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/

Cheesy Bird Videos

Let me say that these are cheesy videos of bird antics. No agenda other than to clear your mind for a few brief minutes.

Common Redpoll and Black-capped Chickadee, March 2018, Montmartre, SK

This winter I've been catching up on organizing the thousands of images I've collected over the past few years and using them as proof to report what species live on the prairies in our part of the province of Saskatchewan. As you can imagine, I've hesitated doing this because it takes a huge chunk out of my reading and writing time. But there is a real need for accurate information about the flora and fauna that share our natural environment and since I'm somewhat handy with a camera, this is a productive way to help different levels of my government and natural communities.

Interspersed through my image files are dozens of video footage which show nature in action, whether it's a bird in flight, animal on the run, or the wind blowing across the prairie like a rolling wave. The videos aren't sale-worthy quality, but they allow me to take stop-action screenshots for things that move too fast for my eye and shutter to catch, such as the image at the top of this post where I took a screenshot of a video I'm showing on this page.

Some of these videos made me laugh out loud while watching the interactions of the birds. It's like slap-stick comedy where no one gets hurt, such as this first one where the redpoll is more of a nuisance than a threat to the chickadee. The redpoll doesn't seem to know what to do with the peanut wreath, but if the chickadee is interested, then it must be good. The video will show in normal speed first, and then slow motion so you don't miss anything. (https://youtu.be/_tZK6KW6Gm0)

For the first time, the redpolls and chickadees were both residents on our farm all winter, yet it's taken until March for them to build a relationship where they share the same feeder - somewhat. They act as if they didn't know the other was there, but I highly doubt that. By the way, this is the view I see from my office window and it's filmed through the glass.  (https://youtu.be/vW1SblH03Ok)



These days, dozens of  Horned Larks are flying off the roads in front on the vehicles. Sometimes they land further up the road, and other times the flock will land in a nearby field. They must have found a patch of spilled grain in this next video because they all but ignored me, which left me able to see their social interaction. Again it will be normal speed first, then slowed down. (https://youtu.be/I03sKWHk0tg)



This last one has been on YouTube for a couple years, but I've re-edited and shortened it for here. I've labelled it as a Tree Swallow Bully, but if you start at the very earliest, you'll see these two sparrows exchanging their version of words which may explain the later action. If you like AFV, then you'll know what I mean. This one was also filmed through a window, which is why you can hear the camera, but not the sound of being outdoors. (https://youtu.be/cEna9DfiZDI)



I have mixed feelings about that last one. I know that the swallow who fell wasn't injured in the exchange, but it reminds me of a penguin video I saw on AFV a few years back, where one slaps another on the head and knocks it down, then keeps walking as if nothing happened. I laugh because of the nonchalant way it plays out. It's funny when we see it in the animal kingdom, but thankfully, we're outraged when we see or hear of it where humans are concerned.

I can attest to the fact that no birds were harmed in these videos.

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Anita Mae Draper's historical 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/

January's Treasure

January. Some say it's the renewal month where you make goals to improve your mind and body, and shed bad habits. Some say it's the month of relaxation after the hectic holiday season. And some say take it to a deeper level and hibernate - insulate yourself by staying away from real-life social interaction where horrid flu germs flourish and attack without mercy, knocking you down for days of agony and discomfort.

For me, January brought dark days of lethargy. It seemed like winter, with its frigid temperatures, banks of snow, and long nights, stretched on for more months of the year than the other way around. It affected everything I did, which wasn't much because I couldn't seem to get enthusiastic about anything.

But a couple of years ago when January rolled around once more, I realized that I suffered from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Without getting technical, it means that I missed bright sunlight. I didn't feel it on my face which told my brain it wasn't happening and therefore the world was a dreary place. Of course, that's a naive way of saying it, but it's pretty close to the truth when you consider that SAD goes away with a few hours of bright light therapy.

Typical light therapy unit used for Seasonal Affective Disorder. Source: wikipedia 

Last year I kept waiting for the disorder to appear, but when it didn't I put it down to an absence of snow and a mild winter that didn't get much colder than -25C. Even the blizzard and 2 1/2 foot snow dump in March didn't put a damper on me, but by then spring really was only a week or two away.

This year, however, it's different. Take last Sunday, for example. The temp was -29C but the wicked wind chill made it feel like -39C outside. Considering that -40C is the same as -40F and you get the idea. But we bundled up and drove across the prairie to church. After only a few minutes of greetings, someone said to me, "How come you're so chipper this morning?"

Chipper? Me? In the middle of January? With a wind that had tried to freeze my eyeballs when I went out to take a picture of the sunrise that morning?

I simply smiled and shrugged. "I'm here. I'm alive. The sun is shining and the days are getting longer. And spring is just around the corner." Apparently I don't have SAD this year.

This is my second winter in my office in the house. I used to get more fresh air and sunlight when I had to make numerous daylight trips to my office in the garage. But it was cold in there with a cement floor, albeit carpet covered, and my window faced the shadows and deadwood under the towering spruce trees. Although my house office also faces west, the light level is more than double, even on cloudy days. I still have trees, but they often sport birds, a welcome distraction. Watching the chickadees search for seed they've tucked away is comical at times, as are the birds who check out weathered nests when the temperature nears the freezing point, even when spring is still 2 months away.

Common Redpoll appears to check out frosty nest.

Perhaps SAD hasn't affected me this year because I spend more time savoring a coffee while watching the sun rise, each morning a little closer to our driveway. This is my gauge because when I can look down the driveway and see the sun rising at the end, I know its growing heat will soon melt all traces of snow.

However, I think one of the biggest differences is my attitude toward winter itself. Years ago when I stopped enjoying the benefits of cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, I looked at it as a season to get through as best I could. I still do, but like those early days, I've started getting out more for the sole purpose of enjoying what's there. A lot of that has to do with my camera, because I take pleasure in recording what I see, and these days I'm astounded at what's out there. I always knew Saskatchewan teemed with wildlife, yet I now feel as if God has washed my eyes and told me to take another look. I'm rubber-necking all the way to town, wherever I go, and back home again.

I'm reporting my images and findings  to nature and conservation groups to let them know what we have so that they can make informed decisions. They need hard evidence, especially when they go up against groups that think nature doesn't matter for our welfare.

The more I see, the more blessed I feel, and the more I want to show what God has created. Except for the snow. I may not like it, but it sure is easier to see deer, coyotes, and other wildlife when they're walking across a blanket of snow.

Apparently, the temperature is rising to the freezing point of 0 deg C this week. Yep, I should probably take a break from writing and spend a couple hours scouring the prairie while the sun beams down on me through the windows of my car. Strictly for my health, of course.

What about you? Does January get you down?

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Anita Mae Draper's historical 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/

Who's Watching Whom

A few days ago, I walked into my office and was halfway to my desk when I spotted a Great Horned Owl looking in my window. I deked to the right to hide behind the drapes. A few seconds later, I leaned to the left and peered out to see if it was still there...it was leaning to the right peering back at me.

I snapped back from view and reached for my camera...but I'd left it in the living room!

Since I didn't want to yell, I whipped out my phone and texted Nelson who was also in the house…

Moments later I heard him padding down the hall. I motioned him to stop before he reached the door and jabbed my finger in the owl's direction. Nelson peered around the corner and his eyes widened. I stepped into view, took the camera, and clicked away at the owl. Behind me, I heard Nelson retreat, and then he returned and I heard him taking pics, too. 

Great Horned Owl, Front View. Source: Nelson Draper

Great Horned Owl, Looking to side. Source: Anita Mae Draper

Great Horned Owl, Looking Back. Source: Nelson Draper

The owl checked out the place for a minute or so, and then turned and hopped away to another branch. This last photo of the owl looking back at us reminds me of a 1950's chenille bedspread due to the unique feather placement. However, when I look at its extended back and down to its feathered legs and sharp talons, I'm reminded more of a wary cat than a comfy bed. As usual, I'm amazed at God's creativity when I see something as special as a Great Horned Owl. By the way, the use of the word, horned, refers to its ear tufts.

Here's a short clip of the owl before and after it had hopped to another branch. If the video doesn't work, you can find it at: https://youtu.be/8Mn1gjMma-s 

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Of course, this owl encounter has given me ideas about including the scene in a story, similar to how I included the cranes in my novella, Sweet Love Grows. I enjoy adding wildlife to my stories and hope the readers can see that.

Do you have a favorite owl, whether real, virtual, or fiction? Have you had an encounter with one? Care to share? 

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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.  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/