out my windows -

      As most of you know, I love how God sends me smiles via his creations passing out my windows.
      I've spotted lots of different types of birds this year while looking out my bedroom window. When the vertigo gets going, sometimes laying down helps. God has not only blessed me with lots of wonderful breezes up there, but also lots of beautiful birds to watch.
      I'm wondering if I'd never noticed all of them before, because they use to hide their beauty in our overgrown back yard bushes, and now that the bushes are gone, they must find other places to rest. That's possible. All I know for sure, is that I have totally enjoyed spotting and watching the pairs of Cardinals, Blue Jays, Yellow Finch's, Oreo's (the birds, not the cookies ;-p), gray things with the feathered peak on their head (a type of dove?), as well as the wood pecker.
      I got a wonderful chuckle and great parental reassurance a couple of weeks ago, over the interaction of a young sparrow and it's mother. I could tell it was a young sparrow by the fluff still on it's wings, mixed with it's small size. It had just started sprinkling, when the young bird zoomed onto a branch of the young tree out my window. It was okay for a minute, but then I could tell by the way it shook itself, that it had started getting hit with the increasing rain. It shook itself again and then started making such a racket!! How that much noise could emit from that small of a sized bird, was amazing!!! It didn't just put out a plea for help and then sit quietly. Oh my no! It kept chirping louder and louder, with such frequency that I was tempted to see if I could scare it away. Noisy thing. When the rain slackened a bit, a larger bird whom was obviously it's mother flew in and landed next to it. The mother bird started saying things to the young one while caressing it with her neck. So sweet. The mother bird then flew off while calling back over her shoulder for the young one to follow her. But the young one didn't. It just re-started it's loud pleading. Then while I couldn't see where the mother bird had landed, I could hear her speaking to her youngster. And on it went. Until there really was a lull in the rain and the young one stopped complaining and shaking the rain off of itself long enough to fly away.
     I got such a chuckle out of that! But also reassurance that I wasn't a horribly horrible mother. Even birds have challenges in getting their kids to do what they are told to do!!! ;-p
    Late at night I have watched the bats flying and rooted them on, to stay outside and eat ALL of the mosquitoes, not find a way to get inside my house. Outside, I have no problem with them. Inside - well, yeah.
    One night I had spotted a possum traveling down our alley. I hoped that it wasn't headed to nest in our garage like one had. That had been an extremely scary discovery for Brandon and Brian when they had been cleaning the garage!!
     I thank the Lord for the smiles he has granted me, while enjoying the breezes coming in through my bedroom window!! But he has also given me many a smile through the window next to the computer here in the den. Not as many breezes, due to how close this side of the house is to the next house, but many smiles!
     There is a chipmunk that lives in the cement of the neighbor's basement. He can be such an animated funny thing to watch! Jumping from step to step, to the potted plants sitting next to the steps, and spinning ... very amusing! Sometimes he has appeared with swollen cheeks, and after checking to make sure that I remain sitting still, he'll empty his cheeks and start eating the contents. If I happen to move in what he deems as a 'wrong' way, he'll sit straight up and give me quite the scolding!!! Chuckle, chuckle...
     There is also a rabbit that likes to take it's lunch from the weeds growing out of their back steps. If I were to gather all of the huge leafs he scarfs down and layer them on a plate, it would make one good sized salad!!!
      I know that just like it is with mice, with chipmunks and rabbits, if you see one, you can rest assured that there are more. The morning of my birthday, God gave me a bonus smile by allowing me to spot two bunnies coming out from under my neighbors car. :-) That was the very first time I spotted two of them!
     Right before I started typing this, I had a different first time viewing out my den window. There had just been a low rumble of thunder and then a mother raccoon, followed by three young raccoons, waddled up the neighbors driveway, through their open back yard gate, and around and then under their back deck. Quite the swaggering parade! ;->
     Hum mmm, I wonder if they were what prompted the extra low growl and then charge from Boo, as I was letting him out the back door at ten to four this morning? (I had been on the couch due to humidity + menopausal sweating equaling, well, I'm not sure how to describe it! :-[ ) I had better start turning the light on and checking before I let him out. A protective mother raccoon can cause a lot of injuries to a dog!
     Lord, I am still enjoying the smiles of nature that you bless me with, via the views out my windows! Thank-You!