Mike and Lizette's Travels and Thoughts

Columbine

2011-06-14T22:16:00.001-05:00

2011-06-14T21:37:00.001-05:00

Testing mobil blogging.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T13:42:00.003-06:00

Luke 2:7-11

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 And there were shepherds in the same country abiding in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock. 9 And an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were terribly afraid. 10 And the angel said unto them, Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people: 11 for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. - NAS

On this day we celebrate the birth of Jesus, not just any birth, but the birth of our Savior. I heard the other day on the radio as I was driving into work a commentator say " We cannot begin to understand Christmas, the birth of Christ, till we understand the Resurection" So on this day lets not just remember the birth but why Jesus was born, He came to die on a cross so that we may be saved from the penalty of death from our sins.

Have a Blessed Christmas
Mike and Lizette

Apologies

2009-12-25T13:39:00.001-06:00

Mike and I must apologize we have not updated our blog with photos that we have taken of our adventures with our feathered friends. So as part of many new years resolutions we will do better to keep up the blog.

Lochness Park

2009-09-07T08:33:00.004-05:00

August 29, 2009

In hopes of looking for any migrating warblers last weekend, we headed out to Lochness Park in Blaine. We have had good success for viewing migrating warblers. This time it was quiet however we spotted some Mallards and among them was a Great Egret. If anything it is a nice walk, a lot of people have a tendency to bring their dogs out for walks or to jog with. Among the egret was off to the side two Green Herons. That seemed to be the most we got from Lochness, oh well there is always next year. We then went to another location in hopes of more birding opportunities.

God’s Nature: Tester of Faith

2009-09-06T14:47:00.001-05:00

James 1:2-5
2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

James 1:13-18
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. 16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. 18 In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.

We all go through hard times from one circumstance to the next, the only difference it is how we fair through these moments that make the most difference. We see in the above verses when those moments come we consider it joy. Some of us are like how can you have joy when tough times happen, well that is when you need your faith and remember why you have faith. As we can see God brings us through in return to strengthen our faith in Him. We have the tools, we have prayer, we have God’s Word and we have fellowship from fellow believers. Take hold of the promise, that it shall pass.

1 Thessalonians 5:24
Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.

Prayer

2009-08-30T15:52:00.002-05:00

Most will say they pray, but how do you pray, some recite the Lord’s Prayer.

Matthew 6:9-13
9 "Pray, then, in this way: `Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 `Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. 11 `Give us this day our daily bread. 12 `And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 `And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]'

If we look at the prayer it isn’t a good luck charm to say it, It is meant to lead us to know how we can talk to God. We see we give God reverence by claiming His Holiness. We then see acknowledgement of His will not ours. Then we give thanks for the things He has provided. Then we ask for strength not just for us but for others. Finally we again acknowledge it is for His Glory not ours. Sounds simple, but how many of us pray for what we want and never stop and listen or pray for others. I heard someone say once as a challenge that when you pray avoid using “I” in your prayer. I tried and it is not easy, but remember ask for strength.

A few more at Carlos Avery

2009-08-27T05:19:00.006-05:00

Not too much water fowl, other than a few Wood Duck hanging out at one of the nesting locations in one of the pools. Much to our delight as yesterday we saw Sandhill Cranes and we saw some today this time carefully we approached to get some shots. We also notice a few American Kestrels here and there.
We drove around a bit more and no sight of the Hawks this time, but perhaps the next time. However, we can’t forget about this rare opportunity of the shore birds we spotted, not really near a shore line of any sorts but more of puddle from the rain are actually Solitary Sandpipers.
On the way out just as we started out birding this weekend with Cedar Waxwings we ended our weekend with a lone Cedar Waxwing. Hope you enjoy and remember to keep your eyes on the skies.

UPDATE: The Sandpipers have been identified by Hap in New Hope as the Solitary Sandpiper and not the non breeding Spotted Sandpipers or immatures we had thought. Thank you very much Hap it is a learning experience.

More at Carlos Avery

2009-08-26T06:14:00.001-05:00

Well, the fact that we saw the Northern Harrier Hawk, it made us more determined to see if we can catch another glimpse of them. So we got up early today and got our coffee at the local Dunn Bros. and breakfast of champions at McDonalds. This time we went into the tour but going west from the Headquarters entrance. Going this direction the roads were much better that those on the eastern end of the WMA. Now if you have not been to Carlos Avery Wildlife Management, it is a just over 23,000 acres of pure habitat for great wildlife of deer, foxes and birds large and small. Just an update from that horrible fire set by the volunteer firefighter a while back, it has grown in and thriving even better. Better would it have been if it were from the result of a controlled burn from the DNR, but nature can take care of itself. We digress, the first set of birds we spotted were a White Egret, a Great Blue Heron and three Green Herons, two of which were hiding among the reeds.
For a while we took as many photos and then in the background in the canal behind us we heard some splashing and much to our surprise they were otters. Yes, we finally saw otters and got some photos, there was a pair of them. We thought after some time we should move on and that we did, we came across an Eastern Kingbird sitting on one of the sanctuary signs also had spotted a Song Sparrow and a Downy Woodpecker. As we went further Mike spotted what we believe is a Red Tail Hawk which flew up and and hung out in a tree for a bit before flying off.

Weekend at Carlos Avery

2009-08-24T05:23:00.009-05:00

August 22nd, 2009

Mike and I made a weekend of going to Carlos Avery just to see if we can see what birds might be making their way for early migration. Well, we hit the park late in the morning, early afternoon and at first we thought not much activity. We had noticed that and ugh, it makes us mad sometimes, is that since we have had so much rain there have been people who have taken their vehicles and have used this road as their muddin' trail. You can tell from the fact that when driving it was like an obstacle course due to having to avoid the ruts that were created for which are none to friendly to cars of a lower stance. For the most part we caught quite a few birds such as Cedar Waxwings, one of my (Lizette) favorites. We also spotted the ever present and so cute Black-capped Chickadees. As we drove around we then went to check out the one spot in the park where last time we found what we can call the mother lode of White Egrets, but to avail none this time. We did however notice a pair of Northern Harrier Hawks. We moved forward in the direction they flew in hopes of catching more photos. No but we did spot a female American Redstart. This bird is a lifer for Mike and I. That was how our Saturday ended we head out.

UPDATE: Thanks both Richard for pointing out that it was an American Redstart not a Vireo. After looking at some more comparison photos looks to be a correct Id and to Hap in New Hope for identifying that it was a Northern Harrier Hawk not a Golden Eagle

God’s Nature: Jealous

2009-08-23T15:13:00.001-05:00

Exodus 20:5
" You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,

Exodus 34:14--for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God—

We see God who is our Creator wants our attention and ours alone. How can we not want to give Him all of our attention when we are created in His image? If the birds know to give praise, we should all the more be lifting up His name. For God is a jealous God, that is why if we look at the first commandment we see it is,

Exodus 20:3
" You shall have no other gods before Me.

More of Sherburne

2009-08-22T06:00:00.000-05:00

Back to our posting on Sherburne on August 1st, the bird action was pretty quiet for the most part. Till we saw hovering an American Kestrel hunting its lunch down.
We did see some Eastern Bluebirds hanging out by the 1/2 mile Prairie hiking trail on the south end of the drive.
We also spotted some Eastern Kingbirds here and there. Then there was the Wild Turkeys trying to cross the road. In effort in trying not to scare many of these wild birds off we kept our distance, so we apologize if the photos are not as good as we would have liked. Also as we were getting ready to continue the drive we then came across a Clouded Sulphur.
Lastly towards the end of the drive we saw a Least Bittern a Killdeer and out from the reeds was a Green Heron for which had concluded our visit of this lovely Refuge for wildlife.

This Bloggers Adventures

2009-08-20T06:00:00.003-05:00

Mike and I met up with fellow bloggers for the Birders Who Blog, Tweet and Chirp. We must say we had a blast getting to know people and people faces to names. Dawn, I think might just have gotten me into the twitter family. I am thinking the computer might just take over my life. Might be better to take it slow. LOL

We must all get together again. To Lynne thank you for organizing this and a big shout out goes to Rodger (Minnesota Birdnerd) for the great info on bird banding, maybe the next time we will have a bit more success. In the mean time here are a couple of photos Mike had taken as we walked through Hyland Park Reserve.

Tiger Swallowtail
Damselfly
Blue Mud-Dauber Wasp

Ending to a Good Day Birding...

2009-08-19T05:58:00.008-05:00

There was a Kingfisher hanging out the far side of the lake, but what we could see was some Hooded Mergansers sleeping on some long fallen trees. I certainly wish I had a camera lens that could have captured photos. My 28mm to 300mm did not do justice in getting the shot. After it was pointed out by Virginia, Mike was able to get a shot though what looked like the possible skeletal remains of a dragonfly. There were quite a few painted turtles everywhere. I couldn’t resist and turned to monochrome and took some artistic shots. We hope you enjoy these.
Mike and I hated to part company for the rest of the Hyland Park visit but we had to head home and walk the puppy, once done we met up with everyone at Merlins Rest. It was great little Irish Pub, where many come and have a beer and talk. We walked in and noticed it was kind of quiet, well on one side of the bar, they were watching new episodes of Doctor Who. For those who are SciFi oops I mean SyFy geeks and yes they were the new episodes because it had the new Doctor. Anyways our group sat near another group that has there regular Birds and Beers gathering. The drinks and the food was good and the company always warm and welcomed. Too bad Sharon (Birdchick) wasn't able to show but she had prior engagement, but we did see Jeff (Ecobirder) stop in. We didn't really get to say hello, due to it was a real crowd inside and not many places to sit together. We will have to try again next time.

Till next time, I do apologize if we missed any info, it was a eventful day.

UPDATE: We had mis-named the Mergansers as Common but were thankfully informed by Hap in New Hope that they were really Hooded Mergansers. Thanks again Hap.

Birders who Blog, Tweet and Chirpped again!

2009-08-18T06:00:00.001-05:00

After having a wonderful and filling lunch at Victoria House, we then head off to Hyland Lake Park. Now this was a first for Mike and I and will have to get back out there again. Once we arrived at Hyland Park we noticed our first bird which was a Eastern Kingbird. The kingbird was very cooperative for photos for the most part. We head into the park and I believe a mystery is solved, I know why Wood Ducks are called wood ducks. We saw some wood ducks out in a pond sitting in a row on some downed branches. Unfortunately, I have no idea if that is normal behavior. Now just for the fun of it let’s try a tongue twister:

How much wood can a wood duck chuck if a wood duck could chuck wood.

Ok, seriously, eh who we kidding, birding requires a good sense of humor like many things in life. One thing about adventures like this one most likely ends up meeting with other fellow birders. Before we get very forgetfull and go any further we had met up with Hap in New Hope near the end of our time at Carver Park, Hap is a very cordial and helpful man who frequently reads everyones blogs giving help identifying birds. With Hap coming along to Hyland Park, we then met up with Hellziggy who came along with a huge canon of a lens (Little green with envy). As we moved on from there and we found a pond which you could see in the distance either it was an otter or a beaver. Wait does Minnesota have otters?

More to come...

Birders Who Blog, Tweet and Chirpped

2009-08-17T06:00:00.000-05:00

Here is a recap of our outing Saturday; we met up with our fellow bird bloggers and it is amazing how much you can learn from one another. Plus it is always fun to put names and faces and learn who blogs and who twitters. This social networking on the internet certainly has run away with a whole other world. We started out at the Lowry Nature Center at Carver Park, which is located in beautiful Victoria, MN. The staff at the nature center brought out two of the birds they use for educational purposes one is a Merlin and the second was a Barred Owl.
To Penelope and her husband Dave and Dawn and her husband Jeff thanks for letting us look through your scopes, the detail we were able to view with that was amazing. Here we have from left to right Bees in the City's Virginia, Dave (Penny's Husband) behind him we have Lynne, then hidden is Ruthie J and next to her is Jeff Dawn's husband then to the right of them we have Richard who is comparing cameras with Dawn. We did see quite a few Gold Finches, I believe we saw after looking through my bird book a female Common Yellowthroat. Sorry no photo on our side. Mike was able to get some photos of the American Redstart and a Green Heron.
Before we ended our time at Carver we took a group photo and then head out for lunch at Victoria House. Food was yummy loved the view of the lake across the street.

Golf vs. Birding

2009-08-16T19:12:00.005-05:00

For the fun of it in honor of the PGA coming to Hazeltine, located in Chaska, MN. I want to compare a couple of golf terms to birding. I was told golf courses are great for birding, I can see it now “Hey look there goes Tiger Woods, wait a Tennessee Warbler.”
But here are a few words we can learn:

A Birdie: One stroke under par for a hole. Also possibly derived from the term "It flew like a bird" to indicate a good shot.
For birders, that is a generic term that means, what did it look like?

A Bird’s Nest: A lie in which the ball is cupped in deep grass.
For birders, this one is obvious a nest for birds.

A Buzzard: A score of two strokes over par for a hole.
I don’t of any buzzards but we get our fair share of Turkey Vultures.

An Eagle: two strokes under par for a single hole or to play a hole at 2 under par.
For birders look at him soar and migrant watching in like 20 to 30 below 0 degree weather along the Mississippi river in either Red Wing or Wabasha. Now that is devotion, especially when you have heat packs for your gloves and socks yet you still can’t feel your fingers and toes.

I hope you enjoyed this, I got the terms from Worldgolf.com

God’s Nature: Perfecter of Faith

2009-08-16T11:03:00.003-05:00

Hebrews 12:1-3

1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Faith comes from the belief of the things unseen and who better to perfect that faith except God through Jesus. In we are made perfect as we can see in Hebrews 2:10.

For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.

Keeping moving forward with our eyes on the goal of “good and faithful servant.”

Our Blog Apologies

2009-08-14T07:44:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone, sorry we haven't been posting these last two months like we have in the past. We will getting back on track soon, been busy with things around the house and such. We do have more to come on visit to Sherburne, birding in general, God's Nature and NASCAR updates.
Also we will post on our visit from this Saturday with fellow birders at the Birders who Blog, Tweet and Chirp Meets Birds and Beers! event.

More Wildflowers of Sherburne

2009-08-12T05:26:00.003-05:00

One of the many beautiful things about Sherburne besides the wildlife is the variety of wildflowers like this Prairie Onion.

Or the Purple Prairie Clover.

Showy Tick-trefoil.

Here is a lone Spiderwort.

Sherburne tour continued

2009-08-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

Back again, many of the flowers we spotted were located in and around the Refuge's parking lot that has some information on the variety of wildflower & wildlife. Here we had done a quick walk around the paved path that goes out to an observation platform that one can see out in the distance a huge Eagles nest. Now on to the wildflowers.

Blue Giant Hyssop and on another we spotted a lone butterfly.

Also seen a Common Evening Primrose.
Will be back tomorrow with more of the tour.

Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge

2009-08-10T06:00:00.002-05:00

Saturday 1, August 2009

Mike and I decide at a last minute last Saturday to go birding at Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge and it was a sight for sore eyes. We saw fields of Black-eyed Susans throughout the drive tour, as well as a lot more of some new wild flowers we haven’t seen before all this everywhere we turned. But enjoy this photo series of what we took.

Black-eyed Susan Common Mullein Smooth Goldenrod similar to Canada Goldenrod.
Unknown plant we had spotted, is now known it is a Smooth Solomon's Seal.

UPDATE: Lynne of Hasty Brook has identified the last image as a Smooth Solomon's Seal.

Center of Attention

2009-08-09T18:03:00.004-05:00

Sandy our lovable dog, loves to get either in the middle or try and walk on us to get to the food we eat. This was just after lunch and I missed the shot of her on Lizette's shoulder.

God’s Nature: The Provider

2009-08-09T05:53:00.001-05:00

Psalm 127
1 Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain. 2 It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved {even in his} sleep. 3 Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth. 5 How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed When they speak with their enemies in the gate.

As much as we want to believe everything is done in our effort, it is not much. If not all is due to a blessing from God. God knows what our every needs are and for that He knows what to provide. So when we feel lost turn to God , He will give you what you need.

The Allstate 400 at the Brickyard

2009-07-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

Anyone who loves NASCAR or even the open wheel driving of Indycar formula racing knows how important driving at Indy can be. It is a unique track with the pagoda style press area right behind pit road.

Overall for Juan Pablo Montoya he led the most laps till he got caught for speeding down pit road. That will always get you; at that point Mark Martin took the lead again since he started on the pole. By the way Martin historically is named the oldest driver in NASCAR to ever win Pole at Indy.

It didn’t take long with about 23 laps to go Jimmy Johnson took the lead. Unfortunate for my favorite driver Dale Jr. lost an engine and had to drop out of the race, ugh I hate DNFs. At about 14 laps to go Michael Waltrip’s car was pushed into the garage car over heated. In the end the winner who gets to kiss the bricks is Jimmy Johnson. This is the first time a driver has won back to back races at the Brickyard. Tony Stewart gets a 3 place finish and for Dale as a result of a DNF he finishes 36th. Till next race when we see you at back at Pocono.

God’s Nature: All Sufficient One

2009-07-26T10:56:00.001-05:00

El Shaddai, our God the supplier, He is enough for all our needs. We see this in:

Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Ephesians 3:16
that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,

1 Corinthians 2:5
so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

Now, that we see there is strength in God, remember to non-believers we may seem weak and for that they attack but we rejoice when God is the one who comes through in our lives and not of our doing.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10
9 And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Mid Summers night Dream

2009-07-25T15:13:00.002-05:00

Just Wordless

2009-07-24T06:00:00.001-05:00

Blog News and Updates

2009-07-20T16:38:00.008-05:00

Well, we've been taking it easy since we've last posted on our birding. But in the mean time in our reflection of this past year, so we created a couple of Facebook pages after we've noticed a strong trend by many boggers and friends in our day to day life. So Lizette started hers a while ago and it started taking off right away and it piqued my interest as well since it was fun watching her play with her two Facebook farms. One thing that did prompted me to start my own site was that Facebook was based on the individuals meeting and communicating with others and not really set up for established couples like us, unless you join a group or a blog. This and we find it has been working better than some services like Classmates.com where you have to pay for added services beyond the basic profile.

Also a fun bit of news is that we accepted an invitation to what is called;

"Birders who Blog, Tweet and Chirp" meets "Birds and Beers"

this August 15th. Lynne at Hastybrook had informed us of this event cohosted by Minnesota's own Birdchick and a fellow blogger who travels the USA, Dawn Fine of Dawns Bloggy Blog and you can read more of it here at Dawns Blog and here.

Few More from Springbrook

2009-07-14T06:00:00.001-05:00

As we finish our trip on July 4th with the Egret, we moved forward and found some iris in the distance we aren’t sure what kind we could not get the best photo to identify them. Just overhead another Great White Egret flies in and it landed in front of another Green Heron. Then just over head another Green heron flies over.
For egrets and herons it was not a bad day for photos. We noticed it was getting late and we decide well let’s just finish up this hike and go get lunch. We kept walking and spotted another Gray Catbird and you can see one is showing the rusty red mark which if we are correct it was doing that for courting. We noticed some Yellow Coneflowers coming into bloom. Seen a couple of new ones for us, a possible Smooth Oxeye and one called a Butter and Eggs.
Towards the end of the walk at the visitor center they had some beautiful red bell shaped flowers growing not sure the type if anyone knows it would be nice to name these. Till the next time, enjoy the photos and keep your eyes on the skies.

Updated: Dawn of Dawn's Bloggy Blog identified the red trumpet-shaped flowers as the Trumpet Vine (Campsis radicans). We confirmed with another site here.

Lifelock.com 400

2009-07-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

Chicagoland Speedway
Joliet, IL

Mark Martin does it again, way to go with the 4th win this year. We notice as we watched the race some drivers seem to be expressing some frustration about the double file restart. Jeff Burton I think is just frustrated sine this has not been the season he was hoping for. We know he is a good driver just the victim of circumstances. Dale Jr. was doing well was running in the top ten for a good chunk of the race till the car wouldn’t handle right and fell back he ended up with a top 20 finish. Great finish for Stewart-Hass Racing Tony and Ryan both had great top ten finishes. We look forward to how this will set the top 12 when the race points are reset for the last 10 races.

Till the next race.

God’s Nature: Merciful

2009-07-12T12:12:00.004-05:00

El Elyon: The God Most High, Sovereign

We give thanks for mercy, we give thanks for grace. Without these things we would have to pay the penalty for our sins.

Psalm 103
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, {bless} His holy name.
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits;
3 Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases;
4 Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
5 Who satisfies your years with good things, {So that} your youth is renewed like the eagle.
6 The LORD performs righteous deeds And judgments for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the sons of Israel.
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
9 He will not always strive {with us,} Nor will He keep {His anger} forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.
12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 Just as a father has compassion on {his} children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
14 For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are {but} dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, And its place acknowledges it no longer.
17 But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children's children,
18 To those who keep His covenant And remember His precepts to do them.
19 The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all.
20 Bless the LORD, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word!
21 Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, You who serve Him, doing His will.
22 Bless the LORD, all you works of His, In all places of His dominion; Bless the LORD, O my soul!

Great White Egret at Springbrook

2009-07-10T07:01:00.004-05:00

Well, we came upon a Great White Egret also doing a bit of hunting so we stopped to see what photos we could catch. Seems this egret didn’t mind us hanging around.

So we hung out getting to know the egret sometimes getting photos were a challenge sometimes when people were walking the floating boardwalk certainly would start bouncing.

Coke Zero Commercial

2009-07-09T20:01:00.008-05:00

During the Daytona race this weekend Coke Zero ran a new commercial. Who says drinking and driving is not dangerous. Take a look.

Green Heron at Springbrook

2009-07-09T06:15:00.000-05:00

Further along in our trek through Springbrook on the Prairie Hiking Trail we approached the floating boardwalk that traverses the pond at the west end of the park, there we seen some folks taking photos and they were nice enough to point out a Green Heron. So we stopped a while and watched to see if we could catch this green heron in action. Well after 15 minutes, we were able to catch the green heron in action as he caught a fish and swallowed it.

We were excited to get some action shots we stayed a bit longer till we finally decided to move on.

Springbrook in July

2009-07-08T07:01:00.007-05:00

July 4th, 2009

So for our 4th of July we stayed local and went birding at Springbrook. We got all our camera stuff together and head out. We noticed that they were making a trail / boardwalk along 85th avenue as well some sort of construction west of the parking lot. It will be nice to see how that develops. We walked towards the main pond on the park property and we saw a mature male Common Whitetail Dragonfly and it stayed close as we took as many photos as we could.

Plus it helped us get the right settings for the photos we were going to take. Just when were ready to move on we spotted a Gray Catbird and caught a few photos, we also spotted some Gold Finches flying amongst the reeds. We took a few more photos and we continued our walk and came upon a White Morning Glory. It was beautiful among the greenery as it is lonely. We started walking towards the pond and came upon a few more wildflowers such as the White Campion , Bouncing Bet? and Canada Thistle.

More to come...

What is This World Coming Too?

2009-07-07T06:00:00.003-05:00

A little racing opinion...

What is this world coming to when someone who gets tested for drugs gets caught and a judge says that the employer cannot infringe on this person’s lifestyle by costing them money being earned, so for that you must allow them to have them employment. Well, some of you must be wondering what we are talking about; we are talking about Jeremy Mayfield and being suspended by NASCAR. Well, when being suspended as a driver he cannot drive the car and as the team owner he cannot be at the track so ownership was moved to his wife. Yet his wife only ran the car for one race, why not more we don’t know. So if they weren’t earning any money blame the wife for being a bad team owner.

So what does a judge do he lifts the injunction and tells NASCAR because they are infringing on Jeremy’s lifestyle of earning money they have to let him drive. Does anybody else think the Judge is on meth let alone corrupt, really so the guy who got caught using methamphetamines should be allowed to continue to drive a race car at about 200 mph so he can make a living? Well, let’s not stop the bank robber, putting he or she in jail infringes on their right to earn some form of a living. Who cares if he is using and get’s in a car and let’s see maybe gets in a bad accident on the track and let’s see maybe kills another driver. Then what, then maybe someone says “Oh maybe it was a bad idea to let him drive.” I hope it never comes down to that but if it were to happen I hope a civil lawsuit can be place against the judge who thinks just because you fail a drug test doesn’t mean you are a drug user and don’t deserve to put everyone’s life at risk. Somewhere in this judges mind it makes common sense, forget the law, who needs courts to uphold the law no they make it. Even though this is not a federal case, none the less, judges should not be making law as it clearly states that in the constitution with the separation of powers, they are bound to uphold law not make it.

We see more these days in our society that man cannot uphold law when we are full of sin and refuse to understand there are absolutes. So till everything goes wrong and we hit rock bottom then one goes, maybe we should have heeded to that law. We hope when Mayfield goes to Chicago for the race he better be ready for NASCAR to drug test him and if he fails again we don’t care what any judge rules he shouldn’t be allowed to race ever.

Coke Zero 400

2009-07-06T15:00:00.001-05:00

Woohoo!!! Another exciting run at Daytona's Coke Zero 400, congrats to Tony Stewart for another win this season. Tony is on a roll that is two points win, three if you count the All Star Race. Unfortunate for Kyle Bush he on the last lap, ended up getting spun by his own doing and hit the wall really hard. We are glad he is ok, he gave Tony a good run for the money. There is a bit of empathy for Kyle for the way he finished the race. It was not a good day for Dale Jr. he was making his way to the front and got caught up in 13 car pile-up on lap 77 (see the video). It does not seem to be Dale’s year this year. The benefit of not making the chase though is you can figure out what is wrong and fix it to be competitive next year. Daytona was not a disappointment we can’t wait till next year in February.

Till next race.

Happy Birthday Mike

2009-07-06T06:30:00.000-05:00

Last month, we celebrated Mike’s 42nd birthday. Another year to get older with and another year to look forward with for new adventures. You never know what everyday holds and for that we are thankful to God.

Happy Birthday Mike.

Love, your wife

Time to head home

2009-07-05T16:00:00.001-05:00

Like all trips everything must come to an end, or in this case to head back to get ready for work the next day. The trip home was fairly uneventful while Lizette drove home I was fiddling with my Nikon D40x and noticed a few classic cars head up north.
We realized then that there must have been a car show over the weekend in the Twin Cities, sure enough it was the Back to the 50's, we missed that but none the less, it was cool seeing them drive by.

God’s Nature: Preserver of His Creation

2009-07-05T07:00:00.000-05:00

Give thanks we are given a new day of life and God takes care of His creation.

Psalm 33
1 Sing for joy in the LORD, O you righteous ones; Praise is becoming to the upright. 2 Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings. 3 Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy. 4 For the word of the LORD is upright, And all His work is {done} in faithfulness. 5 He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the LORD. 6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host. 7 He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deeps in storehouses. 8 Let all the earth fear the LORD; Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. 9 For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. 10 The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples. 11 The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance. 13 The LORD looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men; 14 From His dwelling place He looks out On all the inhabitants of the earth, 15 He who fashions the hearts of them all, He who understands all their works. 16 The king is not saved by a mighty army; A warrior is not delivered by great strength. 17 A horse is a false hope for victory; Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength. 18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His lovingkindness, 19 To deliver their soul from death And to keep them alive in famine. 20 Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield. 21 For our heart rejoices in Him, Because we trust in His holy name. 22 Let Your lovingkindness, O LORD, be upon us, According as we have hoped in You.

Lenox Industrial Tools 301

2009-07-04T15:00:00.001-05:00

Congrats to Joey Logano his first win last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, NH. We know a racer at heart does not want to win a race due to a rain delay, but hey sometimes you have to take what you can get. Joey was in the right place at the right time and with great work from Greg "Zippy" Zipadelli he won his first race. So now that he got his first win and a taste of a win in a Sprint Cup race we should multiple wins in Joey’s future. We stand to our feet and say way to go. Tony Stewart had a great finish also and Dale Jr. was having a great run he finished 13th overall that is much better than the past race. Till next race a 4th of July weekend at Daytona.

Independence Day!!!

2009-07-04T06:00:00.000-05:00

Happy July 4, 2009 Everyone!!!

Tettegouche State Park

2009-07-03T06:00:00.001-05:00

Mike and I love to check out new places and one spot we have wanted to check out was Tettegouche State Park. So off we went with Sandy in tow, she enjoyed the fact we were able to have the window open for her. Since we had a few hours free while we were up north so we head even further north then Two Harbors. We stopped at a scenic overlook in Silver Creek. From there we kept going north towards the Baptism River and turned right. There we were at Tettegouche State park and what was on our mind? The waterfalls we have read so much about. Well, we got our state park sticker for our annual pass. We asked the ranger where we could go to look at the falls, we were looking for the shortest hike since it was around 1 in the afternoon and we haven’t have anything to eat since breakfast. Well, the hiking path we decided to take was only supposed to be ¾ of a mile. Well, when we started the hike we didn’t realize that the hike would be such an uphill battle literally. After what felt like the hike of eternity we finally made it to the top of the High Falls only to realize if you want to get good shots you would have to walk all the stairs down. My camera at that moment my card was full so Mike went down further to get shots and I sat and waited with Sandy by side waiting. I saw people who appeared to be in better shape than Mike and I, even they looked like they couldn’t handle the walk up the stairs. That made me concern that Mike might have a problem coming back up the stairs but he made it back safe and sound. So we head back to the car where we had water. We got some water and we head back to Two Harbors where we stopped at Betty’s Pies for a late lunch, we each had the Agate Cheeseburger. Mike and I will try the hike again but next time we will be bettered prepared. In the mean time we did spot a few flowers on the trail.

Till then enjoy.

Visit and Visitor at Mom's place

2009-07-02T06:00:00.002-05:00

Well we finally arrived at the home of Mike's Mom and as we were talking with her and letting Sandy stretch her legs we heard a rustling in the trees and out pops a deer. Deer up here like this one are used to people around Two Harbors, so it had no problem that Mike was just standing ten feet away and that Sandy did get excited I had to put her in the car for a bit while taking these photos.
Last month she was out of film in her older camera when one of the Momma deers had laid down just outside her bedroom window and gave birth to a healthy looking fawn. So Mike's Mom was out there taking photos as well with her new Canon A1000 camera she bought.
After this young one moseyed on, so we went inside and caught up with what has been happening up here.

Where there is Smoke, There is Fog?

2009-07-01T06:00:00.001-05:00

June 19, 2009

After our 3 hour tour of Crex, we grabbed a quick bite to eat in Hinckley, MN as we finally headed up north. Just as we arrived outside of Two Harbors on a bright sunny day, we seen what could look like smoke, but nope it was fog coming off the lake, apparently it must have been just the right temperature variation between the surrounding warm air, the still icy cold temp of the lake and a steady breeze to have fog come rolling in. We looked at each other and said lets go to down to the Lighthouse point and take a look.
Wow, as we were taking photos of the fog rolling in we both looked at each other and thought ok were is the cheesy John Carpenter music that The Fog is famous for and then had to laugh.

Well we were about to walk out to the light house at the end of the breakwater but it was a moist cold that didn't agree with the short sleeve and shorts we had on, so we got in the car to warm up a bit before we headed out visit Mom.

Crex Wildflowers

2009-06-30T06:00:00.001-05:00

June 19th, 2009

Besides the wildlife we saw plenty of wildflowers from a Northern Blue Iris to Hardbell.
Northern Blue Iris. Hoary Puccoon. Tall Anemone similar to the Wood Anemone. This one looks to be a White Campion.
Prairie Phlox
Here is a Harebell. Mike and I had taken a shot each.
We also spotted more Wild Columbine and even found one blooming. We also notice a couple of Eastern Tiger Swallowtails, but what was new for us was a Little Wood-Satyr.

Hope you enjoy our photos.

Crex Meadows: June 19, 2009

2009-06-29T06:00:00.003-05:00

We planned for an eventful day on our way to Mike’s mom’s house for the weekend. We first decided to stop in Grantsburg, WI at Crex Meadows to be exact, to see what activity we could find. We arrived around 9:00 AM and came upon a Common Loon with some babies hanging out in Phantom Lake that Gary had mentioned in his last blog Crex Loons.

They were hanging out alongside the lake so we were able to get close enough to get some close up shots. We were pleasantly surprised they were not scared off because of the distance. At one point this one called out and you could hear in the distance the mate calling back, it was quite the feeling. Turns out that it was more active this morning than we thought it might be, we saw a few Green Herons.
Actually we saw more then we have ever seen before. There was also more than one American Bittern, but every time we turned around there went another one flying away before we could get a decent picture. For smaller birds we saw quite a bit of Ring-necked Ducks in the smaller ponds here and there. As were there some Black Terns flying around these were a little bit easier to capture than the ones we had seen out in Sherburne NWR.

More to come...

Toyota/SaveMart 350

2009-06-28T15:00:00.001-05:00

June 21, 2009

Aw, nothing like a peaceful drive thru wine country. Ok, I can only imagine it must beautiful for a Sunday drive thru northern California along wine country.
Well last weekend as we were on our drive home from up north visiting Mike's Mom, NASCAR has its own version of a Sunday drive and it is called road course racing. It is one of two races where the drivers get to go left and right, hey sounds like everyday traffic in Minnesota. Back to the race, we give a standing ovation to Kasey Kahne he brought the first win in a long time Richard Petty Motorsports. As a matter of fact they also had Elliot Sadler and AJ Allmendinger finish in the top ten. Way to go guys good things come to those who wait. Also great finish for Tony Stewart and little by little Tony is opening up a good lead going towards the last ten races for the championship. I hate to say it, but Dale Jr. again not the best finish, all in due time.

I keep wondering if in the last ten races you have a good combination of great tracks but not road course why not. I want to challenge NASCAR to really make it worthwhile by adding a road course race as part of the final ten races. Just a suggestion, we would love to hear from other fans what they think.

God’s Nature: The Shepherd of His People

2009-06-28T09:55:00.001-05:00

Growing up we were taught to memorize Psalm 23, so when we knew we were in need of guidance from losing our way were to recite it to remind us that God will always be our guide.

Psalm 23
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

LifeLock 400

2009-06-27T21:49:00.003-05:00

Well on June 14th of this month at Michigan Internation Speedway, Mark Martin was able to rack up another win for the Hendrick team. Yes, you are hearing this right Mark Martin has 3 wins this season. Can Mark win the Cup, he is currently 11th in points and is in position to win the chase, if he can be consistent enough yes I think he can. For Dale Jr. again the race wasn’t the best. We know Dale is capable of top ten finishes and we look forward to when he is up to speed again. We know that takes time and patience will have to our new best friend. Till then Mark keep up the great job.

Final Leg of Carlos Avery Visit

2009-06-20T14:00:00.003-05:00

We turned the car around to head back and we spotted a deer at first we were like “hey look another Sandhill Crane” when we realized wait that has four legs it. Now this year Mike and I have seen more eastern Bluebirds then we have seen in our birding experience which is always a treat for us. It was starting to get late and lunch was calling our name so at that point we started to head out with the mindset if we spot anything we can stop to take more photos and we found these chicks, not sure what kind of birds we are guessing grouse. If anyone knows what kind they are we would love to hear from our fellow birder/bloggers. That was how we ended our day and headed out and grabbed some lunch and home. Till next time keep your eyes on the skies.

Continuing on in Carlos Avery

2009-06-20T06:00:00.009-05:00

As we continued on, we figured we’d hop over to Pool 4 road when we noticed another butterfly this time it was a White Admiral. Mike was able to get this great shot where the sun is shining through its wings and the orange red color seems to glow on the ground, it is a wild shot.

Off we went to the next spot and we aren’t sure if there was more than one but a Great Blue Heron flew over. We had spotted one group of Sandhill Cranes out in the distance and what popped out among the brush in front of us, a female Wild Turkey. We continued our drive and there were so many birds that we could see them but would hide where you could not get any shots such as the Common Yellowthroat. Our day was staring to come to end when we found more Wood Ducks, there was a lot of Wood Ducks in almost every pool we found.
Then there were more Sandhill Cranes. As a matter of fact if you think the Mall of America can get crowded well we found the bargain shoppers of Sandhill Cranes located all in one spot. Must have been one good fire sale, speaking of fire as you can see the regrowth happening in the areas affected by that fire and it is growing back strong. As we moved on we spotted another butterfly and this time it was a Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.

Drive through Carlos Avery

2009-06-19T06:00:00.005-05:00

Continues with our drive around on Pool 9 road, we noticed there was quite a few Great White Egrets flying around and we were hoping that in one of the many pools that are on the wildlife management area that we could get some photos. Throughout Carlos Avery, you could hear everywhere you went Sandhill Cranes, in fact, there was no shortage of them there. As we tried to see how close we could get along the drive tour we notice in a pool there were some ducks and lone Killdeer. Among the reeds when who pops out a pair of Sandhill Cranes.
We felt like they were playing a game of peek-a-boo. We focused our cameras on them and took as many photos as we could.
As we were getting our photos overhead two Great White Egrets flew in, one to one pool on the right while the other flew into the pool to the left.

We were closer to the one on the left so we took photos before it flew back off. When it started to walk away further away we figured that was a good time to drive to another location. Well, we were not done with the Egrets, because we found a spot that was like a breeding ground on the northern end of Carlos Avery. When we arrived we spotted quite a few of them, one apparently got too close to another and a fight almost ensued, a moment later after we had arrived, we thought we might have scared them off, but it was an Eagle that flew overhead.

More to come...

More Carlos Avery

2009-06-18T06:00:00.007-05:00

As drove along Pool 10 road, we were focusing on the wildflowers we noticed out in the open our first bird, it was a Waxwing, which one whether it was a Cedar of a Bohemian we are not sure due to the waxwing was facing the sun so we only have photos of a silhouette. Before we head down Pool 9 road we spotted our first butterfly of the year and it was a Monarch and it enjoyed going from flower to flower.
Then there was the Yellow Goats Beard which was tall and blooming. Also we spotted Cow Parsnip growing everywhere.
Also we caught photos of Cow Vetch which had grown in many areas of Carlos Avery and if not careful could almost be confused at first glance for Lupine. Not to worry it wasn’t all wildflowers we did spot birds like the elusive Black-billed Cuckoo but the photo was not the best.

Stay tuned, more to come...

Update... The Waxwing looks to be a Cedar Waxwing, thanks to Richard for pointing this out.

Carlos Avery Visit

2009-06-17T06:00:00.002-05:00

June 13, 2009

We were encouraged to see from Craig’s blog that Carlos Avery after that horrible fire was striving. So we headed out on Saturday to see what birds we could capture on digital. It was a very eventful day, we headed out early. Well, early for us is as early as Dunn Bros & McDonald's opens. We need our coffee and a little something to eat, so off we went with breakfast and coffee in hand and drove to Carlos. It was a beautiful setting cool and sunny. When we entered into Carlos you could hear the birds they were enjoying the morning just as much as we were. We start driving east down Headquarters Road slowly as we usually do listening and stopping as we go along looking We thought we would be smart and have our sunroof open so we could always look up and if possible take photos. At first we could hear them more then we could see them but we saw some really interesting wildflowers. The first ones we spot which are new, we believe to be from a Blackberry or Raspberry bush. Now as we headed north on Pool 10 road we spotted a lot of Wild Roses some were in bloom some were just blooming. Since it was early in the morning there was that morning dew still on the flowers and we caught some photos on these wild roses.
We also spotted a possible Chickweed flower, which was not easy to photograph due to the mass mosquito population in the wooded area and it seemed no matter how we tried to adjust our cameras that the flowers seemed whiter than white. Please let us know if we are mistaken on the flowers, we would appreciate it. Also we will have to remember to be better prepared for those mosquitoes that's for sure.

To be continued...

Fuchsias

2009-06-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

In order to create a more tempting Hummingbird Buffet, we had bought two new hanging plants this spring. Of the two Fuchsia that we picked up, we love the colors of the hot pink with purple and the red with pink & white. These plants which are perennials should grow beautifully.
So before winter kicks in Mike and I will have to figure out a way to keep them safe to replant them next year. So we welcome any gardening tips anyone might have, take in an account we live in a townhome and really don’t have yard to replant these. Till then we wanted to share the very vibrant pretty colors.

God’s Nature: Forgiving

2009-06-14T19:51:00.003-05:00

If we are to humble ourselves and we repent of our sins we are guaranteed forgiveness.

Psalm 130
1 Out of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD. 2 Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications. 3 If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared. 5 I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope. 6 My soul {waits} for the Lord More than the watchmen for the morning; {Indeed, more than} the watchmen for the morning. 7 O Israel, hope in the LORD; For with the LORD there is lovingkindness, And with Him is abundant redemption. 8 And He will redeem Israel From all his iniquities.

Jesus came to bring that guarantee when He died on the cross to pay for our penalty. If you have questions about what this means please visit NeedGod.com and first take the test.

Pocono 500

2009-06-12T12:00:00.000-05:00

What day for NASCAR first we saw the first race with double file restart and the first in a long time a driver owner wins a race. Congrats to Tony Stewart for his first points win as a driver owner. It is about time, race after race he came ever so close and finally. As his crew chief Darian Grubb, Tony Stewart brought home the Trophy. I hate to bring up the subject we are now in the second race for Dale Jr. with a new crew chief and the race didn’t show results yet. I know patience is golden, well ok we will have patience.

Again go Tony, till next race we bring you the update on the Michigan race.

Ugh, Kyle Busch

2009-06-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

Not to beat a dead horse, more in this case a guitar. But after the Federated Auto Parts 300 in Nashville, did Kyle Busch really need to break the Trophy, a Gibson designed guitar from Sam Bass. I think not, we can make all the excuses for why the guitar which is a prize was destroyed. Let’s look at while some say that’s his character, I will say it is a guy who thinks he is all that (spoiled brat) and yes he has won many races lately, but he shows no respect for what he has earned and a disrespect for the fans who watch racing.

When he wants to throw a tantrum he does,

When he wants to be rude he does,

He is arrogant when he wants to be,

Lastly he is just irritating,

Sherburne NWR: Barn Swallows

2009-06-11T06:00:00.001-05:00

While making our last pit stop before we headed home from this fun and adventurous day, we had noticed a pair of Barn Swallows that had built a nest under the eaves of the bathrooms.

While this one was just sitting out on watch facing the wind that was picking up.

Well, till next time keep your eyes on the skies.

Sherburne NWR: Part III

2009-06-10T06:00:00.001-05:00

Out in the distance we spotted a few birds one of which was a Song Sparrow singing its song and high up in a tree a Yellow warbler.
We also noticed our first Eastern Bluebird and what we believe might be a Grasshopper Sparrow.
Mike and I did get a photo of a lifer and that is a Lark Sparrow. We spotted the Lark Sparrow while taking photos of the wild columbine. One of the neat things is when you are coming around towards the end of the tour you can see the Bald Eagle’s nest which had two immatures that looked like they were ready to spread their wings. Just when you think well that was a pretty eventful day we spotted a Blue-winged Teal and an Eastern Meadowlark and the cameras were in action.

To be continued...

Sherburne NWR: Part 2 Wildflowers

2009-06-09T05:30:00.009-05:00

We got back in the car after seeing the Eastern Kingbirds and started to drive the tour and we found quite a few wildflowers along the road one was the Hoary Puccoon some places call it the Hairy Puccoon or Carolina Puccoon. Moving along we saw a lot of Lupine in and around the one section that has .42 mile walking prairie trail, in there is a variety of wildflowers and grasses.
As we headed along the trail through the wooded section near the end we spotted some wild Columbine and had to take better close-ups of this beautiful yet strange looking flower. In the same location we spotted these purple wildflowers for which the name excapes us.

Sherburne drive will continue, be back soon...

Update: Thanks to Lynne at Hasty Brook the purple wild flower is a Wild Geranium

Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge

2009-06-08T06:35:00.005-05:00

May 31, 2009

Lately, with overtime at work some of our birding has been limited but we are trying to get out there when we can. So this weekend we headed to Sherburne NWR and if you are not familiar with it, it is a bit outside of the northern twin cities area off of Highway 169 and County Road 9. There is plenty to do, one is to go hiking and it that really isn’t too much you fancy then you can do the auto tour. The auto tour has so much to see and hear. You can hear Sandhill Cranes out in the distance and a lot we mean a lot of Red-winged Blackbirds. At first we stopped to walk the small trail at the main entrance of the auto tour and thought not much for birds yet. Well, we could hear the Yellow Warblers everywhere but again these guys were off and flying. Just when we thought well maybe next time just sitting in a tree we saw two Eastern Kingbirds. We started snapping away with our cameras then just we were thought we got enough photos we start walking back to the car and realized they are not flying away. Well, we took more photos to see how close got before they would fly away. We probably got about ten feet away before they flew off.
We did spot another one on the drive just sitting checking us out while we checked him out. More to come of Sherburne tour in our next post...

What Did Billy Mays Sell?

2009-06-07T13:00:00.001-05:00

Watch this commercial it is fun play on infomercials, but what could Billy Mays have sold to his wife and daughter that grew that?

God’s Nature: The Lord an Abundant Helper

2009-06-07T06:00:00.000-05:00

Psalms 146
1 Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD, O my soul!
2 I will praise the LORD while I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
3 Do not trust in princes,
In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 His spirit departs, he returns to the earth;
In that very day his thoughts perish.
5 How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
Whose hope is in the LORD his God,
6 Who made heaven and earth,
The sea and all that is in them;
Who keeps faith forever;
7 Who executes justice for the oppressed;
Who gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets the prisoners free.
8 The LORD opens {the eyes of} the blind;
The LORD raises up those who are bowed down;
The LORD loves the righteous;
9 The LORD protects the strangers;
He supports the fatherless and the widow,
But He thwarts the way of the wicked.
10 The LORD will reign forever,
Your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the LORD!

The true defender of the weak, the homeless, the widow or the orphaned, there are no orphans of God. We leave you with this video.

Thanks goes to: avalonrules226

Autism Speaks 400

2009-06-06T06:00:00.001-05:00

Well, put another win in the win column for Jimmie Johnson. The Autism Speaks 400 race till the end was eventful from drivers complaining about being too loose to being too tight. Well, after leading the most laps Jimmie showed he was the car to reckon with. In the end even though Jimmie Johnson won the race, Tony Stewart walked away in first place in the points, way to go Tony!

For a while looked like Dale Jr. was going to have a top five finish for whatever reason his car after the last pit stop just didn’t handle the way he needed it to stay in the top five, however he did finish in a respectable 12th place. I am sure there are critics that are saying see he didn’t do any better without Tony Jr. Well, now sometimes change is needed for a fresh perspective. It might take a race or two, so we will have to wait and see before we can truly say this was better for the 88 Team. In the end we give Jimmie a high five for a great finish and Tony keep it up.

Changing the Look

2009-06-05T22:26:00.003-05:00

Just decided to change the look something that will be an on going process, we might go back to the Tic Tac look that we are known for, but for now we thought to try this. Let us know what you think.

Update: We applogize for the latest changes, on occasion it may change looks on you before you know it.

BBSU: The Common Grackle

2009-06-05T06:00:00.000-05:00

Now as we stated we have had a lot of black birds visiting our feeders. Well with no exception we have the Common Grackle. Well to us not so common we have these beautiful black birds with these iridescent blues and greens. They have been visiting our feeders and do not seem to be shy at all.
Now these resourceful birds one way or the other will forage for food from garbage (yes people, garbage) to fields of corn. So I guess it is true if you grow it they will come? Just a Field of Dreams humor.

BBSU: Look at the Babies

2009-06-04T06:00:00.002-05:00

Well, a few of our visiting house sparrows had a nest of nestlings and brought them to learn to eat from our feeders this past week. Here are some shots of the mommy feeding her baby.

Till next time keep your eyes on the skies.

Coon Rapids Dam: Part III

2009-06-03T06:10:00.001-05:00

Sunday 24, 2009

One of the things that draw us to the Coon Rapids Dam location is the serenity along the river once you get past the powerful sound of rushing water of the Dam, further along the trail that goes down to a point before it swings back along a stream on back to the entrance of the park. Down here you can fully see the beauty that is created here with the way the sun shines through the canopy of leaves and you can listen to all the birds singing overhead.
This location along the river is great for the variety of wildife that we have seen in and around the park. The islands in the river are home to many variety of birds including the Great Blue Heron for whom have not seen nested here in a rookery on one of the islands that we had posted on before, probably due to the colder and longer than normal winter, and the occasional family of Canadian Geese. Sorry for the poor photography, but we did witness what looks like it may be a Blue-headed Vireo making a nest in one of the smaller trees along the trail.

Coon Rapids Dam, Part II

2009-06-02T06:00:00.000-05:00

May 24, 2009

We continue the trip over here on the Coon Rapids side of the Dam where we had spotted couple of the Yellow Warbler flying around that had so much energy we stood still hoping it would join us for a coffee break or something, no such luck. The birding activity was not as successful. However we did find some pretty flowers blooming from both sides of the park which really make birding all the more enjoyable when the scenery is just a nice. Here are a two different colored flowers from some trees on the Brooklyn Park side.
These two we found over on the Coon Rapids side however we don't have identification names for any of these beautiful flowers.

Well, Mike and I are hoping to get back out there before too long.

Till next time keep your eyes on the skies.

Coon Rapids Dam, May 24th

2009-06-01T06:00:00.004-05:00

This is the first actual birding hike Mike and I was able to take this year and we figured let’s go where we have had success finding birds. We went to the Coon Rapids Dam; we parked on the Brooklyn Park side. There is a small trail that is about 1.5 mile which goes along side the river bank and it was a nice day on Sunday, Memorial Day weekend. Well, at first we thought at the time of day we arrived and figured it would be a bit quite but a few of the Osprey were still around hanging out on the electrical lines there before they headed out searching for food. Then we found along the trail a Brown Thrasher preening itself and chillin’, it was in plain view amongst the branches and didn’t shy away too much as we tried to get close enough, but we were able to keep our distance.

Then as we walked along we also found a quite a few American Redstart and they certainly did not want to stay put to get photos. We also saw quite a few Tree Swallows they were hanging out on bird houses.
There were so many birds the further we walked along such as Red-breasted Grosbeak, the ever elusive Gray Catbird and a hard to capture Pileated Woodpecker.

We also saw just a few Baltimore Orioles and Great Blue Herons flying overhead, but none nesting.

To be continued...

God’s Nature: Provider of Wisdom

2009-05-31T07:30:00.000-05:00

Job 28: 12-13
12 "But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? 13 "Man does not know its value, Nor is it found in the land of the living.

We see today that words seem to be redefined all the time, what it means to one person seems to mean something else. However, no matter how hard we try to redefine a word it does not change its true meaning due to its origin in the Latin word. We take wisdom many have confused wisdom for knowledge.

Job 28: 20-28
"Where then does wisdom come from? And where is the place of understanding? "Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living And concealed from the birds of the sky. " Abaddon and Death say, 'With our ears we have heard a report of it.' " God understands its way, And He knows its place. "For He looks to the ends of the earth And sees everything under the heavens. "When He imparted weight to the wind And meted out the waters by measure, When He set a limit for the rain And a course for the thunderbolt, Then He saw it and declared it; He established it and also searched it out. "And to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.' "

Anyone can obtain knowledge but not everyone can obtain wisdom. As we can see in the above verses for man it is difficult to understand all things and for that wisdom is a far reach. For God it is not, God is creator so He understands all things. For that we fear in respect of who God was, is and will always be. So remember the fear of the Lord is true and only true wisdom. Till next time our prayers are with you and always.

God Bless.

Coca Cola 600

2009-05-30T12:00:00.000-05:00

While most were BBQ’ing others out enjoying their Memorial Day weekend watching racing and NASCAR was trying to get a race in. Well the race was supposed to be on Sunday night but rain kept that away. Then Monday comes around and of course I had to work while Mike had the day off, not to worry our trusty DVR (don’t fail us now) will record the race. If you had seen how we set up to record the race you would have thought we were mad. Well, anyway we were able to see a race which started then stopped for rain then started again and then stopped again for even more rain.

You can see there was a pattern to this. In the end 227 total laps of th 400 for the race was called due to getting too late and yet again the rain was not letting up and the victor was given to David Reutimann. That is one for Michael Waltrip Racing, it is about time, you can see race in race out they were due for a win with David, who has shown some improvement in this seasons races. Ryan Newman of Stewart Hass Racing certainly showed he was close. Congrats goes out to David and to Tony Stewart after a disagreement on how to race, we know it is like irony, David might have been racing too hard like it was the last lap but you have to give him credit it paid off.

Till next race we are off to Dover's “Monster Mile”.

BBSU: Brown-headed Cowbird

2009-05-30T06:00:00.001-05:00

Some people think the Brown-headed Cowbird is a nuisance because they lay their eggs in other birds nests leaving their young to be raised by other birds, this fact is true. But these are Gods creation and we find them fascinating to look at, the male has that reddish brown hood and that black body while the female is a light brown in color.
Last year we had a young brown-headed cowbird being raised by a Chipping Sparrow. It was interesting as the young do they chirp as their wings flutter saying “feed me.” Along came the Chipping Sparrow and fed the big baby literately. This year not much for nestlings but we have seen a few House Sparrows with young ones this year.

Enjoy till next time keep your eyes on the skies.

BBSU: Red-winged Blackbird

2009-05-29T21:29:00.004-05:00

Seems we are getting quite a few black birds and one of them is the Red-winged Blackbird. We are getting a few males and females. The females seem to be mellow but yet the males seem to be territorial. They fly right in and just scoot all the other birds off the platform feeder. At the same time we have seen where the male will just sit in the tree and just wait it out till an opening happens. To me there is nothing like the sound a Red-winged Blackbird singing its song in the morning just as good as a good cup of strong coffee. Plus when they are in town it is a good sign spring well under way. Enjoy the photos we have to share.

Hey! No peeking!!!

Till next time keep your eyes on the skies.

God’s Nature: LORD the Righteous Judge

2009-05-24T06:00:00.000-05:00

We were thinking of how to praise God and what can we say to describe who God is and will always be. When we read Psalm 96, it stood out on how we give Him glory. We believe this chapter in Psalms gives a great description of God.

Psalm 96

1 Sing to the LORD a new song; Sing to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Sing to the LORD, bless His name; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
3 Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
4For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
8 Ascribe to the LORD the glory of His name; Bring an offering and come into His courts.
9 Worship the LORD in holy attire; Tremble before Him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity."
11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; Let the sea roar, and all it contains;
12 Let the field exult, and all that is in it Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
13 Before the LORD, for He is coming, For He is coming to judge the earth He will judge the world in righteousness And the peoples in His faithfulness.

Few More Gulls

2009-05-23T15:00:00.000-05:00

At Canal Park
May 3, 2009

While Lizette had taken some close-ups of the Gulls on the breakwater wall, I seen a few flying just below going after some popcorn that people were throwing in.

Gulls of Canal Park

2009-05-23T07:00:00.002-05:00

Duluth, MN
May 3, 2009

While waiting for the reenactment to commence from the last post, we had noticed the Ring-billed Gulls were quite active today during this occasion. So we decided to take some photos and boy they were not shy. Some landed not more than five feet away.

Duluth Canal Reenactment

2009-05-22T17:30:00.001-05:00

May 3, 2009

Sometimes you are in the right place at the right time. For a few weeks of going up north we keep hoping we would be at the right time and the right place to see some of the ships coming through the canal by the lift bridge to get photos. After a few tries we would miss the ships or we were too early. Well not this time it was perfect timing. In fact they were reenacting the first entries of two ships, the Ramon de Larrinaga and the Herald. The Ramon de Larrinaga was the 1st deep draft open ocean vessel. Then 5 minutes later was the Herald the 1st ocean vessel for the Superior side of the docks. The first time these ships entered into the ports were back in May 3rd, 1959. They used the tugboat Edward H for the Ramon de Larrinaga and the Vista King for the Herald. With the water cannons shooting water as it entered through and passed under the lift bridge. It was neat to see that, it is not very often you catch those moments. Here are some photos we took enjoy.

Here is the article for more history information about the reenactment and the history.

Silver Creek Cliff

2009-05-22T06:00:00.002-05:00

One spot we recommend that if you are driving up north along Highway 61 is the wayside rest stop right after the Silver Creek Cliff tunnel. There is a walkway along side of the bluffs that uses part of the original road that went around the bluffs and now is a part of the Gitchi-Gami State Trail system. The tunnel was carved out of the cliffs primarily because the roadway around the cliffs was rapidly eroding due to in part from the high volume of traffic during the vacation season, the result of creating the tunnel lets one see the how the rock formed. But as you can see the view from there is amazing, and then there is a small gazebo you can see. Mike’s mom has a photo of the waves crashing against the shore where the gazebo is. We’ll have to see who had taken the photo. Coming this November Mike and I will have head up here to see when the wind and waves are kicking in if we can recreate the shot.

Till the next adventure.

The Sprint All Star Race

2009-05-21T17:30:00.001-05:00

May 16, 2009

Who could believe we have already reached the All Star Race. Well, what a race this was, NASCAR changed up a few things like instead of two shootout segments it was one with a set of segments. So the two drivers who come in first and second advance to the All Star Race with of course the fan vote. Well The shoot out advanced Jamie McMurray and Sam Hornish Jr. Way to go to those two drivers, I guess I was shocked that Joey Logano received the fan vote. Not that it was wrong in any way I just didn’t think he was popular enough to get the vote, well I was wrong. Well the end result of the race was the best Tony Stewart won. So it may not be a point’s race but winning just over 1 million dollar isn’t bad either. What a way to start a streak if you ask me for Stewart Haas Racing and Ryan Newman, had an attempt to win the race until Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon got into each other. To Tony Stewart keep it up we want to see you succeed as a Owner Driver and we want to see Ryan Newman win a race.

Till the next race, when teams get to relax being at home in Charlotte, NC.

Gooseberry Falls

2009-05-21T06:45:00.000-05:00

April 26, 2009

After making one of the few trips to help Mike’s mom move her belongings, Mike and I on our way home had some time to go around and take some photos and it has just rained the night before and we figured that Gooseberry Falls with the melting of the snow and rain would be in full force. We were right, we could hear from the visitor center the water rushing while we were watching a few of the Squirrels feeding and arguing with each other. In fact this poor little guy must have had a few tussles because when he turned and jumped off the tree, he had no tail. On to the falls, we were not disappointed in anyway the falls were active. We took some shots of the upper falls and then walked down to the lower falls to a point where you could see all of the falls and snapped away.

There were a few people who was fly fishing in the areas where the water was not moving as quickly. We also took some shots to play with our shutter speed enjoy till next time.

Darlington, Southern 500

2009-05-20T16:30:00.000-05:00

presented by GoDaddy.com
May 9, 2009

Darlington, the track that has been known as "Too Tough to Tame".

Well mark up another race for “The Kid” Mark Martin, with this win we also hear he has signed another for another full year with Hendricks Motorsports. Go Mark! He also came from nowhere and won this race. What is neat is some racers when they win do a burn out with lots of smoke. Not Mark, he celebrates with style. Mark will do a victory lap just for the fans. This was another week where Dale Jr. did not fair the race very well. Well sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.
Next up, the All Star Race.

Slow Start to Signs of Spring

2009-05-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

Just when we thought that there was a slow start to spring migration. One weekend we were coming home from being up north and behold our eyes, birdies. We saw a Great White Egret and a Yellow-rumped Warbler. Both of these were in a drainage pond at an intersection by our home.
Our first warbler and heron, if you look closely he is displaying the green mark around their eyes showing “Hey ladies.” We hope to get more birding in since Mike’s mom has gotten settled in up north and who knows what birding we will get a chance to find up north. Till then keep your eyes on the skies.

Mocha Moose

2009-05-19T19:00:00.007-05:00

We just want to give a shout out to Patti and her dad for the best coffee place to check out if you are ever in the Two Harbors area. It is located just off of North Shore Scenic Drive in Larsmont. It a small little place called The Mocha Moose Coffee & Gift Shoppe where they have these two specialty coffees we love, one is the Mocha Moose and the Albino Moose. The Albino Moose is my favorite because it has butterscotch in it. Then there is the slogan “GET MOOSINATED!” how cute is that. We have been Moosinated. Now if you are wondering if they do more than just coffee yes they actually serve homemade ice cream and desserts. The one thing Mike and I tried was one of the Panini sandwiches called the Sweet Moose, which is a turkey sandwich with provolone and cream cheese on a focaccia bun, the best part a raspberry chipotle sauce that is sweet and just right on spicy. Now I love to browse when I am there because they have a little shop attached to where they sell locally made items. From purses and I have my eye on this cute red one to outfits for your dog. So we encourage you check them out, Mike and I love to check out local business you also get the best service.

To Mocha Moose you have earned two long time customers guaranteed. We should be stopping in mid June when we head back up.

Talladega to Richmond

2009-05-19T16:00:00.000-05:00

Race 9
The Aaron’s 499
April 26, 2009

What a race first congratulations to Brad Keselowski, who drove for Phoenix Racing into their first Sprint Cup Race in a long time. Now Talladega has always been an exciting race with side by side racing. We got plenty of that, but one scary when Carl Edwards went flying off in his car and was what looked like cheese grating against the fence. We hope any fans that may have gotten hurt from the small debris the fence couldn’t stop are better. Our prayers are with them. It also was a great race for Dale Jr. who came in second, he needed that great finish. Again, way to go to Brad, who will have a great NASCAR career when he signs with a team full time for the Cup Series.

Race 10
Crown Royal presents the Russ Friedman 400
May 2, 2009

The only race where once a year they get one fan who they believe represents NASCAR fans at its best and Crown Royal names the race after them. This year they picked an Iraq war veteran and what an honor. Wish we could see more of men and women honored that way. Now the winner was Kyle Busch he took the field and showed he was a force to reckon with. That was a good weekend for him he won the Nationwide race and the Cup race. So he basically had a double header. This was not a good race for Dale Jr. unfortunately, but Tony Stewart showed us again that he is just one race away from a win by coming in second. Till next race update keep the pedal to the metal.

North Shore BBSU: Song Sparrow

2009-05-19T06:00:00.000-05:00

Nothing says spring like a Song Sparrow singing its little heart out. This is not quite the normal BBSU post but while at Mike's Moms place we could here them like crazy, so when Mike and I were out checking out some birding locations and the one bird we kept coming across one of many Song Sparrow up along the North Shore. Now sparrows can be hard to tell sometimes it is like warblers it is always the smallest of details that set them apart. For instance on Song Sparrows next to you also see them singing away they have heavy streaking and will have a spot among their streaks in the middle of the breast area. Also they will perch in low hanging branches so they are easy to find. Here are some shots we took.
Spotted this one at Flood Bay State Wayside just north of Superior Shores Resort, one of the many waysides along Hwy 61 north. Then Spotted the next two at the wayside on the north end of Silver Creek Cliff Tunnel.

Till next time keep your eyes on the skies.

Mother’s Day Weekend Move

2009-05-18T21:02:00.002-05:00

Well as you know with us being busy we haven’t been taking as many photos as we’d like but we did get a few here and there during our time up north, but we are back, and ready to start posting, it will be a little slow at first but we should be getting back to what we had been doing before the BIG move for my Mother. By the way it was a relief for all of us, specially my Mom, for who along with us were worried of running out of time to hand the keys over to the city of her old property in Blaine, MN. Well this last move during Mother’s Day weekend went pretty smooth and got a lot done with preparing her permanent stay here up in Two Harbors, MN.

Since Sunday was Mother’s Day we had to get her a little something special as a Mother’s Day gift, but also gave it to her as a house warming gift. While at Menards Lizette went off to look at the plants while I helped Mom with getting a few things for the house. What Lizette found was a Mandevilla trellis plant I think is the Ruby Star variety. It was an interesting time getting it in the house without her seeing it, in fact at one point it was sitting in the garage sitting between some boxes and I was getting nervous because one of the boxes we needed was right next to it. So to distract her from looking at it I gave her the box to bring in, she took it, but looked at me and had this look of why can’t you bring it in? Whew! That was close; thankfully the garage was not fully lit at the time. I finally got the plant in when she was busy with in another room. This plant will be a nice addition to the deck, surely to draw in some birds.

Things have been going pretty well for her up north and we will be going again this June for a visit and to help out with a few things.

Springbrook Cardinal

2009-05-05T08:59:00.004-05:00

Sorry folks, we haven't been posting in some time now, most of our time has been helping my Mom with the final move of her things to Two Harbors, MN. We have one more weekend then hopefully we can relax and post what we have. But in the mean time here is a female Cardinal that we had taken at Springbrook Nature Center back in early fall of 2007.

Subway Fresh Fit 500

2009-04-22T06:00:00.000-05:00

Well last weekend the drivers went from being on the east coast and now they are back to the west coast. Well, we enjoy watching our first Saturday night race of the season and it is at Phoenix International Raceway. It is a mile race track which has no banking so it reminds you of a short track race. We start off with Mark Martin getting the pole position, way to go Mark. As the race gets under way Mark Martin leads for a bit, but loses the lead. As the race progresses Dale Jr. gets the lead and leads for about 20 laps. Just when you think he could win this one, he goes into the pits gets a 4 tire change and something with the car changes and Dale struggled to maintain the lead. On the bright side Mark Martin gets the lead again. Tony Stewart again shows he is a force to reckon with, now if only he can get that win as a driver owner. Now the worst happens with 12 laps to go Dale Jr. with the help of Casey Mears, gets spun out into the wall. Dale Jr. does manage to finish the race since the car was not badly damaged. With only 6 laps to go Ryan Newman stays out instead of coming in and is leading with the restart from the caution. That didn’t last long mark Martin who was right behind them went right past him to take the lead again. Mark Martin wins, see we all knew he would succeed driving for Hendricks Motorsports. As much as we want Dale Jr. to win he came in 31st. Tony Stewart came in second, so close we know he will win a race soon.

Dark Eyed Visit

2009-04-21T06:00:00.000-05:00

This past winter transitioned into spring and so far we only had a visit by couple of Dark-eyed Junco. We would have loved to have more, however it seemed the moment they arrived then they were gone. Here is the photo we did get of one of them along side a Sparrow.

Till next time keep your eyes on the skies.

Kings: Separating Fact from Fiction Part 3

2009-04-20T21:30:00.000-05:00

We now come to where David and Jonathan were like brothers and Jonathan also must have recognized that David will one day become king. We see how Jonathan would in a respectful way give to David of his own such as his armor. For some reason King Saul was upset that all he could see was how everyone was favoring David and yet he was not king yet. Saul tries over and over in many ways to out David in harm’s way to fall. That fails so he offers one of his daughters, David does not choose to marry the first daughter given to him, and instead he marries the second daughter which falls in love with David.

Recognizing that David has the Lord on his side Saul gets scared and upset. We see like best of friends and like brothers Jonathan protects David from being killed when he warns David his father has ordered his death. Time and time again Jonathan shows his loyalty to David he helps David flee and hide so that he cannot be killed as the servants of King Saul seek. We see over and over from 1 Samuel 18-20 Jonathan respects David as his actions show a man who knows a man who is being blessed by God for a big purpose and that is to be king.

Till next time we see the that how rage consumes Saul.

God’s Nature: Caretaker

2009-04-19T21:00:00.000-05:00

Mathew 6:25-34
"For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? "And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? "And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! "Do not worry then, saying, `What will we eat?' or `What will we drink?' or `What will we wear for clothing?' "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

God takes care of His creation from the smallest of creatures to us which is created in His own image. Too many people have a hard time understanding why bad things happen. We need to understand there is sin in this world so bad will happen, it is a matter of faith in God that carries us through. So when we realize even in the bad God cares for us then we should rejoice in knowing we will get through whatever comes our way.

James 1: 2-12
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away. Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

Sure signs of Spring

2009-04-17T07:00:00.000-05:00

Sunday April 5th, 2009

One of the many signs of spring up in Duluth is when the ice has broken up and the shipping has opened in the harbor, we missed the one going out and was not able to stay to see the other ship come in.
The other sign is when the Gulls get really active at Canal Park in Duluth, when they see the people come out they flock in the hundreds to thousands hoping for someone to drop a bit of food, or in some cases when someone tears apart bread and toss it in the air.
We have enjoyed our time up here but till the next time on the North Shore, keep your eyes to the ski...

Lifes Little Challenges

2009-04-16T17:00:00.004-05:00

April 3rd, 2009

Last week the trip up to my Mom's new home to drop of another load of boxes went pretty smooth, that is until we got to the driveway... It was covered with snow, heavy wet snow. On top of that the end of the driveway was plowed over from the plow trucks that had cleared the road. We got there around 8:30 pm and had only one little shovel to work with, I figured the Chevy HHR could handle the snow once we dug out the end of the drive, nope it almost got stuck this car is not snow savvy, so we talked it over and thought since we forgot to bring another one that we should head into town and see if we could buy one. The night was going to be a long one, much to my opposition, Lizette said she would stay and shovel while my Mom and I went looking for another shovel, however everything was closed, except the Super One foods. On a whim we went in to see if they might have had one for sale, nope nothing. The cashier did offer that we could use one of their shovels, humbly we said thanks and would bring it back in the morning.

After getting back we continued to shovel, finally was able to get the car off the road and little by little we got up the long driveway. We didn't get done until around 11:30 pm when I was finally able to make a run for it up the driveway it was still pretty slick since the snow was quite wet. We got it in and unpacked, finally was able to relax a bit, before settling in for the night I topped off the air mattress so we could sleep the night, however we didn't get much sleep the mattress began to lose air. Had to fill it up again and tried to be as quited as could be at 4:30 am with a screaming air pump, got it filled again and went back to bed only feel the bed go down again within the hour. Ended up with a 1/8" split in the seam ended up getting a repair kit and hobbling up a patch of sorts with plenty of duct tape for support. All in all the weekend went smooth seen a lot of birds, and the mattress stayed inflated Saturday night.

Kings: Separating Fact from Fiction Part 2

2009-04-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

We pick up now where Samuel is directed by God to seek out a new King because Saul no longer is focusing on the God’s will. God send Samuel and seeks out David the son of Jesse and David is anointed to be King one day. However, on the other end of the spectrum Saul fights with an inner evil spirit which Saul as her servants to find someone who can play music. They seek and find David, David is favorable in Saul’s eyes due to every time David played the harp Saul felt relief from the evil that was haunting him. David serving the king and tending flock for his family is asked by his father to bring food to his older brothers. See David was the youngest of all the brothers. David sees what is happening and the fight with the philistines and tries to encourage his brothers to keep Israel safe. He is sent back to the king and David expresses to king Saul how Goliath must be stopped. Well, after much discussion David convinces Saul that the Lord will protect him and he can stop Goliath regardless of stature. Off to war David went and as we all know he kills Goliath, using what would be considered in modern terms a slingshot and a sword to cut off the head of Goliath. That started the journey David must take, but it also put Saul a journey he may not have wanted. Till next time we will look over the brothership that Jonathan the son of Saul and David shared.

To read the true story of David’s journey to becoming king please read starting from 1 Samuel 15.

To be continued...

North Shore BBSU: Red-breasted Nuthatches

2009-04-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

This bird is a new one for our life list and it is the Red-breasted Nuthatch. At first we saw one but before long we saw a family size of them. They would zip in either to go after the bird food on the ground or to the suet. Here are some shots to enjoy.
If you look at the other names of the Red-breasted Nuthatch there seems to be a common theme and that is Canada such as Sittelle du Canada, Sittelle à poitrine rousse, Le Torchepot du Canada (French), Sita canadiense, Saltapolos canadiense, Trepador Canadiense (Spanish), Canada Nuthatch (English). They are adorable just like their cousin the White-breasted Nuthatches.
Till next time keep your eyes on the skies.

Night Stroll

2009-04-14T06:00:00.000-05:00

We went for a night scroll while up in Two Harbors and it certainly is peaceful which is nice compared to all the noise living in the twin cities you get.

The one noise that caught our attention was you could hear a great horned owl out in the distance. We tried to see if we could see him but to no luck. Here are some photos of what Two Harbors looks like at nightfall.