Cardinals

The Angel Oak Tree

One of the attractions in Charleston, South Carolina is an old, oak tree named the Angel Oak Tree. I’m not sure how it got its name…maybe because of its huge canopy of overarching branches offering protection. It is a Southern live oak, which is different than your “ordinary oak” tree.

Photo of a promotional video from the breakfast room.

“The Southern live oak (Quercus virginiana), also known simply as the live oak, gets its name from the fact that, unlike other oaks, it doesn’t lose its leaves in the autumn. Live oaks are native to the Southeastern coast of the United States.”*

The massive trunk of the Angel Oak tree.

We like trees and decided to drive the extra miles out of town, to visit this majestic tree. It did not disappoint. Surprisingly, it is down a rutty, dirt road.

Warning signs were posted many places along the chainlink fence surrounding the tree.

We knew we had arrived when we saw a high, chainlink fence outlining the circumference of the tree, with signs saying this property is protected and patrolled. We noticed the surveillance cameras too. The area is free and open to the public during the day, but closed and gated at night.

This is all good. We contrasted this to the Sycamore Gap tree next to Hadrian’s Wall where we hiked last fall, in England. That sycamore tree stood tall and majestic also, and was 200-300 years old, standing alone in the gap, for anyone to enjoy. A national treasure, for Great Britian. Unfortunately, two weeks after we sat under that beautiful Sycamore tree, vandals came and cut it down! Hopefully that will not happen to the Angel Oak Tree in South Carolina.

Looking out from the trunk at this branch on the ground.

The Angel Oak tree is a national treasure. It is 300-400 years old…some estimate even older. They say the tree is 65 feet high with a trunk circumference of 25.5 feet, shading an area of 17,000 square feet. Of course, I couldn’t capture the whole tree in one photo…but I did take several photos.

The beautiful red cardinal singing for us.

The Angel Oak tree was worth the extra effort to find. A cardinal serenaded us from a different tree, but he added extra joy to our experience. A new baby tree has been sprouted from an acorn from the Angel Oak tree. It is three years old and grows in a pot next to the trunk, under the protecting branches of its mama.

This Baby Angel was planted in 2018 from an acorn fallen from the Angel Oak Tree.

Think of all this tree has lived through. Ah, the stories it could tell.

*Wikipedia

Red Feather

Tiny red feather
Stood out among the birdseed...
A love gift for me?

I’m going with the idea it was left behind as a love token for me. 😉

Below is a poem and a haiku I wrote for an assignment in my writing group. The cardinal is my favorite visitor to our yard, but I love to see them anywhere!

Take Flight 
 
The cardinal flies past the window and I know it’s melodious sound. 
For me, it is a love song, letting me know I am loved. 
His bright red color is like red lips kissing, touching the heart
And every time I see it I adore it more.
Through him God says, I see you, I know who you are and you are loved.
It reminds me what is important…family, faith, friends.
The fly-by is like a messenger delivering many thoughts saying
I am free, you can be free, take flight, be the adventurous person you are.
But then I sit back, a little anxious that I am being silly...
And writing this poem is like forbidden fruit and not worth anything.

Another assignment was a writing exercise and I ended up with three words: travel, fly and cardinal. I needed to use those three words to write a haiku.

Traveling by wings
A cardinal can bring much joy-
A bright red fly-by.

Summer Solstice

Today, June 20, is the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere. Let’s celebrate the beginning of summer. Here are a couple of prayers/readings I hope you enjoy.

Outside my window…freshly washed window!

**Creator God
who breathed this world into being,
who is discernible within 
the harmony of nature, 
the perfection of a butterfly's wing,
the grandeur of a mountain range,
the soaring eagle and hummingbird,
thank you for this world
which you have created.
Thank you for summer sun,
which reminds us 
that your creative breath 
is still alive and active. 
Thank you for the warmth of your love, 
sustaining this world...

your garden

+++++++

{Creator God}
**Your creation
Rolled into a sphere
Packaged in sunshine
Gift-wrapped in love
Given to us
Thank you

**Found on: http://www.faithandworship.com/Prayers_Summer.htm

***For the first showings of the morning light
and the emerging outline of the day
thanks be to you, O God.
For the earth’s colors to be drawn forth by the sun
its brilliance piercing clouds of darkness
and shimmering through leaves and flowing waters
thanks be to you,
Show to me this day
amidst life’s dark streaks of wrong and suffering
the light that endures in every person.
Dispel the confusions that cling close to my soul
that I may see with eyes washed by your grace
that I may see myself and all people
with eyes cleansed by the freshness of the new day’s light.
                     ***Celtic Benediction by J. Philip Newell

A Visitor

This little guy greeted us the other day when we drove into our garage. We watched him make his way to the opened garage door and fly away. I’m sure he was anxiously waiting for us to come home.

Happy New Year

Best wishes for a blessed new year in 2020!

Cardinals and Other Birds

One of the sure signs of spring is opening the door and hearing the beautiful chorus of birds singing. It is truly an wonderful sound. And these days I’m excited to see cardinals back in our yard. Over the winter the birds that normally dined at our feeders had to go elsewhere to find food.

A cardinal at the feeder with safflower seeds, before the squirrels took over.

We use safflowers seeds in the bird feeder that hangs on a pole near trees in our yard. We spend a little more money to buy nutritious, white seeds for our feeder because squirrels do not like them, so the squirrels do not disturb the various birds that come to the feeder. This plan worked for many, many years.

But, for some reason, several squirrels relocated to our yard this year and built large nests in our trees near the feeder. I’m not sure why, but this year the squirrels acquired a taste for the safflower seeds and they were attacking our birdfeeder and scaring the birds away and devouring all the safflower seeds. So much so that I stopped filling the feeder. It was hard for me to stop filling the feeder, but the seed is fairly expensive and I didn’t want to use it to feed the squirrels.

We have another feeder that is suctioned to our sunroom window and we fill it with black sunflower seeds. The squirrels cannot not get to that feeder but it fell down during the frigid, freezing temperature spell this winter so we tucked it away in the garage.

A cardinal at our window feeder, with black sunflower seeds.

With no seeds in the pole feeder and no seeds in the window feeder this winter, few birds came to our yard and we missed them.

I have now re-attached the window feeder and filled it with black sunflower seeds. We put a small amount of safflower seeds in the pole feeder. So far the squirrels have stayed away…hopefully they are retrieving all the nuts they buried last fall and will leave the birds and our bird feeder alone.

A cardinal outside our window in the leafless maple tree.

I’m thrilled to see all the birds, especially the cardinals, back in our yard. I’m glad they remembered we offer food here at this location and they returned to give us another try.

For Zoey

Zoey, our 4-year-old granddaughter, is moving from Africa to the USA soon, with her family. Her mom says she is excited to see snow in Minnesota. Here are a few photos from our recent snowstorm…for Zoey… and Ezra, her 2 1/2-year-old brother. We cannot wait to see you!

I’m always taking pictures of the cardinals in our yard.

The red cardinal on a fresh layer of snow.

The snow covered trees in our front yard.

Snow-covered evergreen boughs out on our deck.

Looking out at the snow from our kitchen window, through a green-glass star.

I have a fun story about an African snowman. Our daughter-in-love is a native of Mozambique, and we knew she had never experienced snow but was curious about snow. Before we left Minnesota, on one visit to Mozambique, I dug through my Christmas boxes and found a packet of “Real Fake Snow” (when water is added to this white powder an instant reaction is a white-snow like mixture). I tucked the packet into my suitcase. One evening, after a very hot day in Mozambique, we opened the packet and mixed up the “real fake snow”. It was fun to watch a snowman being built, in Africa!

Our son looking on with joy as his wife makes her first snowman.

Love-call

One of the few bird calls I recognize is the cardinal’s. I often hear their song outside my window during the summer. It is unique and I love it. Cardinals are a favorite of mine.

Last week I was up in northern Minnesota at a friend’s cabin on Daggett Lake and I heard the loons calling …another recognizable bird call I love to hear. Loons are a favorite too.

I thought about how we don’t hear the loons in town or cities and how wonderful it was to hear their song again, along with the flapping of their wings as they take off across the lake. It’s almost a guaranteed sound when you are up north.

Even though it might be great to hear the loon call all year ’round I am grateful to hear the beautiful cardinal’s song in the city and the unique song of the loon up in the North Country.

I was thinking these thoughts as I enjoyed sitting on the dock (a morning ritual) taking in the beauty of the lake and quietly listening to the sounds when I picked up my daily devotional book and read these words:

“As you listen to birds calling to one another, hear also my Love-call to you.”*

Whoa…how timely… and what a personal God we have!

*Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

First Snowfall of the Season

Piling high on our deck and still coming down.

A Place Inside Me

There is a place inside that needs white –

Seeing the first snowfall draws a quick breath of content.

There is a place inside that needs brown –

Smelling the aroma of fresh ground coffee brewing.

There is a place inside that needs golden yellow –

Feeling the warmth of a fire on this cool morning.

There is a place inside that needs green –

The beauty of an evergreen tree standing tall.

There is a place inside that needs God –

To bring it all together in peace.

There is a place inside that needs movement

Rocking in a rocker moving closer to God in prayer. (11/02)

And a hint of red from the cardinal is an added bonus!