Roles, Even with Birds?

We know that the animal kingdom has survival of the fittest but what about the birds. Do roles or superiority exist there as well? Yesterday, I saw an actual fight between 2 sparrows at my feeder. One bird had the other bird by the beak and there was lots of screaming…or loud chirping. I am sure to them is was screaming. I thought it was funny at first but then in their world this was serious business of “my food, my territory.”

IMG_20181116_122159 — Male cardinal before the snow

When the larger birds show, the smaller birds scatter. That is why I put the feeder near the evergreens, a safe hiding place. It’s funny how when they all get spooked, they all head to the trees; cardinals, blue jays, woodpeckers and all the little guys. It’s kind of like people, when we get scared we all want a safe zone and our perceived roles of superiority go out the window.

We woke up to about 1″ of snow already on the ground this morning and it has been lightly snowing all day. Fortunately the ground is still warm keeping the streets clear but the trees are beautiful.

And of course there is the yard pest that I don’t want on the feeder that climbs the pole then pulls himself up using the suet feeders. So a rearrangement of suet feeders is in order and maybe a good greasing of the pole. It will be end of December before I can get out to rearrange things so everyone will just have to depend on mother nature to keep them feed for now once this round is empty.

IMG_20181117_152641 — Small fella not happy with the intruder

The role of the bird feeder is to feed the birds, not the yard rats. But I guess when you are trying to take care of a little bit of nature you don’t get to choose which nature takes advantage of your goodies.

For us in the US, it is Thanksgiving week so I wish all here to have a great Thanksgiving. For those not in the US, I still wish you a wonderful week. And in all that you do, remember to be kind. The more you try to be kind, the more it may change your mindset in different ways of being kind. Kindness can radiate encouragement and that may be all a situation needs to get turned around to a positive outcome.

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Linda G Hill gave us a Saturday prompt of “roll, roles” for #SoCS, Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Come join in on the fun.

Three New Fun Ornaments, TPC

Tuesday’s Photo Challenge made me giggle as I just bought a trio of new ornaments for my “Fun Tree”. This tree has the quirky ornaments, the ornaments my children made over the year and then back filled with colored balls to reflects the light and love of the tree. This tree is located in my bedroom in a large bump out window. Perfect place for a tree.

IMG_20181113_095417 — Mermaid S’More at the top, Angel S’More in the Center and S’More with Reindeer

The S’More collection started when my kids were in high school and pranksters. My oldest gave me the first one and that started a trend where now I try to find a new one each year. This year I found 3 that I didn’t have that I liked. I think I now have over 30 of them and the fun tree is quickly becoming the S’More tree.

When we were told we could be humorous for today’s challenge, I could not resist. And remember humor like art is in the eye of the beholder.

And I close as I always do in reminding myself and others to always be kind. Today is World Kindness Day, so an extra reminder to be kind.

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Bridges @ Iowa and Illinois, A Photo a Week

Living on one side of the river and working on the others can cause a transportation problem if we did have bridges. There are some places around the world that have ferry boats that take people and sometimes cars from one side of the river to the other.

Where I live on the Mississippi we have numerous bridges, some for cars and some for trains. Most have identifying names so in conversation you can tell what side of the quad cities you are referring to. There are 4 cities linked together, 2 cities on each side of the river that the only way you can tell what city you are in is by the street name. For instance if you were on 49th street and all of a sudden you were on 1st street, you went from Davenport to Bettendorf in Iowa or from Rock Island to Moline in Illinois. On the far west side of town you have the first bridge, the Blue Bridge(that used to be the yellow bridge) which is actually the 280 bypass. The next bridge east is a railroad bridge and coming further east you have the newer bridge, the Centennial Bridge, which connects the downtown areas of Davenport and Rock Island. This is the bridge where all the 4th of July festivities are surrounded. A barge is put in the middle of the river and is where they shoot off fireworks. The next bridge over is the Arsenal Bridge and Lock Dam that goes from Davenport’s east side the the Rock Island Base. Coming further east is the I-74 Corridor bridge which is in the process of its 3rd and massive rebuild. The the last bridge for the area is the I-80 bridge which will probably be the next rebuild project one the I-74 bridge is complete in 2020.

In following Nancy Merrill’s prompt of Bridges I am featuring the center most bridges of the area. There is also a smaller river in this area, the Rock river that flows into the Mississippi that has several bridges as well but they are not as photographic as these. So enjoy. I do apologize for the gray day but its that kind of day.

IMG_20181102_112343 — The Centennial Bridge with the Railroad bridge in the distance.

IMG_20180713_131048 — Paddle boat ride up the river showing construction on I-74 Corridor Bridge earlier this summer

These two pictures below show construction barges and cranes. In October you could main frames for the structure footings and some of the first sections of the bridge are complete. I will send update maybe in the spring.

The area I live in is really not that big in comparison of the larger metro cities but is big enough to need several bridges to carry people from side to the other.

In closing today I close with a wonderful smile as a reminder to always be kind. your kindness may be the only nice thing that person may get on a given day.

smiling — This smile can turn any frown upside down.

Red Doors, Thursday’s Doors

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During the middle ages church doors were painted red to signify the blood of Christ and as a sign of the cross. The red doors of churches also symbolize a place of sanctuary, refuge and safety from physical or spiritual evil/danger.

When I saw these wonderful doors, I wondered how many other doors of churches in my area are red and there were quite a few. Even a few residences had red doors. Enjoy these door, while some may be rather plain, I lean back on the wonder of showing the love of Christ on a door.

I thought this next door was interesting which at one time was possibly a home or apartment complex but now serves as one of the residences for St. Ambrose College.

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There can be some much wonder when you take the time to study the details our world. The beauty and the complexities of why we are where we are today.

And as you reflect on this beauty, remember to be kind. A kind smile can break the tight hold of fear or despair that may be chocking someone.

kind8 — Your kindness may be that person’s only light for the day.

Its Yellow’s Turn, #1 Liner Wednesday

Last week I showed pictures of the leaves during the first show of change and the colors were red. Now yellow is making it’s appearance and this area has lots of yellow to enjoy.

Yellow1 — The brightness of the yellow or the blueness of the sky is really not reflected in the photo

I was finally able to go walking through the local state park and the yellows were exquisite. There were a few reds still trying to hang on of which I was surprised with the winds that came through here last Saturday. With the sudden cold air on Sunday and Monday, the yellows are really showing off. This is a response for Linda G Hill’s #1Liner Weds.

Enjoy the colors.

The Black Hawk State Park is a small park inside the city limits of Rock Island Illinois, one of the cities of the Quad Cities metro area between Illinois and Iowa with the Mississippi running through them. It a beautiful park with walking trails. When we first moved into this metro area I was shocked to see deer just walking through the yard but its because of the preserve and they are protected here.

So as the season is changing again, enjoy this time as nature prepares to rest for the coming winter of cold and white. According to Farmers Almanac, the mid-west is in for a rough one. https://www.farmersalmanac.com/weather-outlook/2019-winter-forecast

If we could just have summer for about 1 month, and one month of winter and the rest divided between spring and fall I would be a happy camper. But alas, they each have their purpose. Ok, fine.

And as reminder to me and everyone else, please be kind. There are times when it is really hard but those times can sometimes bring the highest rewards.

deer — Even animals depend on the kindness of strangers

The Box ‘Returnith’ – Surprise, TPC

Its funny how some things just disappear and then all of a sudden ‘surprise, I am back’. It can be a person or a thing but in my case it was a cardboard box.

Jansenphoto’s Tuesday’s photo challenge is Surprise! We all love good surprises and wish we didn’t get some surprises but sometimes there is a weird off handed surprise that make us smile.

To cut to the chase, I had my mailbox sitting on a cardboard box so that the mailman would not have to come up to the house. I will tell that story one day but today we are talking about the box. Saturday was a beautiful day but we had some pretty serious wind gusts around 45-55 mph. It was more than the little box could stand I guess as the mailbox ended up on the ground and the box was not to be found. I asked around but no one had seen it. Didn’t want to trash up my neighbors yard. OK, no big deal. I placed a concrete block there and put the mailbox on it. Wind wont blow that away…unless it takes the house as well.

Tuesday mid-morning when I went to check on the mail, guess what was there.

IMG_20181023_102607 — And the box returns, Who Knew?

They even brought it back filled with trash. How extra special. I put it with the rest of the trash I was cleaning up from the yard so it is no more for certain this time.

And as always as a reminder to myself as well as others, remember to be kind. It will bring a smile to you and as well as those you were kind to.

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Beauty of the Ocean…in Iowa

I currently live in Iowa on the Mississippi River. When I was a kid, when trying to learn the state locations, the center of the country was always easy because of the man in the middle. For those not familiar with that teaching, I will explain. The foot or boot(purple) of the man is Louisiana, his pants(green) is Arkansas, his shirt(blue) is Missouri, his head(green) is Iowa and his hat(tan) is Minnesota. Now the face of the man is carved by the Mississippi River and where I live, the river comes across sideways forming the nose. I tease my grandchildren saying I live in the nose of the man in the center, so you know what that makes me. The point I am trying to make is the location of this state. Iowa is one state down from Canada, 4 states from the Pacific ocean, 5 states from the Atlantic Ocean and 3 states from the Gulf of Mexico, so basically we are land locked with the river being our main water attraction, several lakes scatter about. We are one state away from Lake Michigan which acts like and ocean but what ocean freezes over hard enough to drive a truck on in the winter. Oh, and just to throw this out there, I am 4 states away from my home state of Georgia which borders on the Atlantic. I do miss the ocean.

But this area seems to be fascinated with the ocean life, I guess because they don’t get to see it unless they go on vacation.(there are even Christmas tree ornaments) I posted some pictures in an earlier blog about the ocean street art on the railroad bridge in the center if the city. If you missed it, it is here. But last week when coming back through a section of town I don’t go in often I found several buildings of street art, one dedicated to ocean life, real and imaginary. So I though I would share those with you today. I find street art very fascinating due to the image painted and the enormous size.

IMG_20181018_131046 — The building and the artist, 2010

IMG_20181018_131120 — Turtle, shark and giant squid

Then you have the whale, porpoises and the mermaids. Architecturally speaking, I find it interesting how the windows are at angles and protected from the weather.

Below are wonderful pictures, thank you internet, that give a glimpse of true ocean life, an area of life on this planet we have only begun to understand. Enjoy.

And as a daily reminder to myself and anyone else, always try to be kind. You would be amazed how it makes you feel as well as those you are kind to. And staying with the ocean theme, I show you that even ocean animals understand the process of being kind.

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Canning from the Garden,#SoCS

Canning is a process of saving wonderful foods from the garden and preserving them for use all winter long…but it was never in a can.

When I was growing up, we always made pickles, chow chow, chili sauce and various flavors of jelly, jams or preserves but they were always in glass jars, thank you Ball jar company. And the sad day was when the jar was empty and you know it was the last jar.

Linda G. Hill with Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week got combined with Nancy Merrill‘s prompt for Pictures through Glass jars to recognize both prompts of fun and creativity.

There are many ways to use “can” as it’s a noun or a verb. You can have a fictitious Can of Worms or a fictitious train that told everyone “I think I Can”.

And with different products found in or behind glass, I offer you the wonderful candles I have burning almost daily around my house. They help hide the occasional “just came in from outside dog smell” that Mimi has for about 10 minutes until my nose adjusts, especially when raining.

As I remind myself on every post, and hopefully remind anyone that may read, always be kind. Its the best attribute you can reflect. I know you can’

Sad Doors, Thursdays Doors

There have been so many fabulous pictures of doors that I thought I would take a different angle but still show a door. In tapping in with Norm’s Thursday Doors I ask the question -how about the forgotten doors, the lost doors or the doors no more. Doors are a portal into another world with each room has its own history. Then when economic doom ascends and robs the life of the room and causing forever closure. The sadness replaces the coming in and going out through the door and the life it once knew ceases to happen. Then the history gets replaced by cold loneliness. Ah, the stories the rooms could tell.

IMG_20181018_144620 — Forgotten and over grown

IMG_20181018_144454 — Filled in doors & windows never to be opened again

Abandoned due to the sword of progress.

Progress is a doubled edge sword as it bring in the knew and throws away the old. May we as people never become so cold and callous that we too can become abandoned and lose the wonderful stories we could tell.

Always think of ways to be kind. Kindness is a gift of God.

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Autumn in Iowa via My Phone

I don’t have a nice camera but the one on my phone does pretty good. So while the color brilliancy doesn’t match what I saw, there is still beauty here. Today is a gorgeous fall day with cool temps(long sleeve) but not cold. The sun warmed me nicely as I ran errands and admired the foliage. Some people think the cemetery is a creepy place but I think it it has a beautiful tranquility. The hardwoods there are really pretty right now. I will have to post some pictures from there when it snows as the evergreens there are old and massive.

IMG_20181015_135316 — Peaceful sleep as the season change

Most of the yellow just turn brown and falls off the trees here but the reds do show off a bit. Hope you enjoy looking through these as I did taking them.

The berries on these trees are brilliant red.

IMG_20181015_135123 — Heavy with berries

In reminder as the season as our Thanksgiving draws closer(and Canada’s just finished), it brings to mind of how we need to be kind, especially to those who are hurting in various ways.

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Random acts of kindness may be the one thing to change the world for that day for one individual being, whether it is man, animal or plant. Always be kind.