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I know, this photo looks like an autumn scene, with the stand of brown grass waving in the breeze, but it was taken just yesterday morning, along "63" north of Denver, Iowa. The fields in the background lie patiently waiting for spring fieldwork to begin. Coming off several days of rain, a week's worth of moisture-free weather is now needed to allow fields to dry out. Farmers are getting impatient!
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Up in the balcony during church yesterday morning, I was joined by numerous ladybugs. The Luther's Seal window was crawling with them! As we sang "The Church's One Foundation", a ladybug traveled back and forth across my hymnal page. I didn't mind.......it was quite entertaining to see which hymn phrases he or she seemed interested in!
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During the sermon, the busy little beetle bustled around on my shoe, and onto the black tights on my ankle. I couldn't feel his presence there at all.......isn't that funny. He's an intricate entity all to himself, with his relatively tiny body......yet he certainly has organs and internal systems sustaining his life, just as we humans do. Still, I could feel him not at all!
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When I headed downstairs for Communion, the ladybug was still on my shoe; that's the last I saw of him. Maybe he had to jump off due to theological differences.
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Speaking of religion........I know the Pope is visiting the U.S. right now.........and the Dalai Lama did so, also, a few weeks ago. This will probably prove I'm not a very good Christian........but if given the chance to meet one of those two men, I probably would choose the Dalai Lama. It shouldn't matter; I'm not Catholic in the first place. What I am is rather intrigued by the fact that the Dalai Lama was chosen at age 2 to fill the religious position he's in. I'd like to ask him how he felt about that when he was a kid.
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Do you ever think about this?........What if Europe and The Eastern Orient had been flipped in location, meaning the Roman Empire and the Roman Church moved north and conquered and converted the Oriental peoples? The Church would have mixed with Buddhism instead of with the native European religions. And the religion of the Eastern peoples.....the Celts, etc., would be known as "Eastern Religion". Just some thoughts to mix things up a bit.........give the kaleidescope a twist.
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My second child was born on this day 24 years ago! We celebrated yesterday afternoon with cake and ice cream and loved ones. My mom and step-dad are home from their Elbe River cruise and brought photos along. Fun!! Twenty-four years ago, today was the day before Easter, and on Easter it snowed. I remember looking out of the window of my hospital room as I held my newborn son, watching the snowflakes gently falling from the sky, my heart bursting with joy!
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Have a happy Monday!
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6 comments:
Yes, the farmers are getting very anxious these days! There is a neighbor close to my home who farms several thousand acres. He and his hired men have been moving machinery around the past two weeks - I think just for something to do! They have the planter hooked up one day and the next it is all undone!
Maybe THIS week we will start to see some wheels moving in the fields. It is almost May and, well, you know how crazy the guys are by now!!
I laughed at your comments about the lady bugs. Isn't there something about not ever killing one? I never do. My favorite little creature is the harmless and delightful box elder bug.
These little guys can get pretty thick at times but they are completely harmless.
Take care.
Maybe you can tell me about the bugs that look like ladybugs, but bite? They are giving the innocent ladybugs a bad name around here :(
I think you're my de facto nature contact now!
Russell, your observations of your farmer neighbors make me chuckle!
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caution,
No, I don't know very much about nature. And here's about all I know about the ladybug issue: Those nice pink and black, normal ladybugs that I knew as a kid, seem to have been replaced here in Iowa by the "Asian Beetles" which look similar in body type to the nice ladybugs. The Asian ones are orange with just a few black spots. Somehow they got imported......isn't that great. They nest and live in soybean fields and then spread out to everywhere else after the bean fields are harvested. In the fall two years ago, the south side of our house was simply covered with those beetles! Here on our farm, we refer to them as "manbugs".....in contrast to the nicer "ladybugs". Heehee.
As far as them biting......what I have noticed is that they bite when the weather is very warm. Like on a fall afternoon when the sun is shining bright and warm.....then the darn little bugs are painful in addition to simply annoying.
They have a distinctive odor, too, if they're crushed......like in doorframes, windows, etc. And I accidently bit down on one while eating popcorn (the bugs also resemble an old maid popcorn kernel)....and they taste as bad as they smell!! ( I should have wrote this comment as a post....its so long.)
You know about birds and flowers and how to grow things. All impressive. And now I know you've actually eaten an Asian Beetle! That's more than enough nature for me :)
Hey, Jeannelle! I had no idea you'd consumed an Asian Lady Beetle! How interesting.
Also interesting was your take on Eastern Religion! But know what I really liked about this post? I liked your memory of the hospital room, watching the flakes of snow, holding your newborn son, and your heart bursting with joy. I was pregnant the same day you were holding your son, and I had just felt my baby kick for the first time. He will be 24 in September this year.
I like coming here.
Country girl,
That's neat we have sons about the same age! Yes, that Easter morning in 1984 is ever clear in my memory.
Thanks for visiting! And your comments are always very thoughtful.
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