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:

Website - www.anitamaedraper.com

Pinterest - www.pinterest.com/anitamaedraper/

Watching Waiting Wondering

by Anita Mae Draper

Raise your hand if you're waiting for April. 

Now wave if you know I'm NOT talking about a calendar month.

Good. I'm not the only one. 

For those of you who aren't one of the 134,203 people (as of this writing) who are tuned to the live cam feed at April the Giraffe's YouTube Channel, we are awaiting the birth of April's calf. 

I want to see the live birth of a baby giraffe. I tried to tell my mom about the live cam feed and she kept saying she saw a panda give birth to twins on the news. I told her it wasn't the same...that I was watching a live camera feed into the giraffe's pen. She repeated about seeing the panda birth. When I said it wasn't the same thing she said she thought I liked pandas. She reminded me that my teddy bear had been a panda. Didn't I remember him? I gave up. 

Granted, if I want to see any number of birds and animals giving birth, feeding their young, hatching, etc, I can take my pick of live camera feeds from the explore.org site. 

But April is a giraffe and this is a new experience for me, yet one that brings good memories.

April the Giraffe, taken from the Animal Adventure Park live cam feed

Just look at those huge doe-like eyes. 

I first heard about April on a Feb 24th newscast that said a New York giraffe would be giving birth soon. March crept in and when April didn't deliver, her handlers at Animal Adventure Park (AAP) explained that they may have missed a cycle. He said giraffe cycles are 17 days apart and so my quick figuring meant there was no rush. I settled in for the long haul.

Animal Adventure Park is not a non-profit organization. They run it to make money and they've taken full advantage of the social media publicity that April's pregnancy has given them by selling 2017 Giraffe Watch apparel, etc and even giraffe emojis to brighten up your social media posts. I can't fault them for that. 

Neither can I fault them for the care they take with their two giraffes which comprise of April and her mate, Oliver. I leave the cam feed on a low resolution so it doesn't take much internet usage and with a 4 hr window I can look back to see if I missed anything - like when April kicked the vet and everyone was talking about it on the live chat.

April the Giraffe, taken from the Animal Adventure Park live cam feed

Why do I watch? Because it reminds me of the time when the kids were at school and my day consisted of sitting in a lawn chair in a cold barn with a cup of hot coffee and waiting for our goats to deliver their kids. I never knew when I would be needed to jump into the stall and give a helping hand. Invariably, some of the goats would wait until I went up to the house for a refill and when I got back, they were already licking off their baby, or babies. But others needed help if it was a breech birth, or the kid had one leg forward and one back, etc. And during some blizzards, the does would get stressed and walk away leaving their newborns lying in their amniotic sacks on the straw. So I'd wait and be there if needed.

I enjoyed the bonding period of being a mother waiting with another mother for a miracle to happen.

I know some of the signs to watch for, like the tail flagging and raising, and the stargazing where they stop chewing their cud and stare into space for awhile. I've seen April do these. Oft times she'll stand beside the far wall motionless. I know she's having a contraction when she leans one way while her back foot comes off the floor and quivers. Or it taps the floor in quick succession.

From what the AAP staff say, giraffes have to hide their labor in the wild to keep predators from knowing until it's too late. So AAP won't announce that April is in active labor until they "see hooves". I respect them for that. They've already got us all on tenterhooks without giving us undue anxiety due to false contractions. As it stands, April has already sent everyone in a flurry a couple times, the latest being Sunday night when the vet stayed overnight due to the baby dropping and the blizzard oncoming. And it's been seventeen days since the news first hit social media.

For giraffes, lying down is labor-intensive. It's almost painful to watch their indecisive movements as they bend a knee, shuffle their back feet, bend again, and make the drop to the floor on both front knees, spreading their back legs out, rocking frontwards and backwards as they settle. 

Last night, April changed her mind after her first attempt at lying down although I could feel the exhaustion straining from her. Apparently giraffes only sleep a couple hours a day and supplement with catnaps. April needed rest. A couple minutes later, she tried again and oh, the way she protected her belly as she sunk to the floor, almost tipping head over knees in her attempt to protect her calf.

In this next image, April is lying on her knees and her back left leg stretched out toward the bottom left of the image. Her head is resting on her left hip and her eye(s) is closed.

April the Giraffe sleeping, taken from the Animal Adventure Park live cam feed

What you don't see in the above image is April bonding with her calf. Just minutes before I took the screenshot, I saw her calf kick out as it often does. This time, April turned to rest her head on her large belly. She then stroked her head back and forth several times, moving her head from side to side so that tender area of her throat rubbed against her skin. She stopped and rested her head as you see above. A tender moment of nurturing.

A couple of days ago a soul-searching moment came to mind as I thought of all the people watching April. We are all waiting for a momentous occasion. Sure, we can watch it on YouTube if we miss it, but it won't be the same as watching it live. It's like being there. We've been invited to witness the birth and only God can say what will happen when the time comes. 

Yet the thought that God is watching me watch April makes me wonder why I am not waiting with the same expectation for His son to return. I believe He will return, but I'm not filled with the same sense of eager anticipation that I have for April's calf to be born. 

I'm very much looking forward to both events. Both are cause for joyous celebrations. And they both have an element of danger because when Christ comes to take His believers home, confusion, regret, and violence will be left behind with the unbelievers and those too stubborn to have accepted him when they had their chance. 

I wonder if it's because I know April will deliver one of these days. After all, pregnancies do end.

Or is it because although I don't know when Christ will return, I feel safe because I have a personal relationship with him and I know I'm ready? Yet, have I used my time wisely while waiting? I've already admitted that I continue to work at my writing projects while glancing at April every once in awhile. Is my writing for Him the best I can do? 

A final thought... how will others know the urgency of Christ's return if I'm not showing it? 

Have you been watching April? 

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Anita Mae Draper's historical romances are woven 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. Her Christian faith is reflected in her stories of forgiveness and redemption as her characters struggle to find their way to that place we call home. Anita loves to correspond with her readers through any of the social media links found at

www.anitamaedraper.com.

Readers can enrich their reading experience by checking out Anita's Pinterest boards for a visual idea of her stories at www.pinterest.com/anitamaedraper.

Travel Log: Monterey California

by Anita Mae Draper

It's hard to believe that yesterday I awoke in beautiful Monterey, California, and today I'm back on the prairies and haven't seen a sailboat, sea otter, or a flash of brilliant blue water all day. I was down in Monterey for the Books & Such Literary Management Retreat and this time, my husband, Nelson joined me on my wonderful working vacation based in the Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa overlooking Monterey Bay, California.

View of Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa from kayak on kelp bed. Photo credit: Nelson Draper, Oct 2016

The view from our room was breathtaking and we spent many minutes taking photos of the plethora of boats, sunrises, and wildlife. Nelson was especially thrilled with the binoculars left in our room for our viewing pleasure. 

View from our room in the Monterey Plaza Hotel. Photo credit: Anita Mae Draper

The Monterey Plaza Hotel is on Cannery Row which used to be lined with canneries. Some of these canneries are still standing and contain shops and boutiques. Next door to the hotel is one of these old canneries. It appears in many of my photos where it is adorned with gulls, pigeons, and cormorants. This next photo shows the hotel and next-door cannery with the Coast Guard Pier in the background. This beach was below our window and we could hear the surf pounding against the beach and brick throughout the day and night.

Beach below the Monterey Plaza Hotel and next door cannery, Monterey, CA. Photo credit: Anita Mae Draper

From our window, we watched the incredible sun rise while gulls and cormorants greeted the day and seals "porpoised" in Monterey Bay. Here's a video showing seals and birds minutes before the sun appeared with its golden glow. My camera recorded it fine when the seals were slicing through the water, but went out of focus when they dived under water. I couldn't be annoyed however, when the sounds of gulls and barking sea lions carried on throughout this short video I've entitled, Monterey Bay Wildlife at Dawn.

And then the sun rose, washing the bay in light and exposing a thick layer of dew on every standing surface. 

Sunrise over Monterey Bay, California. Photo credit: Anita Mae Draper

While I was busy with the agency sessions on the first day, Nelson spent his time exploring the area around the Monterey Plaza Hotel which included the infamous Cannery Row. On the second day, I was in session when I received a text message from Nelson which said, "Out here in kayak." Gawk! I slipped out with my camera and this is what greeted me. My camera proved its worth as I zeroed in on Nelson in a red kayak way out there, in the centre of this pic.

Nelson Draper (middle of image) kayaking in Monterey Bay, Oct 2016. Photo credit: Anita Mae Draper

Here's a close up of one of the dozen or so I took of him through my Nikon P520 CoolPix camera...

Nelson Draper and friend, Monterey Bay, California, Oct 2016. Photo credit: Anita Mae Draper

Nelson said he'd often heard wings flapping and water splashing while he was out there, but whatever had made the noise was gone by the time he turned around. This photo was a fun surprise for him, however, as he hadn't realized anything was there until I showed him the evidence. 

He took some astounding photos from the kayak including the one at the top of this post showing the kelp and hotel, and this one of the wildlife taking advantage of the sunny rocks on Coast Guard Pier which forms part of the Monterey Harbour.

Coast Guard Pier, Monterey, California, Oct 2016. Photo credit: Nelson Draper

And after three full days in California, it was time to depart. I'll give you one last photo Nelson took while getting up close and personal with the wildlife while kayaking in the bay.

Goodbye from Monterey Bay, October 2016. Photo credit: Nelson Draper

I really enjoyed this second trip to Monterey, and a big part of that was that I was able to share the trip with Nelson and can now share the memory of it with him. Between the photos we took this year, and those I took of my 2014 Books & Such Monterey Retreat, we have many images of birds and animals which we'll be showing on Pinterest, Facebook, and our Draper's Acres blog in weeks to come. I hope you'll keep in touch as we share our journey.

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Anita Mae Draper's historical romances are woven 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. Her Christian faith is reflected in her stories of forgiveness and redemption as her characters struggle to find their way to that place in their heart we call home. Anita loves to correspond with readers through her contact page, or any of the social media links found at www.anitamaedraper.com.

Readers can enrich their reading experience by checking out Anita's Pinterest boards for a visual idea of her stories at www.pinterest.com/anitamaedraper.

Squirrel!

Disclaimer: No animals were harmed in the making of this post.

I hope these bring a smile to your face.

My vegetable gardening skills are somewhat lacking, but I enjoy growing fruit. Our best crops are peaches, blueberries, and raspberries. That said, getting them onto the table can be a challenge. (Thank you, Adam, for not resisting that forbidden fruit.)

This year, a late spring frost depressed the peach crop. And then there's the annual fight against fungus, insects and squirrels. The squirrels are one of the most annoying. They wait until the crop is ripe, then strip trees and bushes bare.

This week, after picking blueberries regularly for the past month, I noticed a sudden cessation in ripe ones. Every day, there were only unripe ones. That's usually a sign of a squirrel assault, so my husband took action with a humane trap.

Success.

Winston (our 8 1/2 month old Australian Shepherd) wasn't sure what to make of this at first.

But hey, it looked suspiciously like a favorite playmate who squeaks when you squeeze him:

Puppies just wanna have fun.

I think he decided we'd gotten him a new toy.

Poor puppy. He just couldn't get the squirrel to play.

I rescued the squirrel by loading him in the van and taking him to a park about 5 miles away (on the other side of the river so he won't easily come back). Afterward, I discovered he'd left me a few "gifts" (if you know what I mean) in the back of the van.

Methinks I should let Winston have the next one.

Wildlife Watch: Fox and Grouse

by Anita Mae Draper

A few weeks ago my husband mentioned that he'd like to have a camera with a zoom lens like mine in case he saw something interesting while he was out and about. Since I'd upgraded to a Nikon CoolPix P520, I gave him my P500 to try out. It's a great camera, but not quite the same zoom length.

I really like the images he's bringing back. So between the two of us we're cataloging quite an array of Saskatchewan wildlife. We've even started a little photo competition where we post what we consider our best shots of the day. (They're posted on my Draper's Acres blog as well as Facebook.)

Along with our photos, we made some videos and that's what I'd like to show you today... like the morning I looked out my living room window and saw a Red Fox on my lawn. If you don't see it below, check it out on YouTube. (Squeamish? Note: Fox eats small animal)

Red Fox Visit Apr 18, 2016:



Now that I'm having my morning coffee on my front patio, I'm seeing all kinds of birds that I recognize, and many tweets, chirps, and tunes that I don't.

This next video was a real surprise however, because I'd never see anything like it. The farmer who rents our undulating land had only planted the field yesterday and while I was sitting there enjoying the sun this morning, I saw 3 white spots come barreling over one of the hills. I zoomed in and saw a Sharp-Tailed Grouse trio with the two females being chasing a male if full display mode, ie with his head down, wings out, and his yellow eye patches and purple neck sac flaring. You see, he's courting the ladies and when he beats his feet on the ground and runs after them he reminds me of a crab. You can see it below or on YouTube.

Sharp-tailed Grouse Stalking Sequence

The male in my video looks like the one in this photo that I found on Wikipedia. Can you see the flared yellow eye patches and the purple neck sac? His pointed tail confirms he's a Sharp-Tailed Grouse.

Sharp-Tailed Grouse. Photo Credit: Rick Bohn. Courtesy of Wikipedia

On May 3rd Nelson managed to capture this great shot of a male Sharp-Tailed Grouse who wasn't displaying...



















Grouse are territorial and along with the males displaying to attract females, they also do it to scare/fight off challengers.

This next video of 3 males facing off was taken by Nelson on a windy day. The grouse are kind of hard to see, but it's a great example of them challenging for the top grouse position. If you can't see it below, check YouTube.

Sharp-Tailed Grouse Males Displaying



When I first watched the completed videos of these grouse, I was very disappointed because of the blocky quality. However, my teenager showed me that my YouTube setting was on Auto and that I could change the quality. When I put it on 480p I had to wait longer for it to load, but the video was much better. So very glad he told me that because I've since found out that I can see so much better on websites that have birdcams and animalcams when I change the quality setting.

I wish the videos were better, but if we tried to get closer to the grouse they would have flown, so we're thankful for what we did get. This year is the first time I've witnessed these birds in action and I think they're very fun to watch.

Do you have any memories or thoughts on the Sharp-Trailed Grouse and it's display? What about an encounter with a fox or other wildlife?

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Anita Mae Draper's stories are written under the western skies where she lives on the prairie of southeast Saskatchewan with her hubby of 30 plus years and the youngest of their four kids. When she's not writing, Anita enjoys photography, research, and travel, and is especially happy when she can combine the three in one trip. Anita's current release is Romantic Refinements, a novella in Austen in Austin Volume 1, WhiteFire Publishing, January 2016.  Anita is represented by Mary Keeley of Books & Such Literary Management. You can find Anita Mae at  www.anitamaedraper.com

Fall Livestock Movement

by Anita Mae Draper

It's the middle of November and we've been enjoying gorgeous weather up here in Saskatchewan. For whatever the reason, I seem to have been in the the right place to catch livestock movement in the past few weeks.

The last week of Oct started off with a nice encounter with a mini-horse. We stopped off at a friend's farm to drop something off on our way to Regina and found the driveway blocked by a closed gate because their mini horse was running loose in the yard. Nelson walked up to the house while I took photos from our car. And yes, we made sure the gate was closed when we drove away.

Nelson and mini-horse

A couple days later we were on our way to the Circle Square Ranch to drop our son off for work and we found these cows standing on the side of the road. They're nice cows and all, but they should have been on the OTHER side of the fence.

Loose cows on the side of the road

The next day, I looked out my kitchen window and saw a bay pony trotting down the road heading south. All alone, it kept its head down and speed even as if it was on a mission. I didn't recognize it, so put out a notice on the local Facebook page. Soon after, I was relieved to see a truck heading down the road after it.

Unknown pony on the loose

On November 7th, we were on our way to Regina when we had to stop for a cattle drive. It was quite unique as the cattle came down a dirt road from the north, crossed the highway, and continued travelling south. On either side of the crossing sat a truck and cattle trailer with the drovers and quads on standby if needed.

Cattle crossing Hwy 48 

Cattle heading south 

Finally, here's a video I took on Sunday about cowboys checking for strays during the fall round up.

If you can't see the video, please let me know. I unlisted it on my YouTube channel because it came out so blurry... when I watch it full screen on my computer, I can see the cowboy's mustache. But when it uploads on YouTube, I can barely see his face. Frustrating.

And wouldn't you know it...the forecast is for a deep drop in temperatures over the next few days, high winds, and the possibility of driving snow. I would groan about it, but since I can't complain about the weather we had in October, nor November thus far, I'll just recharge my camera batteries, stock our fridge, and wait for whatever comes. I mean, we want a white Christmas after all, and we need the cold weather and clouds for that.

Now, how about you... any cattle drives or loose livestock running around where you live?

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Anita Mae Draper's stories are written under the western skies where she lives on the prairie of southeast Saskatchewan with her hubby of 30 plus years and the youngest of their four kids. Anita's short story, Here We Come A-Wassailing, published in A Cup of Christmas Cheer, Volume 4, Heartwarming Tales of Christmas Present, Guideposts Books, October 2014, was a finalist for the Word Guild's 2015 Word Awards. Her first novella, Romantic Refinements, will be released January 2015 in Austen in Austin Volume 1, WhiteFire Publishing. Anita is represented by Mary Keeley of Books & Such Literary Management. You can find Anita Mae at  www.anitamaedraper.com