Monday, September 24

Fall Photos and Northern Pygmy Owls

Aah, finally...a nice, cool fall weekend!  I've been waiting for this for a while.  It was sixty-six degrees in the house when we woke up yesterday morning, which was nice but a bit chilly for me, so I had a great excuse to turn on our heater in the living room.  It's been a quiet weekend.  We are happy for it, since hubby was traveling for work the past two weeks.  We just spent time together and relaxed.  I made venison stew and another batch of monster cookies.  I have a recipe for apple spice "donut holes", which are actually baked in the oven in mini muffin tins, but haven't made them yet.  I'll be sure to share the recipe if they turn out to be good!  Since I don't have much to report, I'll just share some random 2011 fall photos from my collection with you.  I hope that the colors will be good again this year, but the drought might have had an effect on that.  Anyway, enjoy!
Gourds in the Garden

Entrance to Litzenberg Park

Great fall colors

Litzenberg Barn

Vibrant

McKinnis Homestead

Leaf.  Silly!
The fall season usually triggers thoughts of cool weather, leaves changing, the smell of burning wood, and owls.  So without further ado...

The Owl Corner
Northern Pygmy Owls
Photo by Paul Higgins, found on utahbirds.org.
These cute little owls are found in the western United States and north into western Canada.  They are distinguished by special markings on their neck and tail: on the back of their neck, there are two black spots that resemble a second set of eyes, and on the tail, there are thin horizontal white stripes.  They also have small spots all over their brown or reddish-brown back feathers.  These owls are most active at dawn and dusk, and prey ranges from small songbirds to rodents and insects, and some amphibians like toads and frogs.  They are small in size, averaging about 7" tall, but they can carry prey up to three times their size.  They typically bring the prey back to the nest, and will store prey in cavities inside trees for the winter.  They also store food in the summer, but in relatively small amounts, because prey is more abundant in the warm weather.  They typically only have one mate for life, and lay a typical clutch of three to four eggs.  Scientists are still collecting information on this species.

Information taken from owling.com, utahbirds.com, birdweb.org, and owlpages.com.

Almost every day of our lives, we will encounter those who seem to have no morals or dignity.  It could be on t.v., or in person, or through contact online.  We as Christians are held to a higher moral standard in this life than those who are not believers.  So how do we handle it?  The Bible outlines several ways to deal with these encounters, and I personally like the instruction given to us in Psalm 37: "Do not fret because of evildoers, be not envious toward wrongdoers. For they will wither quickly like the grass and fade like the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the noonday. Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. Cease from anger and forsake wrath; do not fret; it leads only to evildoing. For evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land. Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; and you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there. But the humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity." (Psalm 37:1-11)  God knows and God sees what happens to us.  He may allow certain things to take place that are unpleasant or uncomfortable at the time, but they are meant to make us into the children that He asks us to become.

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