Time to think about summmer...

I've always found herons illusuive and hard to take pictures of. This one was pretty calm. When we stopped to take a picture, I was so cautious about scaring him off, but he posed for a long time, managed to catch a fish and eat it, and when I was finally done I asked Mal to scare him off so I could get a picture of him in flight, but he refused to scare. He wouldn't leave. It was a highlight of the summer!

This grey owl was at the Birds of Prey Center in Coaldale.

My sunflowers opened just before frost, but I did get a few pictures, and obviously the bees had a chance to enjoy them as well!

A real highlight was going to the Butterfly House at the Calgary Zoo. Our first experience there, and we both loved it. You walk in and there's butterflies everywhere, and they brush against you and may even land on you. And so many varieties that we never see! It was awesome for photography.

We're in the middle of a chinook now. We've been at -25 to -30 the last while, and today it's supposed to be plus one. Good thing, because we're getting company from B.C. and we wouldn't want to scare them off!

Prime Forever

Lord, I don't want to be a faded flower -
Brown, tattered edges,
Petals falling
leaving a naked stalk,
Past prime.
I don't want to be a faded flower,
beauty gone,
strength waning,
a mind not quick to grasp,
Usefulness and purpose done.

How eagerly each blossom began as a bud -

impatient to open
and experience life,
straining towards the future
and all its promise.
The bud opened too slowly to suit me.
But petals do open,
unfolding life,
beauty, vibrant color,
awe-inspiring freshness.

Then prime passes, flowers fade,
petals drop,
are blown away.
Winter follows autumn
as surely as summer follows spring.
Life keeps unfolding, the cycle continues.
Sometimes I wish
life would end at prime.
But that's not how
You planned it.

Lord, how can I be a faded flower?
Your original plan
was life forever at prime.
But with sin came death
and faded flowers.
Yet death holds the seeds of a New Spring.
Now our glad hope
is to push through the soil
a second time, and
rise again to prime forever.
Lord, teach me how to be a faded flower,
to wait patiently
for Your new spring,
and to hold on to the hope
of Prime Forever.

Eleanor Braun

Written May, 2004

A day in the Life of a Moose

Yesterday morning I went for a walk along our new paths by our new pond near our new school, all next to our old marsh. As I walked the paths I was shocked to see what could be nothing else than a moose! I rushed home to get my camera and Mal drove me back to take some pictures. As it turned out, the moose spent an interesting day in town.

The moose visited the school,

then crossed the newly planted grass of our baseball diamonds,

passed the community hall,

then jumped over a chain link fence into a yard,
where he spent the day eating their trees!
We saw him there in the early afternoon but by six o'clock he had left -
I assume he went back to the coulees for the night.

I phoned the local newspaper to offer my pictures,
but they said they'd already been given some pictures from a moose
in a backyard last week which they were going to publish next week.

I'll be interested to see if it's the same moose,
or if there's several moose walking the streets of our town!

Luke's Dedication

Tim and Juanita had Luke dedicated last Sunday.

Grandpa Braun was privileged to pray the Prayer of Dedication for him.
Luke was quite interested in the event!

He is 4 1/2 months old now and enjoying life,
especially when Auntie Jess tickles him!

Kaleb enjoyed his frog mask...

and running!

It gave Uncle Darrell a chance to experiment with his new camera.