27 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 3-12-19”

  5. Usually Janice sends the biggest pictures. It’s the phone.

    But this? This takes us to epic new heights, or lengths, in this case. 🙂

    I was gonna try a different one, but the sheer size required sharing. 🙂

    It took a while to load too. 🙂

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  6. It’s still interesting to go out early and look up and see the sun shining on Jet contrails.
    I remember the first jet contrail I’ve ever seen. Planes didn’t fly that high when I eas a kid.
    It took me a minute to figure out what it was, till I noticed it following a plane way up there.

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  8. Saguaro! The holes are bird nests. Several species nest in saguaro cactus, among them elf owls, Gila woodpeckers, and I think flickers. The bird drills a hole, which exposes the saguaro to loss of precious water, so it seals the hole. The resulting scar is called a boot. A saguaro does not have deep roots, but they run along the ground as wide as the cactus is tall. When the cactus falls, eventually all that is left is a skeleton framework, and those boots can still be seen in it. One will also see nests built on top, often made by hawks.

    The saguaro (suh-WAR-o) blooms in May and June, one night and part of the following day, with its blooms pollinated by bats. Large white flowers with yellow centers are quite beautiful. The fruit that follows is red and juicy on the inside, and prized by multiple species. The saguaro grows very slowly, and doesn’t develop arms for several years (I don’t remember statistics on such things), and occasionally one will see one that is 40 or 50 feet tall and without arms. Occasionally you will see one with arms that go down instead of up, and I think that is said to be from freezing damage. As you see, they grow to impressive heights. Arizona has had problems with vandals digging up big ones to steal and sell; in one noteworthy case, a saguaro fell on the would-be thief and killed him, and it is widely believed that the man deserved his death–not that digging up a plant should subject one to death, but it is a foolish and criminal thing to do, and a giant would have stood in place for many, many years. Not as bad as sawing down a forest redwood from a national park, but the desert equivalent.

    The ribs expand like an accordion after a good rain. The skin looks waxy up close and effectively seals against much loss of water; needles are also much more effective than leaves in arid climates (and are also a defense against those that would steal water by eating the flesh). I’m sure I missed a few interesting facts–they are really fascinating plants–but hopefully didn’t get any of it wrong, as this is from memory and not recent memory for most of it.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Morning! That is one big cactus! I have only seen little ones 🌵
    Everyone around here is in a dither over the predicted blizzard coming in this evening. I think I will stop in at the grocery just to see empty shelves 😊
    Heading over to have coffee with another friend this morning. Today’s high temp is to be 58…glorious!

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Should be in the thirties today, with precipitation. Probably rain followed by snow. Did I mention that I love the snow? But I love the rain too so that is okay.

    We were up last night. Husband came in at eleven thirty saying, I hate to wake you up but there is something up with the sheep. So out we went into a beautiful star filled night with lots of lovely snow.

    The problem was that one of the ewes had managed to slip through a hole in the manger the ram had made. We knew the lambs would be coming through so had put a hog panel fence up around the manger. The ewe had shoved her way down between the fences and into the orchard area because she could not get back through the hole. But that put her out in the deep snow and she was terrified. The ram let us know and kept checking on her while keeping track of the other ewes and the lambs. After many challenges, the children were able to pry open two panels, which were buried under two and a half feet of hard snow. I tied that open and managed to encourage the ewe toward it while keeping the ram away from the project. She actually came up to me for comfort and nose my hand a bit (very unusual for such leery sheep who are not at all inclined to be with people), it was as if she was saying thank you. Then she turned and managed to force her way through the opening. She lay down part way through as one of her legs was stuck in snow and panel. The ram came over to give her encouragement with a gentle touch on the nose. Then turned back to the path he had made for her. I went forward and talked her through. She laid down again after getting through. He came back and nosed her nose again, as if to say, almost home, sweetie, you can do this. She hopped onto the path and headed back to the shed and her baby.

    An amazing picture of us. Learning to trust the Shepherd, while fellow believers come alongside to offer encouragement. Often, we can do no more to carry one another’s burdens than to be there with kindness and love and to show the way. God is amazing.

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  12. I’m glad he woke you up!

    The picture was just normal size in my phone–do you know how to resize them, AJ?

    The other thing I was told about saguaro cacti is that tarantulas live inside them, too. I could get over the colorful birds swooping in and out of their nests high up in the cactus. They were too fast, though, to get a photo.

    I’m feeling almost normal today. There’s hope for the future–and for my ability to lead Bible study. I haven’t been with people since Thursday, and not in my real right mind since Wednesday. I may get to make my trip on Friday after all.

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  14. I heard the saguaros grow approximately an arm a year. I was also surprised to hear how solid and heavy they are. You do not want them falling on anything, as Cheryl pointed out about the would be thief.

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  15. Contrails always remind me of Contrail Man, the guy who would call the paper every so often to talk about the contrail conspiracy in our midst, if we only had eyes to see. We needed to write the “real” story to let people know before it was too late.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. You can hear all about it here, DJ. In fact, now that I think about it, it is mostly the California and Arizona transplants that hold that belief, which is why they move here. I still enjoy watching the contrails

    Liked by 1 person

  17. My eyes are dilated so I can hardly see to compose this. I am listening to the college admissions bribery scam. Wow!

    I did not get the desired news from the eye doctor. I will explain more later, but basically require another small surgery in late April and will get glasses after that. I still must wait longer to get my license. Boo Hoo! Boo Hoo!

    Liked by 2 people

  19. It does indeed, and yet, we know His time and plans do not always match up with His. Rest in the Lord, Janice, you know this. Use this time as a time of prayer, let your eyes rest and recover.

    Liked by 4 people

  20. My eyes are still a bit dilated so I have not read all the posts. I still need to read the brochure the doc gave me. I have a little film on the backside of the lens on my good eye that is an easy surgery to remove. I guess she has to wait a bit after the first surgery to deal with it. She said 70% of cataract surgery patients eventually get this but often much later. I think Karen needs this surgery, too. She had her cataract surgery ten to fifteen years ago. The brochure I have is entitled YAG Capsulotomy. I know, it sounds like more fun than working the end of the season in a busy tax office. Later I will get brave and read about it. Truly, it is a minor surgery compared to the cataract. It’s just the waiting to get glasses that is the deal.

    Liked by 5 people

  21. Prayers from here, Janice.

    I will begin day 2 of my migrant health volunteer work in about 15 minutes. We are doing health evals on migrants that have been released by ICE and are in process of getting to their sponsor’s. Humbling experience. Will have more to say on this later in the week over on the political thread. I worked in Anthony, NM yesterday and am in Mesilla today.

    Liked by 6 people

  22. Home from coffee with friend…sweet moments.
    Mumsee thank you for sharing your evening adventure…I cried…. ❤️
    Janice continuing to lift you up. We know He is watching over your care and I shall trust He knows best…even when it becomes a tad bit frustrating when we have a time line that differs from His….

    Liked by 1 person

  23. Elvera came in asking if it were time to go home.
    I explained that we would be spending the night here.
    She mentioned stopping by Granny Sophies’ (her step mother). but I said we weren’t gong anywhere yet.
    She is satisfied for now.

    Liked by 6 people

  24. Michelle- Great saguaro picture. If you want to see a saguaro blossom, click on my avatar. It’s a cropped photo I took last summer. Maybe I’ll send AJ the original. I was surprised to see those flowers, as it was July. And like Cheryl said above, the cactus usually blooms in May or June.

    The arms start growing after 50 or so years. Those cactus live over 200 years, so you can imagine how tall they get and how many arms they can grow. But I don’t think it’s one a year like kathaleena heard.

    Liked by 2 people

  27. rkessler – I’ve often seen the signs for Anthiony and Mesilla while driving to or from Tucson. They are rather tiny towns, aren’t they?

    BTW- We’ll be passing through So Mex the first week of June, and returning a week later, going through Hatch-Albu-Santa Fe on the way to Denver. I guess I should also include Nancy in that return trip. Can we meet up again somewhere? I’ll get exact dates later.

    Liked by 2 people

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