BIRDS FOR NOW IN OKINAWA

My son may've thought I was crazy when I dashed outside with my camera in the middle of the night. Had I heard the song of a nightingale?  Well, not exactly.

It was the blue rock thrush I heard calling. The thrush, in mainland Japan, is a dull brown, but here in Okinawa, it's blue with copper-colored undersides...that is, that's what I was expecting when I jumped out to see the bird. But in the light of the street lamp, its blue shading looked barely gray around the shoulder...looked mostly brown, actually...what a disappointment.

 I've seen the same type of bird on the exact same wall in the daytime sunlight, and...see what the color looks like? This is a photograph taken in Jan., in the daylight.

I remember there were waterfowl, heron, some carp, butterflies and dragonflies, in that river that runs in front of the house. There were lots of flora and other wildlife there too. If only temperatures would come down so I could go out to see them! (But maybe there's still more work God wants me to spend time doing at the house, and He knows if it gets too nice out, I'll lose my head and stay out too long....)

I just wrote my Buddhist friend in Iwarsuki, a bird lover, to whom I'd been looking forward sending pictures of the Okinawan Kawasemi (I know there are some.) But I sent her these instead, saying they were the best I could do for now--they were framed pictures of the bird, hanging in my stepmother's old study. 

How'd it go..."Two birds in a frame are worth one in the bush...or something like that?"

The Kawasemi was at Duck Pond!

The bright blue flash that should've perched on that branch in yesterday's drawing was what I saw on the boulder when I first got to the park!

A few years ago, this is where I'd seen it--on a different rock, when I'd actually been taking pictures of turtles basking. This was my first encounter with the little feller.

The Japanese name, Kawasemi, means "River Cicada", but even the tiny insect-like thing, borrowing rays of the sun in its stunning way, is transformed into the "Flying Sapphire". Couldn't peon created beings reflect the Son to become prisms of living light?

PRETTY BLUE BIRD

The other day, Peter--that's the name of my pretty blue Kawasemi friend--came to the branches of Step Creek.

"I won't take a picture of you," I told him; "The other birds--I can photograph them, so all I need is something to get me started if I want to sketch them; but I don't photograph you. You know that. (I promised not to take any pictures of it, and since Dec. 2020 I have not.)  Can you hold still so I can draw you real good?"

Sometimes God just wants us to sit still, I think, so he can bless us real good.

THAT WAS A MISQUOTE!

April 9, 2023. The sound of heavy impact in the stairwell behind him made Takuya freeze. He turned to see his father's form lying in a massive pool of blood oozing from the back of his head and found himself thinking: "This could be it for Dad."

But after many prayers, ambulance ride, emergency workers' diligent expertise, and 7 stitches later, it seemed Takuya's father was already beginning to be cautioned from doing too much all at once.

Okay; that picture's not really the kind of "stitches" in the story. But I didn't know how to draw it, okay? This is a picture of me working on a pair of my own pair of slacks, not a medical worker patching up anybody's skin.

After all, it had been that morning, he preached for the Japanese department, and because of years of pastoring in Chicago, he had bilingual ability, so he was supposed to preach to the English department the following week. Taku helped lead singing there so was showing his dad the room when he had that nasty fall.

April 16, 2023. "But God might be a liar," a little demon voice whispered into Takuya's ear. Doesn't it say in the Bible 'I will give my angels charge over you, They will bear you up in their hands, to keep you lest you dash your foot against a stone...."

"Stop right there." Takuya said, shaking his head, as if he were whipping germs out of his hair; "I hear you. But that's a misquote the devil tried on Jesus in the wilderness."

"Misquote?"

"Yeah. It should be 'to keep you in all your ways', but you left out those words. God didn't promise we wouldn't fall and hit our foot on a stone, but that even when we did--in ALL our ways--He'd protect us in it.

So God doesn't say we'll never lose our jobs, but He'll make sure even if we do, we'll be able to take care of our families in it.

There was a missionary who really prayed about it, but for the sake of His testimony, had to walk on hot coals. Of course, his feet were badly burned. God doesn't always promise there won't be burning. But the burns healed so quickly and perfectly, everyone around was amazed. 

And that man's willingness to be burned for his Master plus a Living God Who would so mightily care for His loyal servant resulted in masses of converts--even those who actually persecuted him at first believed....

Dad, what are you doing up? You felt like getting next month's message ready? Mom, get him back in bed!" (She comes rushing in, And talking, the two leave the room.)

The field flowers, insects, birds--all heard from their ancestors what happened during that Encounter in the Desert, and were almost screaming today, "Wilderness Temptation again! Misquote! Misquote!" That's okay, fellers; Taku knows.

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!

BIRDS' DEDUCTIONS

Altho' I don't go to the park on Sundays, these are actual accounts from other days. I thought it would be a good idea to relate something that really happened since yesterday's post was birthed from fiction.

Perhaps the most sought-after bird is the vivid blue Kawasemi, which has won numerous photography awards thus appeared on many calendars. It's smaller than the sparrow and a fast-flier too, so it's hard to get a clear shot of.

But there's another reason I like the Kawasemi. I have seen many young mothers with their toddlers finding the elusive bird perching on a branch nearby and enjoying a time of glee together. Older, experienced caretakers might scold the younger generation mercilessly that they can do nothing right...but I'm sure these times in the park renew their confidence in themselves--they can make their children happy after all!

Broken Alabaster Jar

   Another bird I saw the mother-child duo looking at together was the beautiful egret. I remember coming to the park one afternoon when I saw a heron flying towards the Moto Arakawa River and called to it.

"Eida, you going home? I just came!"

I really didn't think she heard me. But several minutes later, a heron came to Step Creek--it was Eida!

I still don't think she heard me. She might've seen something, then had it confirmed when she heard  another critter talking about a human who came to the park. Birds can deduce things, are smarter than most humans give them credit for. Their "smarts" just work in different ways.

Incidentally, these are pictures drawn in the spring, while it was still warm. These birds don't show themselves at the park during the cold months!