Beware of Gifts

(I wrote this during winter, haven’t shared it til now)

Danger lurks around us every second of the day. When I throw out bird seed to a bunch of sparrows, they just have a marvelous time, but they also have to keep an eye out for the neighborhood cats. I worried that I was setting them up for suffering, instead of giving them a nice, unlooked for gift. Then yesterday, I noticed the birds were gone, except for three, very still, not moving in the snow, looking like smudges. I thought, Uh oh. Then, a huge, beautifully colored, hawk-like bird floated by, low, a bit further up the field, and I understood. It was like watching the Lord of the Rings with the Ringwraiths on their flying dragons.

So, I thought, Should I continue giving the birds my gift? The gift could mean death if they are not paying attention. Then I thought, all gifts, all things in this life, have the element of mortal danger attached to them. Too much food, not enough—danger of obesity or other food related problems vs. starvation and thievery. Too much money, not enough—danger of greed and arrogance vs. poverty. Everything needs to be accepted with eyes wide open to the danger within us or to the danger of predators around us. So, I will still give the birds my free meals, because anything good, even with danger attached, is still good and happily appreciated. I love gifts and a helping hand, too. I mean, even a hungry hawk would appreciate a helping hand now and then, don’t you think?

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Dove in a Bad Mood

(This happened this morning under the bird feeder outside)

A girl has to look out for herself now and then

Hard winter freezing to death

Now the husband wants to get flirty

She’s hungry, had enough

Peck, jab, peck, attack

He runs for shelter

She returns to calmly eat like doves do

Then repeats the protection sequence through the day

Knowing that soon, she’ll need to start another family, but

A girl has to look out for her own self now and then

Different Feathers

(I have a new parakeet,, a young one…)

Buzzard Brain gazed around, cocking his head at my

shirt and earrings. He hadn’t seen these colors before

on me, so I had to explain. “Buzzy, I’m a different

kind of parakeet from you. My feathers molt often,

coming back in different colors and textures, whereas

your feathers stay the same, even after you do molt they

come back the same colors in the same places. You are

like someone who has to wear a special work uniform.

We can still flock together, though, we just have variety.”

Photo 349

April 2016, continuing:

Photo 341

Here’s another shot from the kitchen window, back in April of this year, snow on the ground, and this beautiful, small woodpecker came out every day for a food visit.  I also love this passage from Romans 7 and the answer to the question…”I thank God, for Jesus Christ our Lord…”