Dangerous Wonder

Dangerous Wonder

May. 24, 2008

Thoughts on the Clothesline

Posted in Nature Notebook

The Four Seasons on the Line

Warm spring breezes gently sways my clothing hanging on the line.

Hot summer wind brings the sound of my drying clothes snapping on the line.

Autumn gusts send my clothing twirling with the leaves around the line.

Winter gales turns my garments into stiff boards on the line.

Four seasons of clothing on the line. 

by, sonshine4u

2008


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Mar. 18, 2008

Snow and more snow!!!

Posted in Nature Notebook
Yesterday we were greeted with snow falling from the sky. It was melting rather quickly because of warmer temperatures. As the day progressed we had more slush on the roads than anything.




This morning we woke up to a completely new blanket of snow covering everything. The trees are heavy with snow and everything looks absolutely beautiful.




Even though the temperatures are warming and this snow won't be around much longer, this is perfect snowman building weather! As soon as the kids finish their school work...they're outside to monopolize on this wet snow!




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Aug. 20, 2007

Bunnies!

Posted in Nature Notebook
A couple of weeks ago, my SIL called and said she had some bunnies in her garden that needed to be relocated. Soooo the kids and I went over to get Peter Rabbit and his sisters out of Mr. McGregors garden. Being that we don't live on a farm or have the space to keep cute bunnies, we decided to release them in a nice cemetary to give those visiting their loved ones a happy thought as they saw hopping bunnies. The experience was awesome. I loved holding those cute little bunnies and the kids were in heaven! The farewell at the end of our adventure, however, was very difficult for my oldest. Here are some pictures of Peter Rabbit and his sisters!


The bunny burrow.














The kids with their Auntie and the bunnies!

The next few pictures are of us putting the bunnies in a really cool new home. It was a beautiful bush that was hovering over a grave just like a little house. We don't know who Emma is, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind a few little friends hopping around her gravestone!




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Aug. 6, 2007

Bug Show!

Posted in Nature Notebook

A couple of weeks ago we went to one of the local libraries in our surrounding area to see Bruce The Bug Guy! We had a fabulous time seeing all different types of bugs native to Minnesota (some dead, some alive). We also saw bugs from all over the world. The kids really enjoyed the show...we all felt a littly buggy afterward!

 

Here are some pictures of our adventure!

 

Bruce the Bug Guy passed around several branches like the one he is holding that had live caterpillars on them. The kids all got to see these cool creatures up close!

Here is our cute little caterpillar we saw up close and personal!

 

A native moth to Minnesota hanging out....

 

Bug-eyed glasses so you can see like a bug!

 

Bruce holding a giant milipede.....

 

Giant Madagascar cock roaches and a frienly giant milipede! Talk about creepy crawly!!! There were several containers like this being passed around. Very exciting!!!!

 

The ever popular tarantula was second to last to visit us. Then he pulled out a scorpion! YIKES!!! My kids touched it! I'm so proud of them!

It was a great summer field trip on a hot July day!


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Mar. 23, 2007

Mud...Glorious Mud!

Posted in Nature Notebook

Well, it's official...Mud Season is here!

 

Happy Mud Season!!!!


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Mar. 19, 2007

Spring Fever!

Posted in Nature Notebook
God is so amazing with His orchestrating of things in our lives and in our world. Each season serves a purpose on earth. The rythmn of nature that keeps going day after day. The hopes and questions of seasons in our lives. We live, we learn, we struggle, we wait. All for a purpose of things to come in the next season. The 4 seasons are amazing things to watch in and of themselves. I love the beauty of fall colors and the crisp wind blowing on my face after a hot summer. I love the excitement and anticipation of snow that comes with winter. I love the warmth, freshness and life bursting forth in the spring. I love the sunny carefree days of summer. The amazing thing is that each season isn't isolated. It is part of a careful dance that relies on each dancer. If there were no spring, there would never be life. If there were no fall there would never be a rebirth. If there were no winter, there would never be a resting time for the earth. If there were no summer, there would be no fruit.

This is the same with our lives. The season we are currently in, whether it be new life, fruitful times, times of letting go, or times of waiting, will not be there forever. It ebbs and flows just like the nature around us. We won't always be in the dark cold winter waiting for spring forever. We won't always be in the footloose frolicking of the summer with watermelon juice dripping down our chins. We won't always be crying our eyes out for the rest of our lives. The good news is that just when we think we won't ever get through the season we are in, something happens and moves us to the next. The Lord in His infinite wisdom knew that we couldn't be in the dark too long. He also knew that we can't sit in grief forever either. He knows how much we need to hope, to wait, to grow and to long for things during seasons that may be difficult to be in. This in-turn makes the season of spring or summer all the more exciting and joyful! Because you persevered you can savor that new season all the more.

I have found that living in Minnesota where there are 4 true seasons every year, you appreciate the turning of each one more. This spring I am so excited to taste the freshness of spring. The new air blowing in is such a burst of hope for me. Even though there are still piles of snow here and there and our backyard is soggy, I know that soon it will be warm most of the time and my tulips will be blooming and my children will be playing outside for large quantities of time! Hallelujah! Our God is good and He gives us hope in so many ways. I praise the Lord for his wisdom of the 4 seasons in nature and in our lives.


"There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace."

-Ecclesiastes 1:1-8


Go puddle jumping and embrace the season you're in! It may not be pretty yet, but there is fun in the process!

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Oct. 6, 2006

Fall Gardening: Treasures in the Earth

Posted in Nature Notebook

Things I have learned about gardening and my garden of life:

In my previous post I explained to you that I was doing a little gardening in one flower bed. I tore everything out...including the bulbs (which took careful digging and salvaging). This whole process took me about 4 hours on Saturday. Then on Monday, I decided I best get these bulbs in place along with all the other ones that had arrived via the postman. This process took another 5 hours. Whew! This gardening business is not for the faint of heart! My last thing that I need to do is put the beloved mulch on it to protect it from the winter cold here in Minnesota.

After all this work, I began wondering if my flowers were even going to work come spring. I started worrying that all my neighbors had seen me laboring and then this spring when nothing comes up, or it looks all crazy that they'll all chuckle at my efforts. I don't think God worries about all His efforts in the garden with us. I think He's most excited about what is growing and developing under that soil in the dark. So am I still a wee bit anxious? Yeah, but I have learned some important lessons through all my laboring in the dirt.

#1. When things are overgrown, entangled in weeds and chaotic...the garden looks crazy, doesn't always bloom and needs some major work to be done on it.

    In my life I think that spiritually I am way overgrown in some areas that aren't producing any fruit. I have found my thoughts and actions entangled in those weeds that so easily strangle and frustrate my life. I have to rediscover how many beautiful bulbs are still under the surface waiting to bloom to life.

#2. So the digging up of dead plants, yucky weeds and precious flower bulbs needs to take place. This is a long, painful (tough digging!) and exhausting process that is bound to frustrate, weaken and tire one out. I have to decide which plants stay and which ones have to go.

    There are things like complacency, laziness, over-commitment, lack of self-discipline, lack of organization,  piles of papers, laundry, ironing, dishes, dust, cob-webs...things that distract me like the computer, videos, shopping...attitudes that are not glorifying our maker and words spoken that come quick and with volume! There are so many more things to dig up!

    I had forgotten my love of the Word. My love for being hospitable, being generous, being kind. I had forgotten who I was in Christ. That I was dearly loved and cherished. That I am not laboring in vain here at home with my precious children. That I have passions to create things and to explore the outdoors, to run free and play with my kids. I had forgotten the joys of spending time with my little peanuts in the quiet of the afternoon with books on their bed. I had forgotten to smell the beautiful aromas of life. As I have been rediscovering all the beautiful things growing in the dirt waiting for the spring, I am reminded that when these beautiful flowers bloom and then go back for more growth, they multiply and bring more flowers in the next season. My garden will be bursting forth with glorious flowers more and more as the seasons and years go by. Hallelujah!

#3     I must replant my bulbs and plants for next season in a way that will be beneficial for their optimal growth and arranged in a way that is pleasing to the eye.
    There are certain things that have to be done for plants and bulbs so that they will grow properly. Some plants need to be placed in a hole at least 12 inches deep, most bulbs need to be placed in the ground 3-6 inches deep. They all need to have the roots going down into the dirt, not up into the air.
    Growing my garden in a mismatched, chaotic way may prove to be very exciting...but probably not the most beautiful. Some flowers flourish when they are grouped together rather than having a lone bulb here and there.

    So what can I apply to my life here? Just reading my Bible to put a check in the box is not helping my roots grow deep. It's like planting God's Word upside down. If I read my Bible and study deeper and apply those truths to my life, then that is going to help my roots be firmly planted and strectching towards the water source. Then by being a godly example to my children, I then help in the process of multiplying more fruit in their lives.
    But if I go volunteer at Awana, then spend 1 night a week at a soup kitchen, then go door to door handing out tracks and then volunteer for Sunday School, lead a Bible Study, host a prayer meeting, play guitar for worship, volunteer at the local library, be a Girl Scout leader, help with political campaigns and lobby for the rights of dolphins.....these are all noble things, but life would be entirely too "exciting" and not very beautiful. It would be chaos of good things. The Lord wants us to use our time and space wisely.
This season He may want us to work on our job as a wife and mother and work on our attitudes and quiet times. Next season He may want us to volunteer at Awana or Sunday School and continue the work as wife and mom. Maybe the following season He wants your family to be active politically in the presidential race and working together as a team for the glory of God. Remember, you can't do it all and there is a season for everything. If we try to do everything at once, we will certainly fall apart and not bring forth any fruit or flowers!

#4 Mulching my plants for protection through the winter.

    Some of us may be going through the longest winter of our lives. It's dark, it's cold and it seems that it will never end. We are in desperate need to stay full of life, warm and hopeful. The mulch we need to cover ourselves in should be prayer, the Christian community and our family. Without this warm blanket of protection we will surely lose the light of life, freeze and lose all hope. If you are needing some protection right now, please get on your knees and ask the Lord who loves you to send you some. Don't hide away from the brothers and sisters in Christ who care about you. Don't push away your own family. It's time to circle the wagons with your Christian community, your family and most of all, pure/passionate prayer to the God of the universe!

    So as your working in your garden this fall, think about what your digging up, what you need to save and what needs to go, where and how you will plant your bulbs and to always protect them from the cold harsh winter! Come spring, you'll be so glad you took the time so all the glorious color can burst forth from your garden!



Blessings my friends!!!!
   


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Jul. 19, 2006

Thunderstorms

Posted in Nature Notebook

It's storming outside today. The sky is greenish gray and full of lightning and thunder. I love hearing the rain beat against the house and the windows. I have always enjoyed thunderstorms...except for maybe when I was really little! Growing up in Kansas there was always lots of loud thunder that would send us all screaming to mom and dad's bed! But the older I got, the more I loved the rolling sounds and the bright flashes. The huge sky was the perfect landscape for the majesty of thunderheads rolling in and the powerful lightning racing across it.

One of my favorite things to do is to watch clouds. My dad taught me about the different kinds of clouds and what they meant. He was a navigator for a KC-135 in the Air Force and learned all about those things during his stint in the armed services. My favorite cloudes to watch are the cumulous clouds while they build for the infamous Thunderheads.

While interning at a church in Michigan for a summer, I remember driving my now husband around chasing clouds till we found a great place to see them rolling in off Lake Michigan. He was hooked after that! We joked about being storm chasers like in the movies. Now that I am in the suburbs of Minneapolis, I miss seeing the grandness of the open skies like I did back home in Kansas and off the lake shores in Michigan and of course up in the Rockies of Colorado (another great summer experience!). But I still get a large charge out of watching any kind of storm roll in and observing the amazing power the Lord has created in our storms here on earth.

I have too many stories to tell about tornadoes, thunderstorms and the like. But since we've been married, my husband and I have witnessed some crazy things even here in the cities. We are official storm junkies...my dh has a doppler radar sight bookmarked on his computer and it's red right now! He called just now to see if it was in the purple zone! :) Happy Cloud Watching!!!

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May. 16, 2006

Flowers Galore!

Posted in Nature Notebook

Here are some more pictures of our flowers around our yard I took a few weeks ago.





These only last a few days.





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May. 11, 2006

God Is Amazing!

Posted in Nature Notebook

We moved into our current house June 2005. We didn't get to experience the excitement of watching all the plants come to life in the spring last year. This year is like a feast for the eyes! Everyday we are discovering more and more to look at. I did plant some tulips last fall...but for the most part we have been discovering fun plants the previous owners labored over. I might add that we also have been weeding and pruning like no tomorrow. I feel as if some garden beds are like the jungle and I am using a machete to cut back all the overgrowth! But alas...it is all worth it. Here is a photo of a beautiful suprise in the middle of one of our garden beds.



I had never seen a Bleeding Heart plant in person before. It is quite breath taking! The detail just astounds me and sends kudos to the Maker! He is so incredibly creative!

My husband and I loved all the hostas lining the driveway to this house and since we have now been through one winter with this yard...we decided that rock would be a better alternative than mulch for a garden bed by the driveway! When the hostas bloomed...it's quite beautiful! You can't see it yet, but there are also daylillies planted in between each hosta. My in-laws gave us the end result of their daylillies being split! I love free plants! I'll post a photo of that when they bloom! Here is my beautiful driveway lined with Hostas!


Well...I'll post more photos of our yard later! My hubbyjust "power raked" the lawn yesterday and today he built a retaining wall around one of our trees. It was really cold, windy and dreary here today...and he banged his finger too...
but he stuck with it and finished it! 
I love my honey!!!!

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May. 1, 2006

April Showers ....Mud and Dandelions!

Posted in Nature Notebook

Well, we have definitely had April showers and the May flowers are sprouting up quickly...but it looks like we are bound for more showers for the rest of the first week of May.
My kids went out to play in our yard for the brief break in weather today. I must say, we have the soggiest lawn! They were happy to play in the "water"..."it's not mud mom!" LOL!!! Needless to say, I had some very muddy kids and a muddy dog to wash off. The joy in their faces was priceless.
All they need is some fresh air, dirt, water and yards full of dandelions! I have 3 beautiful arrangements of dandelions above my kitchen sink. You know, they are quite lovely when it is cloudy and rainy out!
I am so thankful for my beautiful kids loving life and living it up outside in our Father's world.
Thank You Lord for bringing me joy today
in Your simple pleasures of life!


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Mar. 13, 2006

Wacky Weather

Posted in Nature Notebook

Last night as we were eating our supper, I saw a flash of light and then heard thunder! I couldn't believe it! I looked outside and it was snowing!!! So we were having Thunderstorm snow showers?  Unbelievable!

This morning we woke up to lots of snow and it's still coming down. It's perfect snow for snowmen, so I believe we'll study the art of making snowmen today! 

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Mar. 7, 2006

Bird Watching

Posted in Nature Notebook

This morning as I opened my curtains I saw a beautiful Northern Cardinal. I yelled for my daughter to "come quick!" She was so excited and wanted her bird book and binoculars for a closer look. I was delighted to see her enthusiasm for discovery reappear today. We stood there gazing out the window at the specatcular beauty of this cardinal and then saw his mate and some lovely field sparrows too. It was a glimpse of the return of spring and nice weather. I am so looking forward to many more bird sightings and exploring nature together. It was a Charlotte Mason moment. Ahhhh...a breath of fresh air!
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