Goldfinches, Brownfinches, Housefinches, Wrens, Chickadees, the Titmouse twins, and Mr. Buzzwing all are flittering and fluttering on my early mmorning feeders on this 56° cloudy morning. The Downy and Redheaded Woodpecker are taking turns on the bark butter paste feeder too. The larger birds such as the Cardinals, Doves, and Bluejay won't be here for at least another forty five minutes or so. We run a tightly scheduled system here in the back yard. I heard a squirrel chittering about something, in some tree but they have quit coming around here for the time being. The good thing is that it does extend my time between feeder fillings. Although, I still need to go pick up another 100 pounds of sunflower seed.

The world is quiet for the time being. I can hear a couple of Crows cawing off in the distance and a few crickets are chirping outside. I'm out before the garbage trucks come or the school busses come to get the kids. It doe make for a peaceful morning.

This morning, brother in law, Byron goes for his last infusion from this cancer treatment. Sheila sent me an article yesterday telling that one of the drug companies now has FDA approval for a like product and they apparently are having great success with it. We cross every finger and lift every prayer that this is going to work for him. I don't know what kind of test they will run to determine success, whether it will be a full body MRI or PSA number testing. God's will be done!

How many three-inch long birds can fit one a seven-inch long feeder? Apparently the answer is at least eight because that is how many are on that feeder at the moment. Is it any wonder that I would enjoy sitting out here in the morning with this much joy fluttering around? God's blessings come in all kinds of packages. Often it is nothing more than the brilliance of a Goldfinch sitting on a small twig of a limb.  Or perhaps it is the rabbit that just ran past my door. Encounters with God are to be looked for and not dismissed as just another thing that happened.

This morning I lift up our nation in prayer. Yesterday was the thirteenth anniversary of the terrorist attack on this country. On that day, thousands of lives were lost, thousands more lives were shattered. On that day, a new nation was born; a nation much more suspicious, much less trusting, and certainly much less loving. Our own politics and politicians have become much more polarized and extreme and mean. Much of society wants to throw away tradition and values that have made this the nation to admire. If you want to know at least one possible outcome of it all; read about the fall of the Roman Empire. So, this morning I pray for our nation. I pray that we can again become a nation with the desire to be a nation that wants to care for the world, --- not police it. As we sing each week in church, "Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me." Have a great day.