Photography, Alaska, Creation, Nature, Wildlife, Landscapes, Inspiration, God, Art, Beauty, Great Smoky Mountains
Temps reached into the 40s as Mother Nature granted a brief reprieve from winter’s arrival. Snow melt transformed to translucent droplets exhuming a colorful re-birth of leaves carpeting the forest floor . . . reminiscent of the tears Jesus shed to offer all who claim Him as their own a glorious, forever rebirth.
“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” – 1 Corinthians 15:55
On Fish Lake, in the shadow of Castle Mountain, last June a Trumpeter Swan pair hatched three downy white signets. They’ve since grown into feathered gray versions, a third the size of their large, stately parents . . . the serene beauty of Nature.
Sadly, one of the signets has now gone missing. At 4 AM the other morning a neighbor heard the Trumpeters making a ruckus. The suspected assassin is another one of Mother Nature’s local feral menagerie, a great horned owl . . . the cruel barbarity of Nature.
Of the remaining two signets, one appears slightly larger. Hopefully both will survive for the flight south with their parents before freeze-up.
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Keep Looking Up . . . His best is yet to come!
Spent part of the afternoon canoeing Fish Lake visiting a family with a new set of triplets; watching a guy in tuxedo attire putting on a display trying to impress an equally well-dressed gal; and, back on shore, listening to a mother calling her kids from a high-rise . . . ???
In Jungle Book Mogli lingo that translates into three Trumpeter Swan signets hatching out; a male loon strutting his stuff for his girlfriend; and a mother spruce grouse perched in a tree calling her scattered clutch back together 😊
Here’s a few pics of what mine was to savor watching His feathered creatures loving living life in the Last Frontier.
I M Blessed . . . May U B 2
Keep Looking Up . . . His best is yet to come!
A spruce hen and her chick perched safely above me . . . fresh imprints revealing a predator/prey pursuit . . . last fall’s bull moose antler scrapes . . . each a page in Mother Nature’s cycle of life that graced today’s wilderness wanderings.
“For every creature of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills“. – Psalm 50:10
Keep Looking Up . . . His best is yet to come!
Last Frontier’s wildlife portrays Mother Nature’s calm and chaos . . . strength and stamina . . . beauty and barbarity. The cow moose scars are mostly likely from a foiled grizzly attack.
“All creatures great and small. The Lord God made them all”. – James Herriot
Keep Looking Up . . . His best is yet to come!
Otra dia, otra adventura is a Spanish adage that translates . . . another day, another adventure . . . every day exploring Creation is.
Got in one last Great Smoky Mountains wander today before jumping on the jet to the Last Frontier tomorrow. As always a new adventure awaited, two colorful blooms not yet seen this Spring . . . a kind of farewell mini-bouquet from Mother Nature.
“But I tell you that not even King Solomon with all his wealth had clothes as beautiful as one of these flowers“.
Matthew 6:29
Lord willing, my next hike will be roaming the Greatland’s vast forests and magnificent, snow-capped mountain cathedrals . . . stay tuned.
I M Blessed . . . May U B 2
Creation treated me to two small wonders on today’s woods wander.
One, a ‘tree’ delicately inscribed on a fallen leaf.
The other, lighter than cotton; weigh for weight 5 times stronger than steel; 1,000 times thinner than a human hair; capable of stretching 4 times its length; consisting of 100% sticky protein, it’s manufactured by one of creation’s smallest creatures into intricate designs to capture food . . . spider silk.
With no blueprint to follow, I watched fascinated as the tiny spider arduously spun its exquisite, geometric web . . . a web of beauty to me . . . a web of death to an unsuspecting insect.
Two small wonders . . . both testifying to an Omnipotent Creator . . . or random evolution? I grieve if you choose the latter. +
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Keep Looking Up . . . His best is yet to come!
Young is synonymous with cute.
Here’s a Ripley’s Believe It Or Not . . . I was once considered cute! . . . back when still in diapers and dinosaurs roamed the earth 😊.
Here’s a cutie that came floating down the creek today I scooped up in my hand . . . wouldn’t suggest trying that when he leaves his diapers stage 😊.
After musing that with his lifespan of 70 years I’ve already exceeded that by nearly a decade, I began to feel really, really old and returned him to Mother Nature’s care. +
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Keep Looking Up . . . His best is yet to come!
Abba's Art 