The Birds

We feel a little like we are in the Alfred Hitchcock movie "The Birds" in our house these days. We have a male cardinal that is attacking our windows. He starts at daylight, and keeps it up on and off all day long. He attacks windows all around the house as the light changes the reflections he sees. He will sit in a nearby tree or bush, see his reflection, then fly at it and thump the window with beak and feet. Over and over and over. Sometimes, he even hovers in front of a window similar to a hummingbird - its amazing to watch! It gets a little annoying, and you never know where the attack will come from.
He is just defending his territory. Experts say he could keep this up until the pair's young leave the nest. Unfortunately, they are just entering the mating season, so it could be a long spring! But, they are beautiful birds and fun to watch.


For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

Lightning

Last night we drove west to Burlington, IA on an annual outing to meet relatives for supper. We ate at Gator's, a restaurant with good food, which has a live alligator in a tank in the lobby. We got home around 11:00, and shortly thereafter we were startled by a crash of lightning very close by. It was an isolated strike that wasn't accompanied by any thunder preceding it or after it. We finally got to bed around midnight. At 6:00 in the morning when I went out to get the paper in, I noticed a fire across the road in our neighbor's front yard. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that the lightning had struck a tall, living pine tree, blew a section about 12 feet high out of it, and the tree fell against her porch and was on fire. Fortunately it rained all night ,and with the tree being green the fire was small and slow burning. She had slept through it and was surprised when I woke her up.
A mighty display of God's power!

Job 37:3 He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.

Luk 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

Mat 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Between

Between winter and spring there is a time on the farm when you can't do much, and what you do is difficult. This is when the frost is coming out of the ground. Because of the cold February, we had about 2 feet of frost in the ground in most places. It usually takes alternating rainy and warm days over several weeks to completely thaw out the ground. It usually melts from the top down. While the frost is leaving, you have a layer of mud on a layer of ice. Everywhere you drive in the driveways, yards, or lots you can create ruts down to the frost line. The roads get mushy, so the Road Commissioners post very restrictive weight limits. We can't haul grain, manure, or drive heavy equipment on the road. We need to be careful getting feed, seed, and supplies shipped in. The semi truck that picks up our hogs can't come to the farm, so we take small loads and meet him at the highway and transfer them. As you drive down the road on warm days, you can feel your car bog down on the soft spots. Sometimes the pavement breaks up and the roads get really rough.

So we wait for solid roads and fields, which we know will come when spring is truly here to stay.

Still more trip tales

Despite the poverty and primitive lifestyles of most Haitians, around the cities it seemed that most haitians had cell phones! You could be watching a lady sitting in her yard next to a thatched roof hut cooking rice over a fire, then hear an american ring-tone and watch her whip out a cell phone and say hello! They have limited electrical power and it is undependable, few land line telephones and they are undependable, so cell phones are the best way to communicate. The cell companies just have to build one tower in the middle of town, give everyone a free(outdated or used american) cellphone, and then sell prepaid phone cards to activate them. The Haitians buy minutes as they can afford them; no billing, no collections, no contracts. It couldn't be simpler for the phone companies, and the Haitians now have a way to communicate.

When you hear horns honking in the U.S., it usually is associated with road rage. Not in Haiti. They use their horns constantly for every reason. They honk to warn pedestrians, bikers, scooters, donkeys that they are being overtaken. They honk to get livestock off the road. They honk to pass, honk before turning, honk before going over hills, and they honk before going around curves and corners. They honk to say "hi" to their friends. It can be very noisy on a busy road! There are no lines painted on their roads, they drive wherever it is most convenient. I saw a motorcycle passing a pedestrian while a truck was passing the motorcycle while a car was passing the truck! I can go all year here in the U.S. and not honk my horn - I would need some training to drive down there.

It was amazing to watch the church ladies cooking us an eight course Sunday noon meal over a small wood fire behind the church. We need pretty elaborate kitchens just to serve donuts!

They have a strange custom (to me) of out-loud group prayer. A leader would start praying out-loud, then after a while everyone else would join in, all praying an individual prayer out-loud at the same time! Even if you could understand the language, I don't know how you would get much out of it. It wasn't speaking in tongues, but it was pretty confusing. I still don't know how they all knew when to stop at the same time!

Canoeing

canoeing
in the winter
in falling snow
in our flooded field
behind the hog houses
playing icebreaker
with my daughters
fun times