TO THE CLINIC

Cold weather had been forecasted, so I was going to put off my doctor’s visit for another day, but I opened the door Fri. afternoon and saw how nice it was out. Kinya and I found ourselves donning windbreakers and taking off for the clinic.

Apparently, we weren't the only ones who'd decided to go out today. I stopped in my tracks and got a picture, when I saw, down in the river we were crossing, a...Cormorant! I'd NEVER seen one there in the almost 10 years I've come here to visit!

The Common Coot nearby, I've seen before so didn't get excited about. This is the bumpy-toed bird that doesn't know it's not supposed to be able to swim well because it doesn't have webbing. His red-masked cousin, the Morehouse Hen, is the other non-webbed duck I've seen in this Tengan River. I told Kinya about the swimming birds. 

"Look! There goes the Kawasemi!" He motioned to a shiny blue dot flying across the water. I saw it as it was flying but lost it when it stopped. 

"Where?" I asked.

"There, in that brown area!"

I pointed my camera in that direction and pushed the shutter blindly. Later, when I checked the closeup, look: it was there!

I think Kinya and I work together well, don't you?

He goes to the clinic with me, spots the flying sapphire for me, and I get a nice picture. Okay; so he does all the work, and I get the happy results just by instantly turning the camera in the direction he said.

Isn't that the way it is with Grace?

WELCOME BACK, KRITTER

When I came back to Iwatsuki after almost 2 months of being away, I worried about seeing the animals right away. But it was no problem (I wrote about it Feb. 27 post). The other day, I was finding myself concerned about having to stay away from the park animals so long. Would they welcome me?

When I thought back to Feb., I knew they'd welcome me back as one of their own to their flock, school, or murder..."murder"? Oh--that's a group of crows. I didn't sketch them, but they always come.

LATE BIRD

I really wanted to draw this for Koree but couldn't get it done in time for posting it for the Growing Fish post on May 3. It's there now. Sorry I was a little late, Koree.

I've heard the early bird catches the worm. Well, the late bird caught a large fish, so maybe that wasn't so bad?

June...you got it all wrong...

CORMORANT and CULT FRIEND?!

Remember my Feb. 27 post, "Just Park Animals" about how, after I wrote about Koree the Cormorant, the cormorant from a nearby river came, bringing two friends? Well, he kept visiting, seeming to insist I draw a picture of him.

Today, when Alabaster the egret and Peter the kawasemi also came to Quasi Pond where Koree the Cormorant swam in front of me, well, it seemed even his park buddies were supporting his dream to be seen. So when Koree came up from a dive with a catch, I decided it was dramatic enough to sketch along with his two non-cormorant friends!

Sometimes, our friends could be, surprisingly outside the fold. I know when I came to the park a few years ago, I had the notion that Biblicists had a handle on the truth and altho' I didn't know it, in some way, I guess I felt Biblicists were better than others. God engineered circumstances so that I became close friends here at the park with someone I didn't realize was a Cultist...and she didn't realize I was a former missionary either. Our love for God, life, wildlife, led to hours of shared thoughts and time together.

When we discovered each others' actual identity, well, we wanted to keep everything aboveboard, but we wanted to hold onto the friendship that had become so precious too. When the elders said it had to end, that was heartbreaking.

Wait a minute...how did I get here? I was going to tell you about drawing a picture of a cormorant!