An ice-covered bird-feeder. No seed in sight. Six-inch icicles point directly downward. Any hope of nourishment for feathered friends must be found elsewhere. However, with the icestorm-warnings it's a strong possibility all flights will be canceled. Wonder if birds know that?
Sometimes life is so deceiving, don't you think? If it wasn't for the icicles clinging to this feeder, one might think it was soon to be Spring by the bright green grass covering the ground. But it's only January 12th. Winter's barely begun.
In Oklahoma we are fortunate most winters are not severe. Piercing cold winds are inevitably exchanged for warmer milder bursts of cool air. I like Oklahoma winters; they're short. Often we have 70-degree-temperatures come vacation here like tourists visit Disneyland. It's like warm weather comes up here to get away from California dreamers. So for the most part, one can book a plane flight and not be concerned about snow and ice causing delays or cancellations. For the most part.
Unfortunately when I booked a flight to Tampa last December, how could I have known an Arctic blast would come bursting into our Oklahoma sunshine and thwart plans for a week in Florida? Suddenly the reality of storm warnings are evident.
Our ice storm has just begun. We haven't even seen the brunt yet. I've watched a 2-inch icicle drip and grow into an 8-inch icicle in less than 4 hours. I've had to retype this blog because the electricity shut off before I'd saved the draft. I'd just finished telling you how prepared I was for an electrical outage. Let's see, what had I written? Oh yeah!
We went to the store last night and stocked up on water, bread, crackers, canned salmon and cream cheese. I asked my hubby to purchase some more candles and kerosene on his way home from work. I completed all the laundry and have plenty of warm socks. So life will be just peachy if we lose our electricity. Flying to the warmth of southern coastlands looks about as promising as a bluebird feeding at my neglected birdfeeder right now.
That is what I'd written just before the lights went out in Okie. Amazing, isn't it? I'd just written that, then bam! Darkness!
While I was in the dark, I figured I might as well check American Airlines. Sure enough. The flight's been cancelled. And I'm soooo glad. If it hadn't been, then we would have had to travel for hours on ice-packed highways to the City and most likely sit for hours waiting for them to delay and delay and finally tell us that the flight was cancelled after all. It's so much nicer this way.
I'm so glad someone has sense enough to get out of the rain. There is always going to be nuts like me who must take photos of empty feeders to make a point about dismal forecasts and up-ended plans. And since I have no idea if someone else has stocked their feeders with seed, I guess I better brave the rain a few more times and fill the feeders and bird-bath. Who knows? There may be a cardinal or sparrow God is depending on me to feed today. It doesn't look very promising for any of them to find food in any other place right now. What birds do about food I put out is up to them. What I do about their plight is up to me.
That's the way it is as a Christian. We are simply called to be faithful to our task--to do what God has called us to do, and be what He calls us to be. It's up to me to share what Jesus did, it's not up to my neighbor to put out the seed. It's up to me. I've got my flight all booked and I am certain it won't be cancelled for any reason. It's only fair I share my flight plan with others, don't you think? For me, it looks very promising indeed. [copyrighted,2007,selahV]
