“A pond without dragonflies darting above it or without the exquisitely iridescent damsel flies clinging to the leaves of its border would be a lonely place indeed.” (this and all following nature quotes are by Anna Comstock)

Dragonflies are common at our place as we have two ponds and a stream.  It is always a pleasure to stand on the road and lean over the guardrail to peer into the water of the stream and watch the bright green bodied damsel flies, or to walk along the edge of the lawn where the tall grasses grow and observe the various dragonflies fluttering.  And it is always a feeling of accomplishment if I can get close enough to one with my camera and snap a clear photo.

“The grasshopper has some means of defense as well as of escape; it can give a painful nip with its mandibles; and when seized, it emits copiously from the mouth a brownish liquid which is acrid and ill smelling.  This performance interests children who are won’t to seize the insect by its jumping legs and hold it up, commanding it to ‘chew tobacco'”.  

What delightful and beautiful insects grasshoppers are!   Watching them jump is highly amusing, their back legs are like springs.

When I look at this photo of a grasshopper, I am struck by an urge to try to draw it.

This was an exciting surprise.  I was hunting the trees along the edge of the field for birds and my only thought was determination to take a pretty BIRD photo in the evening light.  And what do I see?  A tiny, chubby chipmunk way up high, frozen in fear as I photographed it.  Look at those tiny ears.

“The lay of the bullfrog, which like the song of some noted opera singers, is more wonderful than musical; the boom of the bullfrog makes the earth fairly quake.”

Even the bullfrog is lovely with it’s green and brown skin and gorgeous round & golden eyes shinier and prettier than any marble.  You can see the sky reflected within it’s black iris.  The round circle to the right of the eye is the ear.  My sons love to catch bullfrogs and consider them friends of the pond.

Notice anything special about this chicken?

The hydrangeas are continuing to dazzle.

Another surprise!  Just one week after seeing a baby chipmunk in a tree, I was sitting on the porch talking to my husband when my eyes landed on this one, way up high in the bush by our porch.

“While the chipmunk is a good runner and jumper, it is not so able a climber as is the red squirrel, and it naturally stays nearer the ground……a second glance showed me that it was a chipmunk lying close to the branch, hanging on for ‘dear life’ and with an attitude of extreme caution…”

So what was this chipmunk doing up in a bush?  I believe the answer was this:

Kitty on the porch probably chased it up there.  And after giving up on the chipmunk ever coming down, went back to his cozy seat on the porch to take a bath.

A chipmunk observer.

The children played a game of catch over by the chicken coop.

 

 

 

 

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I had many real and imagined worries about the children and their future and by the end of the day yesterday I gathered my journal and my Bible to me like a lifeline…knowing that I needed most of all to saturate my mind with the truth of God, that He is in control of all things and that I can trust Him with my (His) children whom I love so much that I never want to let go of them or these days.

How Does God Comfort us?

Through His very nature, He is faithful.  “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.”

Through His Word.  “I delight in your word every day.”

Through Prayer.  “Morning, noon and night I complain to you, Lord, and you always listen to me.  I rise before dawn and cry for help.”

Through His Holy Spirit.  “If we live by the Spirit, let us walk by the Spirit.”

Through others.  “Let us stir up each other to love and to good works.”

“I believe, Lord, that as I seek you I find you.  You will always show me the way that is good for my life,  You will lead me along the right way and I know that you always love me.  You pour your love into my heart so that I praise you because of your faithfulness; my innermost being says ‘thank you.’ Through the cross of Christ I have been brought back to you:  how I praise you!  Through the cross my life is transformed.  For Jesus Christ’s resurrection and for my new life I praise you.”

From a little booklet published in 1985 by Gospel Light Publications, “Enjoying God who Comforts”