#AdventWord #Herald

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One of the reasons I began kayaking is because you can get closer to birds in a kayak than on land. The lower profile of a kayak on water and the smooth, silent movement–assuming you aren’t splashing your paddle!–seems to alarm them less. I came fairly close to the male Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) perched on a snag over Black Bayou Lake. Was he calling to his mate? Signaling that he was ready to take his turn on their nest? Warning away other birds? Announcing appreciation for the beauty and bounty around him? God told Job, Ask the beasts and the…

#AdventWord #Glory

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Such an ordinary tree, the sweetgum. Plentiful. Maybe too plentiful in Louisiana. An opportunistic species that seeds readily in an area disturbed by construction or a storm or whatever, quickly covering bare ground with glossy dark green, hand-shaped leaves. Then they spread rapidly, preventing slower species from getting started. Sweetgum seed balls are big and prickly and cover the ground in fall. Woe is the person who steps on one barefoot. Or wearing sneakers with openings in the soles. But those gumballs are full of seeds and the birds love them! So sweetgums are a bit of a “good news,…

#AdventWord #Watch

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I regret that I have gotten too lazy to do the morning watch very often. In fact, I am usually up before dawn. But typically I’m nestled on the sofa, steaming cup of coffee at hand, checking the news and playing solitaire on my phone. I enjoy it. But that little morning ritual is not to be compared to “the morning watch,” which to me must be outdoors, preferably near water, watching the rebirth of the world–the return of color, the song of birds, fragrance of dew on soil and plants. This daily resurrection speaks to me always of the…