A QUERY on Repeat

They ask the question again and again.

“Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?”

A previous post mentioned the fact that I have a barred owl nest in a tree that grows out of my deck, and perhaps you know that the call of a barred owl sounds like this 9-word query, repeated over and over again. The only answer the owls every get to their question is that same query repeated back to them, sometimes before they’ve even reached the last word.

Who cooks for me? I have an answer! It’s my daughter-in-law, Becca, and a fabulous cook she is! My son and his wife are living with me temporarily, and I am enjoying every moment of their stay. Besides just the joy of having them around, an added benefit is that Becca loves to cook… while I do not… and she has been making the most fabulous meals on a nightly basis. I lay the blame for my current weight gain on her ability to navigate in the kitchen. She is especially gifted in the application of spice to food; important to one whose sense of smell has been practically nonexistent for years and therefore has to find other ways to boost the taste of food.

My taste buds don’t question her ability, that’s for sure!

"Ask and keep on asking..." (Matthew 7:7 AMP) 

(photo credit: Unsplash/MattWalsh)

 

PERSPECTIVE is PARAMOUNT

My friend’s colostomy surgery is today.

It’s not what he wanted. Still so young, battling two types of cancer… this was a step he wanted to avoid in his treatment plan. But God apparently (and always!) knows what’s best for us… and maybe the young man will afterwards see this as a blessing that brought unexpected physical comfort as he undergoes the rest of the process. And actually, he has no choice if he is to survive; a blocked bowl can prove deadly.

And so a change of perspective is in order. Acceptance and attitude adjustment can be achieved if we look to Jesus as an example. He, too, was faced with a path He didn’t want to walk. How did He handle it?

He surrendered. He gave in to God’s plan, no matter how difficult. He said to His Father, “O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done” (Matthew 26:42 KJV). He put the cup to His lips and drank.

Even as I write this, my friend is doing the same. He’s in surgery he didn’t want but has to have to get the healing he hopes to achieve. And as he does, so I hope his heart is fixed on the promise that “all things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28 NKJV) …no matter how it tastes going down.

“Be still, and know that I am God…” (Psalm 46:10)

(photo credit: Unsplash/NationalCancerInstitute)

 

OWL OBSESSION

I admit it; we’re obsessed. 

My daughter-in-law and I have done little else for the past several days but owl-watch. There’s a pair nesting in the tree that grows through my deck, and last week we spent hours watching one of them poised right at the edge of the big hole entrance,  as it watched the bird action at the bird feeders nearby.

We knew something was nesting in the hole in the tree before we determined what type of animal it actually was. We could see some kind of  body part sticking out just past the edge of the hole, and spent hours trying to decide if we were looking at feathers or fur. We’ve had everything nest in that hole in years gone by… notably raccoons, squirrels, and last year, an owl.

So we were filled with hope of an owl return when we started to hear them calling to each other morning and night in the woods behind the house,  but sightings were few. Then suddenly an owl started positioning itself at the hole entrance, answering our questions. Over the weekend, we only saw one in the trees just beyond the fence, preening itself and watching intently all that went on in the backyard area for hours at a time before disappearing suddenly as it grew dark. This morning it was back in the woods where we’d seen it…and then suddenly, there were two! Occasionally we see one fly into the hole, or be perched on the branch directly in front of it.

Seeing the beauty of nature by myself is incredible enough, but to be able to share the experience with my daughter-in-law adds a whole new level of fun to the activity. Our efforts to summon each other when an owl moves in close have been pretty hysterical. The first time I saw the bird in the hole entrance I was so excited that I lost my ability to use words – I could only wave frantically at Becca who was sitting nearby – grunting in my excited attempts to get her attention. Then when she saw one up close this afternoon she yelled for me to come quick… and just as quickly the owl flew away, startled by the noise.

We have no idea how big the owlets are in the hole or how much longer we’ll get to witness this exciting event, but we’re giving it all we’ve got till the babies fledge, we have to go on with our lives, and start dreaming of a recurrence of the fun next year.

“An owl is the wisest of all birds because the more it sees the less it talks.” 

 – Christie Watson