Eagles, Crows and Other Stuff

We celebrated birthdays yesterday. Both Mom and Dad were born on January 20 a few decades ago. We picked up pizza and partied at their house with plenty of food and played Tripoley. Lynn didn't make the birthday party, because he was in southern Missouri for a wedding. His wedding! He and Karen were married at 5 PM and called a little after 6PM to say happy birthday to Mom and Dad.



This morning I looked out the window and saw literally hundreds of crows walking all over the pasture just south of our barn. Along with all those crows was one bald eagle watching the crows from the top of the sycamore tree.


From the distance, he appeared to be rather like Zacheous, a wee little eagle, but only because he was so far away. I took pictures through the windows mostly because if I went out, they'd have all flown away, but also because I didn't really want to bundle up and go out just yet.

New News

Since early December, I've been working at school as a One on One Associate. I'm enjoying the experience and I'm learning (or relearning) some things that I probably should have remembered from my high school days. I still drive the bus route, which means I'm gone all day. Dennis is doing a good job of taking care of everything at home. He now does all his work as well as much of mine.
It's been a wonderfully mild winter so far. We've had very few really cold days, and very little snow. We've had none of the ice like the past two winters yet, and I hope we can skip that altogether!
Our preacher started a new sermon series at the beginning of the year which he's calling "Fresh Starts". I'm not sure it would be quite right to say we've enjoyed the sermons, but we're finding them quite convicting. In addition to the excellent preaching at church, I just finished reading a book by Kyle Idleman, "Not A Fan". I highly recommend it if you've not read it. Currently I'm reading Francis Chan's "Crazy Love".
This weekend begins the annual "Bald Eagle Appreciation Days" in Keokuk. They'll have a live bird show, Indian "Pow-Wow" events, lots of interesting displays and certainly many opportunities for eagle viewing. In the past, I've taken the third grade classes to Keokuk for the day and seen the bird shows. I've always enjoyed it, but this year will not be driving the bus since I am no longer available for day trips. Maybe we'll get there on Saturday.