhill much better. At times Terry held my hand, and I felt more secure. Like holding the hand of my heavenly Father, I thought, so I can stay on the "straight and narrow." It was warm enough to shed my hoodie, and a breeze made the sun bearable.

Three hours later, we were back at the jeep, and congratulated ourselves on having made it. I wouldn't say I actually enjoyed the hike, but I was glad to have walked 8.6 km (5.3 miles).

Benedictus- Blessings for 2020

I'm starting the new year with declaring my blessings as I blog again, from Desert Hot Springs this time, our January 2020 destination. The Father's Heart Ranch is a home for abused and neglected boys. Here is a view of our back yard, with the low hills defined by morning shadows. The creosote bush in the foreground eventually held Terry's hummingbird feeder, and we have been blessed with regular visits from one male Costa's Hummingbird.

It has been pleasantly warm, with temperatures in the low twenties, Celsius, or low seventies, Fahrenheit

 We had left Las Vegas the day before, about six hours away. When Terry pushed in the rear slide,                                                                   and was dismantling the support arm for it, he noticed that the

clip that held the arm in place was completely broken in half. We could have fallen on our heads, in bed!

The clip on the right is the broken one, while the left one was cracked, heading for a potential break.
From Desert Hot Springs Terry phoned an RV place, but it was too late in the day to make it there before it closed.
John, the maintenance man introduced himself to us, and mentioned a place about a mile down the road. I vaguely remembered this place from the last time we visited the Coachella Valley four years ago. It looked like the kind of store along a country road that would stock a wide variety of interesting parts, but surely not what we needed.
We just about went by it, so nondescript was its appearance.
"That was it!"  I called out.
"Oh, I thought it was just advertising for it."  says Terry.
I stayed in the car, thinking it was just another junky parts store.
A few minutes later Terry came out with two brand new clips in his hand!

Here are the new clips, installed in a jiffy.
The slide rolls out, manually, on two tracks, Terry pulling on it from the outside, while I push from inside for good measure.
We were so relieved that we didn't have to spend another night with the slide in, effectively denying us the use of our  seating and table space.
Isn't God good?






Isaiah 65:24 says
I will answer them before they even call to me.
While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers! [NLT]

What I didn't know was that Terry had already prayed about this problem. Then he said, "Thank you, Lord!"