Category: Nature (Page 6 of 7)

Happy Earth Day!

April 22, 2020 / kristen / 2 Comments

Today is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. I wish we didn’t have to have a day that reminded people that we need to care for the earth. I wish it was just what we did because it was the right thing to do!! We chose the name Wren for our amazing kid because we wanted her to know that she can play a special role in caring for God’s creation! We wanted to acknowledge that God loves wrens of all kinds and that caring for creation was a way to love our neighbors (human and non-human). Right after she was born, her Nonnie was holding her and singing about the birds in our yard…and the song, Wren’s Song, came to be.

The hymn of comfort is our Wren, playing Wren’s Song with her Nonnie (on piano) 11 years later! The text to the song will follow the video.

Wren’s Song by Anna Laura Page

I see a bird up in the tree, I know it’s singing a song for me. Tweedle-deedle-dee, high up in the tree, thank you God for making birds to see! Tweedle-deedle-dee, high up in the tree, thank you God for loving me!

I see the lilies of the field, soft and white and my heart is filled. Joy and Peace, never cease. Thank you God for making flowers to see. Joy and Peace, never cease. Thank you God for loving me!

Tweedle-deedle-dee. High up in the tree. Thank you God for making birds to see. Joy and Peace, never cease. Thank you God for loving me!

How Great!!

April 21, 2020 / kristen / 1 Comment

The hymn of comfort tonight is How Great Thou Art. We love how the words of this hymn describes the majesty of God! Seemed fitting for Earth Week

How Great Thou Art

We also have some GREAT news!!! The GREAT horned owlet is fine! We saw it tonight (and mamma owl). I underestimated the age of the owl, and so I was worried when it wasn’t in the nest. I’m thinking this owlet must be around 4-5 weeks. It’s starting to get some of its adult feathers, and is moving away from the nest. The mom owl is still around keeping a close watch!!! Just so you know, I have a long lens on my camera, and It try to keep a good distance from the owls. We don’t walk between the mom and the baby either!

Mother Owl
I can only tell this is the female, because it is the owl that was on the nest – male and female Great Horned Owls are slightly different sizes, but otherwise not very different.

You can see the feathers replacing the fluff!

There were other beautiful things to see tonight!!

Red-winged blackbird (and the leaves on the willow are also gorgeous)

How Firm a Foundation

April 20, 2020 / kristen / 1 Comment

This is Earth Week! Wednesday is the 50th anniversary of Earth Week, and so we want to spend the week highlighting God’s amazing creation! One of the most spectacular things I’ve been able to show Wren was the Milky Way. When we were in Utah last summer, we went out into Canyonlands National Park (one of the darkest skies in the US) to watch the sunset and the stars emerge.

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! Psalm 8:3-9

What an awesome blessing that we have been asked to care for this amazing creation! Earth Week is a great time to think about how we are living out this call! This Earth Week is giving us a unique opportunity. We are all being forced to live more simply and more slowly. Scientists are already noticing changes – carbon emissions are down, light pollution is decreased, air quality is increased…and I’m sure there are other less-obvious benefits. Things we haven’t thought to measure yet. I know scientists are measuring changes in the soundscape, and I’ve noticed slight changes in animal behavior! Living out this “shelter-at-home” lifestyle might just help us see the ways we can change our impacts on creation through our consumption of resources! Creation will benefit if we see how we can maintain these changes.

Wren’s hymn of comfort tonight is How Firm a Foundation. We were thinking about the stars today before she recorded, so you might hear a little Twinkle sneak it’s way into what she played…

How Firm a Foundation / Twinkle

I’ll Fly Away

April 19, 2020 / kristen / 1 Comment

Whenever Wren plays her cello, the birds flock to the tree just outside our window. This Robin flies in so fast, we sometimes think it will fly right into the room!

We thought that this old tune was a good one, considering all of the birds we have watched this weekend! I’ll Fly Away is a gospel song written in 1929 by Albert Brumley. Supposedly, it’s one of the most commonly recorded gospel tunes out there. I know I grew up with it, and even played it in high school marching band!

I’ll Fly Away

another shot of the red-bellied woodpecker

We also wanted anyone who’s been following to know that when we went out to check on the owls last night, the mamma owl was there, but in a different place and the baby owl was gone (daddy was gone too). I went again this morning hoping that the baby was just hiding last night. Sadly, the baby wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Since it takes 5 weeks to fledge, we are pretty sure that the owlet was predated. Predators of owls include raccoons, hawks and other owls. We are hopeful that the parent owls will try again, and we are so very thankful for the tremendous blessing it was to know this owl family for a few weeks!

Sunsets…

April 18, 2020 / kristen / 1 Comment

One of our new favorite traditions is a sunset walk. Wow! Tonight was fabulous….

…of course, here is a hymn of comfort from tonight!

What a Beautiful Earth!

April 15, 2020 / kristen / 2 Comments

I have been very blessed to see so much of this amazing earth. It is overwhelmingly beautiful, and I’ve loved introducing Wren and Rick to the many amazing places and creatures. Two summers ago we went on a long camping trip though many of the National Parks. Because Wren always has her cello with her, and we try to practice (or at least play) every day, we began a(n) (accidental) tradition of making music in some of the most beautiful places. I’ve included some photos below of the places and the “concerts”. We are so thankful that we have a safe home, and that we can make beautiful music while we are “sheltering”, but we are also longing to be back among the many beautiful places of this earth!

For the Beauty of the Earth

Sleeping Bear Dunes – it was raining, so played inside the lighthouse

Mississippi River – border of Wisconsin and Minnesota

Devils Tower National Monument – Wyoming

Yellowstone National Park – Montana (this entrance)

Theodore Roosevelt National Park – North Dakota

Joyful!

April 14, 2020 / kristen / 1 Comment

I found some little things today that made me joyful!

Ode to Joy

Northern Flicker – two because it posed so nicely!

Easter!

April 12, 2020 / kristen / 1 Comment

Happy Easter!! He is Risen!!!

Today has been a wonderful day of exploring and discovering so many amazing things!! We started the day visiting our favorite Owls – and we were so happy to meet the newest member of their family!!

Momma (pictured) and Daddy owls were close by and we tried to keep our distance and stay pretty quiet.

Look! All creation joins in Hallelujahs!

Waiting…

April 11, 2020 / kristen / 2 Comments

Today we anticipate Easter! This “hymn of comfort” is not a hymn, but we thought that the beautiful melody prepared us for the joy that will come in the morning! This is Sicilienne by Maria Theresia von Paradis (1759-1824).