Tag: goldfinch

Nooze-Free Sunday

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

Curious black man hiding in the hole and prying / editable flat vector illustration, clip art Stock Vector | Adobe Stock

We should be acutely, painfully, miserably embarrassed by the news these days–and by the characters who (ahem!) “report” it.

So on Sunday I’d rather turn away from nooze. Let’s have hymns, let’s have prayers, let’s have rejoicing in God’s works, and by all means let’s have comedy. But let’s not have the nooze. It can surely wait till tomorrow. The same wicked morons who were screwing us in Congress on Friday will still be screwing us tomorrow.

I am up too early this morning, but there was a payoff: I saw the goldfinch again. Such a bright and brilliant yellow!

Goldfinch Pictures | Download Free Images on Unsplash

I see one of these and think, “No way God abandons this world He made, and that He went to the Cross to save! No way he hands it over to the monsters!”

This is my Father’s world!/ O let me ne’er forget

That tho’ the wrong seems oft so strong,

God is the ruler yet.

God’s Stuff: The Goldfinch

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

203 Female And Male Goldfinch Stock Photos, Pictures & Royalty-Free Images - iStock

Our state bird of New Jersey, the goldfinch, isn’t seen too often. But when I looked out my upstairs window at the start of this day, there they were–a pair of them, visiting the sunflowers next door. The male’s bright yellow plumage immediately caught my eye.

It can’t be a bad day when it starts like this!

No, I didn’t take it as an omen or a sign: just a welcome display of God’s creation. Thank you for that, Lord. It was much appreciated.

I Won’t Touch the Nooze Today

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

Scarlet tanager's startling red flash like fireworks in the forest | On the Wing | bayjournal.com

Instead of getting my hands dirty with the nooze, which will still be there tomorrow–and they will have added to it–let’s have a look at something beautiful. A scarlet tanager, for instance.

I have seen this bird in the wild only once in my life, when I was 12 years old at Y camp. Its range supposedly includes New Jersey, and you’d think such a vividly colored bird would stand out and be easy to see–nevertheless, I never see them. Mostly we have sparrows and starlings.

In an odd way, I’m kind of glad the scarlet tanager so rarely takes the stage. It’d be a shame to take something so beautiful for granted. If I see a goldfinch once a year, I count it a blessing. And I have yet to see a bluebird.

It’s something to look forward to: and nothing in the nooze can match it.

Anniversary Time!

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

Image result for images of goldfinch and monarch butterfly

All right, it’s our 40th anniversary today, it only comes around once in a lifetime (unless you get married real, real early and live a real long time), and until cat video time rolls around this evening, I’m going to stop working.

Because it finally stopped raining this morning, yielding to a sunny day that feels more like late September than early August, I was able to do some writing–and a most interesting discovery has been made in the ruins of Old Obann. And my whole marching and chowder society turned out–first a monarch butterfly, then a goldfinch, and lastly a rabbit who gave my feet and chair a friendly sniff before moving on to other business.

I remember one anniversary, years ago, which we spent at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, where Patty posed for pictures with an assortment of lovingly-preserved World War II tanks: stood up there in the topless turret of a Soviet SU-76 assault gun like she owned the thing.

Image result for images of soviet su-76 assault gun at aberdeen proving ground

SU-76, sans Commander Patty

And was it hot that day! We would have loved to spend more time in the Proving Ground Museum, but the building was not air-conditioned and you could die in there, so out we came.

But that’s enough for now.

The Gorgeous Goldfinch

Posted By: leeduigon(patty)Posted On:

This afternoon, as I forged ahead on my book, I was blessed with the sight of two goldfinches, a mated pair. The male is the bright yellow one, and the female has a kind of greenish tint.

Hi, Mr. Nature here, with more of God’s stuff that really works and is a delight to His people.

Although the goldfinch is our state bird here in New Jersey, we don’t see them that often. But the male goldfinch is a real eye-catcher, and usually where you see one, you see both. They’re never very far from one another.

A good lesson for married people, that!