Bluebirds, Brown Corn and Muddy Water

We had a beautiful weekend to enjoy a couple of road trips and the scenery was sprinkled with signs of the approaching fall.  Leaving the city I was amazed at how the corn stalks turned brown in just a week's time. Perhaps it was the cool nights or the heavy rain that coaxed the crops into their fall attire. The big blue stem adds its purple tinge to the ditches creating waves as the wind blows through it.

On Friday my delight was seeing a flock of bluebirds rush onto our deck, perch briefly, then fly away again. My neighbor has been watching the bluebirds and hummingbirds attracted to the petunias blooming in the corner of our deck. But I had never seen them until Friday when my timing was right. I was amazed by their reddish-brown chests in contrast to the blue feathers. Evidently the bluebirds enjoy sitting on the iron fence at the back of our yards and must nest in the trees on the other side. It was such a special sighting.

On Saturday morning we watched the Heartland Cross Country Meet in Ames. Calvin's race (Varsity Boys) was last so we watched three races before his. It was only 70 degrees but the sun was hot in the valleys. What an amazing sight to watch more than 600 JV girls move in mass down the first hillside and gradually stretch out to fill the initial 800 yards. There were high school students from every state bordering Iowa. By the fourth race the grass on the course was pounded to nearly mud and the racers returned to the finish line spattered by the mud flying from shoes in front of them. (Calvin ran his personal best - he was awesome!)

As we drove over the long Saylorville Lake bridge yesterday I was surprised to see how muddy the water was and that it was filled with debris everywhere I looked. There were still many boats in the water but it seemed like all the floating branches and logs would cause some troubles. The creeks and rivers were all running very high and flowing with such force, bank to bank.  We received about three inches of rain last week and I know many areas received much more.

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all his toil--this is the gift of God" (Ecclesiastes 3:11-13 NIV).