side porch | Love The Giver

We started feeding the birds again.

I washed our windows and took off the screens in our kitchen and now I find myself peeking out to see who is visiting the feeders. It changes from week to week. Beginning with grosbeak earlier and now the yellow and red finches are everywhere. Chickadees, titmouse, wrens and cardinals are permanent residents here.

I’ve finally managed to entice the bluebirds to visit the dried mealworms I’ve placed in a feeder under our big basket oak tree. I put a handful or two in each more and sprinkle some of the ground and it’s gone by the end of the day. Most mornings I spot them waiting on the feeder. Such joy! There are 4 that visit and they come in to the bird bath by my window to get a drink.

I’ve gotten a few visits to my hummingbird feeder. Although not regular, I’ve seen them and that makes me happy.

I’ve been sewing, doing computer work and reading all by the windows to watch the world going on among the feeders and bird bath. Even the seed stealing antics of the squirrels and the chipmunks make me laugh.

A chickadee raised a nest of littles by the side porch. I sat on the side porch steps and watched the comings and goings of the parents. I watched them flap their wings from the nearby tree before they approached the nest with food. I could hear the babies chirping. As I sat with my camera, I decided to take as many pictures of beautiful things without leaving the porch. I enjoyed this self challenge and share my results with you. So how did I do?

There is so MUCH to see! I can’t stay on the porch!!

Spring has loosened her long gentle hold and has allowed summer to move in. The birds are finished with their first nest of eggs, the squirrels just eating the seeds, not worried about storing away and all summer critters have visited. The blackberry bushes are full of red berries, and even the lightning bugs, I saw last night, let me know it’s truly summer.

God is so creative! And He gave it to us to care for and enjoy.

God the Artist

by Angela Morgan

God, when you thought of a pine tree,
How did you think of a star?
How did you dream of the Milky Way
To guide us from afar.
How did you think of a clean brown pool
Where flecks of shadows are?

God, when you thought of a cobweb,
How did you think of dew?
How did you know a spider’s house
Had shingles bright and new?
How did you know the human folk
Would love them like they do?

God, when you patterned a bird song,
Flung on a silver string,
How did you know the ecstasy
That crystal call would bring?
How did you think of a bubbling throat
And a darling speckled wing?

God, when you chiseled a raindrop,
How did you think of a stem,
Bearing a lovely satin leaf
To hold the tiny gem?
How did you know a million drops
Would deck the morning’s hem?

Why did you mate the moonlit night
With the honeysuckle vines?
How did you know Madeira bloom
Distilled ecstatic wines?
How did you weave the velvet disk
Where tangled perfumes are?
God, when you thought of a pine tree,
How did you think of a star?

A dried maple seed.