My Amish Home | Nature can be so complex and interesting (2024)

“For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, and God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in this place again, if they shall enter into my rest. Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, today after so long a time; as it is said, today if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. ” Hebrews 4:4,5,6,7

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

Good morning to all of you out there on this beautiful sunny morning. It will probably get quite warm today, but really, who cares? Not me, for sure. But then, I guess, I don’t have to labor out in the heat. But even if I did, I wouldn’t care.

I really wish I could work outside in the sun, but I’m still on restrictions. My repair work on the inside must heal. And I certainly don’t want to undo it. So, please don’t think me lazy, I would love to do my own work. But, yes, I have to give things time to heal.

The other week, I wrote about a mockingbird. It must have not liked our accommodations. It left after a few days. I miss it. And the Eastern kingbirds also just stayed a few days. I wonder why that is. We used to have quite a few meadow larks, but the last few years, we barely saw or heard any.

I guess if we had a place like sis Barb does, we’d have a lot of birds to watch. They have many different kinds. But, also, occasionally, some undesireables. For a short time, they had about 20 or so buzzards roosting in a tree close to the patio. They made huge messes, plus they were breaking down the branches. So Elmer fixed some lights, I think they were dusk-to-dawn lights. They got the message. I guess they didn’t want their bedroom lit up.

Now, they have cicadas, three different kinds. And all three kinds have a different tune. I forgot what two kinds sound like, but the one sounds like an electric motor. When she was telling me about these critters, I thought about what I saw in church Sunday.

We had our service in a tent and, sorry to say, my attention wandered to these two blades of grass. It was under the chair in front of me. I saw these two blades of grass moving. Just two, nothing else moved. It really got my attention, I’m ashamed to say. Then I saw what looked like something orange just barely moving, but I couldn’t really see. I really wanted to squat down and look closely, but, well, adults don’t do that in time of church. So, I decided, after the services, when everyone is milling around and distracted, I can check it out. But wouldn’t you know it, I forgot!

When I told Barb, she said it was probably a cicada emerging, as they come out of the ground and are kind of orange. Then they lose their color and are white with red eyes. At some point, I think they change color again and get a shell. They then shed this shell and fly. They have to be constantly sweeping their patio because of all the shells.

Nature is so complex and interesting.

Now that Rachel is being Erwin’s taxi, she sometimes has her grandchildren Jamin and Janae along. Which she did last week one day. I always go out and prop open the door for Erwin so he can go in. When Rachel pulled up to the door and stopped, little 2-year-old Janae hopped off the buggy and took off inside. I could see the little miss was on a mission. Yes, she came out with her favorite, a little 4-inch doll. She carries that around whenever she is here. She took it along up to Rachel’s house. She will leave it there when she goes home. Then Rachel has to “baby-sit” this dolly. Rachel will bring it back, claiming it is too fussy!

In closing — ever notice, as soon as you make your mark in the world, someone comes along with an eraser.