The juncos

There is a Nor'easter bearing down on the East Coast on this post-Christmas Monday. Brrrr... is the sentiment of many warm blooded people. I am loving the cold turn of events, since my upstate New York blood thrives in the white stuff. There is white blowing snow and winds whipping around, causing my 3 wind chimes to dance with delight!

The storm began last evening and I admit to being a bit concerned as I did have a couple of kids unaccounted for, and one threatening an ER visit. Thankfully, I was pretty sure my NEW heating system would be carrying me through this storm warmly :-) !

I tromped out to the back porch and saw the cutest little junco eating daintily the seeds I'd placed out earlier in the day. I knew he would be hungry, so threw another handful of seeds and decided to wait until morning for more.

Sure enough, at morning light there were several juncos feeding, some scratching through the snow to get their grub for the day, desperately moving aside the obstacles in their way.

In the living room, my reliable guard dog, Perfect, was relaxing from dog duty and guarding the tree. Occasionally she lifts her head and looks around, but sleeping is the mode of the moment. I am frankly not at all sure she would even wake up if a burglar entered in the front door, so being safe needs to depend on other things.

As my morning goes, I made coffee, of course, and looked off and on to the back porch where the little juncos happily fed.







 It didn't surprise me at all to see another friend had joined the meal, a squirrel who seemed oblivious to me at the window or the juncos batting at the snow all around him.

Well, suddenly, I noticed there were NO juncos, none! Not a sparrow in sight, not a movement of anyone in the trees waiting their turn at the table of good fortune. Where were the birds?

As an aside, I am a believer in watching nature for clues to life around us, knowing that God made a great natural system and paying attention is key in the wild . (I also watch Animal Planet avidly , what does that tell you?:-) )

Got my coffee, settled in for a nice cozy reading session, but thought to myself that maybe I could find a cardinal to photograph, so headed for the kitchen to peek out at the back porch.

Hear my scream? See my dash to get the camera? Notice how SMART my juncos were? Feel sorry for Mr. Squirrel? Observe that dog Perfect lay silently throughout this potential life threatening attack from a predator bigger than most even imagine?

Aric jumped up and scared her(or him) away, fortunately not before I snagged my proof. He disputes this turn of events, but hey, where are more pictures?

In less than 5 minutes I looked again at the porch, and there everyone was, eating merrily, so I knew the search for a hawk was pointless, he had gone on to better feeding grounds.

Well, that was my morning excitement.

There is a moral to my story, as usual, just ask my kids.

I am sometimes like a junco, busily feeding on all that life has to offer,  knowing that these are blessings from a kind and generous God Who loves me.

I need to be alert, to pay attention to what is happening around me. Sometimes just sitting and watching me there is an Enemy as large as that hawk, ready to settle in and surprise me . I want to be aware of his presence and leave the aimless eating mode when he is around. I want to be far from his talons. Unlike my dog named Perfect, there is One Who is Perfect, and He is watching, ever alert and ever able to guard me with no trouble, because He loves me. His name is Jesus.

Merry Christmas. I love Jesus. I love my birds.