TENGAN RIVER BIRDS...Who's this?

It's getting nice and cool. My sister Joyce came to let me know it was just as cool outside as inside! I cracked open the door then rushed back for my compact camera, telling Kinya I'd be gone for a spell (He's used to my going off like this for 2-hour photo shoots at the Iwatsuki Park).

Today, I'll just post the bird photos I got, ok? Actually, the first, I'm not very happy about. The Okinawan Sparrow Hawk. I remember the most astonishing shot I got once was when I saw one in the sky that had just snagged a snake. This one's kinda boring--wouldn't come down. The Moorehouse Hen waterbird too--those two, I was just glad to see them out today. altho' they were too small and far away to get good shots. At least the small black bird has its head turned so you can see its bright red face shield & yellow bill tip.

The Egret and Great Blue Heron, Ballerinas of the Sky, I called at the Iwatsuki Park, are here at the Tengan River too. What can I say--the white against the green grass and shimmering water is just plain pretty. And the gracefulness of the GBH just can't be beat either, who seems to naturally combine contrast lines, layers, shapes in dancing around with the egrets.

I have come across many forms of unfamiliar wildlife and usually look them up online to ascertain their names...but there is one bird I just can't get a handle on. This seems to be a good shot, but I can't find a picture of a similar bird in Okinawa...I wonder why?

For now, I'll just call him "My funny bird on Tengan River"...poor little guy. Oh well.

Appliances Stop Working; God Doesn't

Yes, appliances have been breaking down, The egrets at the park have seen Kinya at the laundromat since the beginning of the month. Actually, when we moved here in 2012, the government had bought us a brand new washing machine. But it started making a funny noise several months ago, and Aug. 6, it gave up the ghost. One of the air conditioners (yes, the government bought those too) stopped working. 

When I went to the park the end of July I saw the beautiful white birds. It was their form at the river I was so attracted to and remember wondering if the Lord wouldn't have us live nearby. He brought us within 7 minutes of the park to which those river birds frequented as well as within walking distance of their riverbed homes!

Oh--I got the order mixed up. I forgot to explain. We lived across town when our church, within 15 mins. walking distance, moved. We wondered what we would do since we had no car. But the city had road construction and asked us to move, footed moving costs, bought new appliances, paid two months' rent. Our new home was within 10 mins. walk from where the church had moved to! The bonus feature? It was near the river and the park where the river birds visited.

The other day, I was reading posts from a few years ago and marveled at how God engineered it all.

But it is time, the great white fowl of the air seem to know, for the Kinya Saitos to move onto the next roost their Heavenly Father prepares for them.

NO HARM

The forecast is hard rain all day. I found something from Nov. '23, a string of photos taken a sunny day at the park, and I was thinking on a rainy day, you might enjoy looking at this...but was it too long to post? Well, I remember liking looking at the pictures in a book, so there's no harm in posting these:

1 Tree - Wanna hear what happened today?

2 Mallard - I wanna hear! I wanna hear!

3Tree - The egret came back

3 But today, there was a Great Blue Heron too

5 Mallard - Isn't it too cold for herons?

6 Herons are usually gone by November,

7 Not fishing in Iwatsuki Ponds

8 Like these two...

9 WHAM!

10 Mallard - Gave me a heart attack!

11 Twist...Shake...

1

12 Down the hatch...

13 Mallard - So he really caught him, huh!

14 Heron - I guess there's no harm in

15 Staying here a while longer

Carp - HA! Some poor fish'll have "no more harm" EVER again...

That's all, folks!

THE THRILL WAS FOR ME

"I wanted to make a thank you drawing for all the running around you did on all those cold days, but I ended up messing it up," I said, showing Kinya what I'd made of him. He'd tried to cheer me up then, telling me it was getting warmer soon.

And as soon as it warmed up even a little bit, I'd gone back. And the stunning blue Kawasemi had come out, two Cormorants had made a special trip from a nearby river to welcome me back, and the egret also came from that river and made a special catch for me.

What do you mean, he caught it for himself, because he ate it himself? He let me see and photograph it, so the thrill really was "for me" too!

BULL'S EYE? BIRD'S EYE!

The white heron, a Master Fisherman, alto' at the same time a graceful, beautiful sight for the eyes, a bird I call "The ballerina of the sky," was at Far End again. I guess he could sense even the faintest twitch transmitted thru' the murky water. It should be difficult to detect the movement of fish in hibernation.

But the Great Blue Heron accompanied the egret yesterday. He seemed to want to show that his species too could claim skill in fishing. I was pleased to see the GBH and decided to take its photograph. Just when I plunged the camera's shutter, the heron plunged its head into the water after a fish!

If I had waited for that moment, no doubt, I would've missed this shot.

TIMID LIKE THE BIRDS

This afternoon, I headed to yesterday's spot, asking God to please send people here today. My Father not only had the greenhead mallards come back to Far End and stay until June finished her drawing; but He called on the egret to come too, so altho' she hadn't been in yesterday's sketch, I put her in the center of the background today.

Yesterday's art-lover apologized for taking up my time, but she doesn't realize nothing could make me happier. I've asked God to anoint every encounter at the park, and it seems every talk turns to things of God. I need to pray--I'm so timid I'm scared to talk to people I know, much less strangers at the park.

Which is what I find myself needing to do. Please pray this timid artist be a winsome follower of Christ.

SHE CAME TO POSE JUST FOR ME

Here's yesterday's egret colored and with details added.

I think it's gotta be Alabaster or another egret friend who knew I'd want to sketch them especially now, because it seemed as soon as she saw I had what I needed, she flew home. She couldn't have come to fish, because with the onset of winter, most fish dive down deep and move around much less so wouldn't be good fishing.

Some things don't merit discussion

Just a little more! The egret had come! I knew all the herons would be flying to some warmer area, and I wouldn't be seeing them now for several months. I wanted to get in a good initial sketch to do my final drawing, because I wanted to do a good one...but it was getting dark, and it wasn't a good idea to stay out myself.

"You shouldn't be out here by yourself," I'd heard several months ago. It had been getting dark then too. I looked up to see a person who claimed to be an atheist I had friendly discussions with at the park pavilion. "After the sun goes down, there are hoodlums around up to no good."

Today's sketch...I wanted to put in a few more lines...but I knew if he caught me out late again, there would be no friendly discussion; he might scold me then walk me all the way home...so I decided to call it a day.

Heaven's Rain: God's Air Conditioner?

The Great Blue Heron! (This is an account from last year.) Just when I started sketching, it began raining, and my watercolor brush pens...well, the gesture drawing would be ruined, so I had to pack everything up.

Since then, I try to do quick outline work and do most of the coloring and details at home. See the greenheads and egret drawn in April who benefitted when drawn like this?

I benefitted from the rain. It's been unspeakably hot the past few weeks, but the precipitation made it so cool by yesterday morning (the rain had lifted), Kinya and I could walk downtown.

While we sat reading in the library to pass the time before seeing the dentist, we could hear the thunder and rain outside. But when it was time to walk across the alley to go to the office, it was just sprinkling. By the time we were done and needed to walk to the cabstand to go home, it had stopped completely and felt like the entire outdoors had been air conditioned.

I guess it had. God had done it.

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.

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!