Wednesday, October 17, 2018

The Story Behind the Header



This post is about a blessing - an inspiring Fall blessing that amazed me in its complex simplicity. By the way, these are very brief videos, so if you only have a couple minutes, skip the text and relax as you watch nature in motion.

I was out driving one afternoon and although I saw a few things I would have liked to photograph, my mission was to get my son to work on time. As I dropped him off, I headed home with my camera ready for whatever blessing God had in store for me. It wasn't long before I started noticing magpies, meadowlarks and starlings, both adult and juvenile. Three killdeer and a snipe were the only shorebirds in the diminishing sloughs. And finally, two small flocks of swans that I could hear from across the lake, and are proof that I saw them, but  they were too far away for decent shots.

As I headed west, I saw a huge flock of geese about to cross the gravel road in front on me. I pulled over to the side, angled my car a bit, rolled down my window, and then started filming. (If the video doesn't appear, you can see it at https://youtu.be/jRFnoYzfb6k)


The geese went on and on, too numerous too count. Days later, I counted the geese with the help of a marking aid on 17 different screenshots. I came up with approximately 5,600 geese, but evened it out to 5,000 to give or take a few.

Back to that day, I drove until the next intersection before turning south toward home. I was alone on the gravel road, farms dotted the landscape in the distance, and ahead of me the geese were landing over a small ridge. I slowed my car to a crawl, not wanting to scare them as I knew they needed their rest. As I drove closer, I could see they were Snow geese. I could hear their cacophony, higher pitched than the Canada geese, and still they kept circling and landing. With no other vehicles for miles ahead or behind me, I shut off my engine and watched them land, their feet dangling down as if itching to touch the ground. Aware of the setting sun, I pointed my camera at one bunch, then another, and another...trying for the perfect shot with hectic movements.



Without warning, thousands of wings rustled through the air and a wall of geese arose in front of me.



En mass, they flew across the road toward the setting sun. Sated, I started the car and crept forward, yet couldn't drag my eyes from the flock. And then, as if God hadn't blessed me enough, the flock turned and crossed in front of the setting sun. Engine off, facing west, I started filming once again. https://youtu.be/8YD-AOuyBPs


Oh my.

With the sun going down, I started on my way again, yet had only moved a few yards when I caught sight of a moose emerging from a bushy stand of trees. I hadn't even had time to roll up my window. With the engine off, I slowly raised my camera, not wanting to scare her away. Surely she was aware of my presence, yet she didn't appear threatened by me. https://youtu.be/7L32zvYAZ0o


After browsing awhile, she headed back into the brush. After I'd lost sight of her, I started my car and continued south as slowly as I could for several minutes. By the time I drove into our farmyard, the sun was kissing the horizon.

Oh, what a wonderful world our God has blessed us with. Of course, the hard part is trying to describe his blessings in my writing in a way that others can see the beauty no matter what hardships they're going through. But as long as He's showing me what to share, I'll keep passing it along.

Your turn... share an unexpected blessing that took your breath away. Your experience just might be be a blessing to someone else.

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Anita Mae Draper's romances are written under the western skies of the Saskatchewan prairie where her love of research and genealogy yield fascinating truths that layer her stories with rich historical details.  Anita's short story, Here We Come A-Wassailing, was a finalist for the Word Guild's 2015 Word Awards. Her novellas are included in Austen in Austin Volume 1, The American Heiress Brides Collection, and The Secret Admirer Romance Collection. Readers can check out Anita's Pinterest boards for a visual idea of her stories to enrich their reading experience.  Discover more at:




4 comments:

  1. I received the following quote via messaging from Elaine K who is having problems logging in:

    "I don't think I've ever seen that many geese flying. I have seen fields of geese. And to be that close to a moose! Wow!!"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Elaine, the last time I was that close to a moose was when I was a toddler in my mom's old Chevy and we were driving on a forestry road in Northern Ontario. No seat belts back then, so when a huge bull moose stepped out in front of the car, we hit with an awful thud and I went flying through the windshield. I still bear the faded scar betwixt my bottom lip and chin.

      Thank you for contacting me via FB messenger. I'm sorry you're having problems logging in and I'm praying it will all work out soon. You are a blessing to us.

      Delete
  2. Replies
    1. Elaine! Yay! So glad you got in. Another blessing. :)

      Delete

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