THE MIGRATION JOURNEY!

“Praise to the LORD O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.”- Isaiah 25:1

I want to share something that is so very, very precious to my heart! The annual spring migration of thousands of birds has begun. I so love this time of year, because it signals new hope, and renewal in so many ways.

"Crane Cam" at Rowe Sanctuary near Gibbon Ne. for Sand hill Crane viewing. Best time is sunset or sunrise.. You will want to turn up your volume. Web cam operating March 6 through April 10. I have seen eagles, cranes, geese, deer, etc. As you may know, there are approximately 500,000 cranes that use this 80 mile strip of our Platte River for their annual migration.
(also very educational for grand children!)
http://www.rowesanctuary.org/crane%20cam.html

This is a Bald Eagle in the wild on a nest in West Virginia:
You can double click right on the picture for full screen.
Due to hatch 3 eggs in the next 2-3 days!
http://www.wvec.com/marketplace/microsite-content/eagle-cam.html

This bald eagle nest is in Sidney Ontario Canada:
http://www.hancockwildlife.org/staticpages/index.php/20090302200021473
Just laid first egg 2 days ago. It takes approximately 33 days to hatch. Usually eagles lay 2-3 eggs. Both male and female share the nesting process, and as you may know, eagles and cranes mate for life.
We can learn a lot from them!

Enjoy, and

LOVE TO ALL, Norm

Lessons from the barn

Lessons from the barn

      They stand as reminders of the past~monuments of dedication.  There are hundreds of these old barns still standing, and I am sure some still in use today.  Just as the World War II era's "greatest generation" continues to weather the storms of mortal life, eventually to become treasured icons with much we can learn from, so parallels the fate of these mostly wooden  reminders of the past.
      Storage places for hay and livestock feed, these old barns have provided much needed shelter for animals, both domestic and habitat for wild critters like barn swallows, and raccoons.
      A generation or two ago, these barns were the center of the farming operation, and even hosted a Saturday night dance or two, so they say.  Although I can not remember these social events, I do have now cherished memories of time spent growing up as a farm boy with chores.  Many hours spent with Dad and brothers there, as we learned to develop work ethics that would help shape our future.
      As I drive through the countryside, and glance at the silhouette of an old barn, I can almost hear the soft clink of kicker chains as the cows brother Lynn and I milked by hand, did their own twice daily "barn dance".  I can almost hear the mew of barn kittens, as they beg for warm, white streams of milk to be shot their way, in between rhythms in two brother's pails, on a cold morning before daylight.
      Yes, I can almost smell the sweet aroma of the molasses in the freshly rolled corn mixed with pellets, and then served with a side order of a "sliver" of alfalfa hay!  Mixed in the barn aromas too was always the clean scent of freshly applied "Bag Balm" that served the side benefit of keeping four small hands soft.
      You could hear the call of momma cows in the distant west pasture which ment Dad was feeding them, and the sheep soon bleated in the north pasture, as soon as they heard the voice of the shepherd's call each afternoon at 4:30 chore time.
      The soft flutter of the Barn Swallows darting in and out of the miking parlor, and the click of the stanchion, and slap of the barn gate, meant the milking was finished.  The click sound of the west gate shutting still is audible in my mind, signaling that the cows were turned back into the pasture to spend the next 12 hours grazing.
      To this day, over 50 years later,  I cherish the sound made each November,  just before Thanksgiving, of the annual calf weaning at grandpa Emery's "toad holler" farm.  Dad took pride in seeing his Red Short Horn calves helping themselves to hay and corn rations each fall.  Brother and I would scribble the date on the west wall of grandpa Emery's sorting barn.  Pete Pfieffer would be our trucker to transport the cattle from farm place to farm place, or to the sale barn as needed.  As Pete jumped out of the snub-nosed red cattle truck, I can hear his low giggle as he took pride in backing up to our home made loading chute!
      Those old barns have aided in teaching several heritage lessons, life lessons, lessons worth passing on.  Help me by giving thanks when you pass one, and maybe tip your hat too, as you pass by one.  The next time you pass by, the barn may be gone, but the lessons stick with you, only to be passed on a different way.

Love to all, Norm

Trouble in my heart

The Lord gives his people strength. 

The Lord blesses them with peace.

~ Psalm 29:11, NLT

Help me with my troubled heart!
It is hard for me to even imagine the enormity 
of the recent earth quake  in Haiti.
Haiti is a country with huge challenges 
for it's people to survive on a normal day, 
without earth quakes and hurricanes.


There are millions of people who are not able 
to provide for themselves, and have no formal 
education what so ever.  A country with few or 
no natural resources, a weak government at best, 
and a very very poor economy, with little agriculture 
and food to sustain an over populated mass 
of people in which nearly half 
practice Voodoo as a religion.


Think for a moment how it would be to have 
very limited health care, inadequate shelter, 
and clean water, inferior building construction 
with no building construction or other codes in place.  
One of the word's weakest infrastructures, 
and very little or no law enforcement with a huge 
unemployment rate.  Some parents resort to 
selling some of their children for money to survive!


Help me pray for them.  


Lord teach us your ways.  Keep us safe from harm.  
Help us help the helpless.  Forgive us when 
we can only think of ourselves. Give them strength 
to survive.  Give the rescuers strength to sustain 
the efforts.  Give the surviving strength to cope.


Lord give them hope.


Then too, Lord help those who have 
problems not related to a country far from home.  
Your awesome power, understanding,
 and love can be there for a world full of need 
all at the same time.  Most of our daily needs, 
as you know Lord, do not make headlines, 
but you hear them somehow.


Lord give us all hope.

In the name of your son, amen.


Love to all, Norm     

Last but not least!

¹⁴ So the Word became human

and made his home among us. 

He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.

 And we have seen his glory, 

the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.
~John 1:14 NLT


Last but not least!
I love my job!
It puts me in contact with allot of people 
in different situations. People that I might not have 
otherwise even ever met.  I enjoy helping people too, 
and seeing the faces of those who are appreciative.


My career is in energy sales and safety.  
I believe we have a tremendous challenge 
ahead of us, and that it can be met.  
The challenge is going to be: 
finding energy sources to sustain 
ourselves, while maintaining the integrity of 
a world where water, food, and air are clean, 
yet wildlife, nature, and plant forms are 
allowed to continue to co-exist!  

I also am becoming more of an environmentalist as I get older.  

Our future on this earth depends on clean water, clean air, 

clean food, and clean efficient renewable energy sources!

I want to pass on this site, and ask that you also pass the word on too.  

We have a huge responsibility to conserve, 

and educate about energy sources.  

Leave a place better than you found it!

Here is a very educational 
Kids Energy website.  
(Several of us older kids can still learn allot too!) 
This will be very very important info to our children
 and grand children in the future.

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page=about_energy_conversion_calculator-basics#natgascalc

Scroll to the bottom of the page, and you will find a whole

menu of different training exercises, and info that is very much

oriented to children, and also adult teaching guides about energy!

I found of particular interest the
"Things to do" 

 - activities for kids of almost any age to get involved in.

Let me know what you think.

Try passing this on to the children's teachers too.


Yes, this is the last day of 2009.
If we work together, and educate our youth,
this last day will not be the least!

Love to all,

Norm

Peace on Earth

²⁸ Have you never heard?
      Have you never understood?

The Lord is the everlasting God,
      the Creator of all the earth.
   He never grows weak or weary.
      No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
 ²⁹ He gives power to the weak
      and strength to the powerless.
 ³⁰ Even youths will become weak and tired,
      and young men will fall in exhaustion.
 ³¹ But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
      They will soar high on wings like eagles.
   They will run and not grow weary.
      They will walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40 28-31

~ NLT

Peace on Earth
Our best source of preparation is

turning to God, and the bible is our instruction book.

Our "back-up plan" is just knowing His forgiveness and

to trust in Him, without relying on our own understanding.

Merry Christmas!

Love to all, Norm

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The perfect gift!

"Jesus replied, 'If you only knew the gift

God has for you and who you are speaking to,

you would ask me,

and I would give you living water."

~ John 4:10, NLT

The perfect gift!

The perfect gift seems to be a challenge for many people.

I guess I must admit, I do not enjoy fighting the traffic, and trying to find the right gift for everyone. But, on the other hand, I take quite a bit of pleasure in pleasing people, and one way is to give them something that really touches their heart strings.

Tradition shows up about now too.

My father always received one special gift from my mother each year. For as far back as I can remember, Mom quite often got our Dad a box of chocolate covered cherries for Christmas! Us boys never new the real reason, and full story behind the gift, but we knew very well the love behind the tradition. I am sure it started in the early days of their courtship, and we new that it was a very special gesture shared between the two of them.

As a small boy, Christmas gifts were so very special to me, and still are. I always wanted to stay up all night to get a glimpse of Santa, and I remember catching him placing gifts under the tree a few times!

Several very special memories were the

home-made gifts that I shared with my

two brothers. Our Dad is a very talented carpenter,

and we received a big red barn and a

rocking horse for Christmas one year. I must have

been only 3 or 4 years old, but I remember sneaking downstairs before anyone else, to find that

red barn and a horse we named "Rocky" under the tree.

I am told that I came running back upstairs

to wake everybody up,
and yelling: "he bringed a barn!"

Glow candles for the moms
and leather loop belts for the Dads!

We made special hand made gifts such as these
in country school every year!
Mrs. Russell, our teacher knew something
about making other people feel special!
She taught us that the gift given from the heart
with genuine love, will never be forgotten.

God knew what to give us. His Son.
His gift will never be forgotten.

Hope, Faith, Love, and

Peace on Earth!


Our best source of preparation is
turning to God, and the bible is our instruction book.
Our "back-up plan" is just knowing His forgiveness and
to trust in Him, without relying on our own understanding.

Love to all, Norm

The contents of this blog
are copyrighted.
Please do not use or copy
in anyway without express
written position.
Thank you.