Joy in the Morning

My heart and prayers go out to those who lost loved ones, or their homes and businesses, during the severe storms that passed through the South a couple of days ago.  We were very fortunate here in Vicksburg, escaping most of the wrath of the lightning, winds, heavy rain, and hail, and enduring only the inconvenience of losing our power for 24 hours.  It could have been a lot worse, and I'd like to thank the Entergy guys who were working overtime restoring several power outages in the area. Glorious sunshine followed the storms, bringing "joy in the morning" in the form of a profusion of roses gracing the arbor on our path.  They were so refreshing to see in the aftermath of the storms.    I wish you joy in this day, especially those of you who were affected by the storms.  May you feel God's presence beside you wherever this day may take you.

A Visit with a Baby Mockingbird

We were working in our yard the other day when we heard chirping sounds coming from some of the shrubbery.  We followed the sounds, and discovered two tiny mockingbird babies hopping around and loudly calling for their mama to come feed them.  As we watched, one of them came out of the shrubbery and was hopping around on the driveway.  We could hear the other one but couldn't find him, and finally realized that he was in the garage (we had left the door up while we were working). We found him huddled in a corner, and my husband gently scooped him up with a paper towel and took him outside and put him back in the shrubbery.    They gradually made their way into our courtyard where their mama would swoop down to feed them and then fly back up to the rooftop or trees so she could keep an eye on them.  Needless to say, I put my clippers down and exchanged my work gloves for my camera with the zoom lens.  One of the babies disappeared, but the other one "hung out" with us for quite a while, posing for me on the rocks beside our pond.   The only word that comes to mind to describe this precious little bird is adorable.  He was tiny, only days out of the nest, and his new feathers stuck out in every direction, giving him a "scruffy" look.  His head was covered with fine tufts of feathers that resembled fuzzy little ears. The expressions on his tiny face were comical. He seems to be frowning at me in the next picture ...  Straddling the rocks challenged those spindly little legs. His beak took up most of his face, especially when he was chirping ...  Such a sweet profile ... He reminds me of a downhill skier in the next picture. After a few minutes, he had had enough of those "rough and rocky" rocks and hopped over by our front doors, where we continued our photo shoot. So precious! I guess this is about as close to sitting as a bird can get ... Such beautiful little wings. More comical expressions ... can't help but make you smile. THEN ... he got serious about calling his mama.   MAMA! I couldn't believe how wide his beak could open. MAAA-MA!   So cute! The mama bird must have been close by, because all of a sudden she swooped down beside her baby with something in her mouth. He was SO happy to see her! Ummmm ... that was so good, Mama! May I have another one, please?  Awww ... Is that all I get? Maaaamaaaaa ... come back! After his mama left, our little friend hopped into the jasmine vine growing around our front doors and I put my camera up and went back to my yard work.   Later that afternoon, we discovered the other baby bird in the back yard with the mama bird close at hand, so when we finished working in the yard, we "herded" our little pal to the back yard where he was immediately greeted by his mama.   I was so happy and relieved to have both of the babies in the back yard with their mama.  I hope they will be safe there until they "get their wings" and can stay out of harm's way from the neighborhood cats that roam at night. "His eye is on the sparrow" ... and, hopefully, baby mockingbirds, too.

Just a Little Lagniappe

Just sharing a few of my favorite pictures captured in the beautiful Mynelle Gardens in Jackson, Mississippi. If you would like to read about the gardens, you can visit the following links to see my posts featuring them: Mynelle Gardens, Jackson, Mississippi   Mynelle Gardens Revisited, Part 1 Mynelle Gardens Revisited, Part 2            Italian Cypress Louisiana Iris Leatherleaf Mahonia    Anemones  Columbine   Oil Shale Columbine Best wishes to you for a glorious week filled with the wonders and beauty of Spring.