My Easter Story (A Mini-Post)

I was going to go to church (which one was to be determined) for Easter Sunday, but I was feeling a bit anti-social, so I decided to do what always makes me feel closer to my Creator - head outdoors. 

I put on the local Christian music station, KLOVE, and headed out to Stonelakes National Wildlife Refuge feeling very thankful for my personal, strong relationship with my Savior and looking forward to what I might find on this beautiful Easter morning. 

This isn't going to be a typical Easter story.  It's going to be a Jeanette Easter story, which means that some will find it offensive and some will find some quirky charm to it.  Sorry but not sorry if you're the former. 

I walked along in the cloudy, misty morning, along the paths of the NWR thinking of what Jesus' sacrifice means to me and for me.  I was accompanied by what seemed to be hundreds of birds - mostly red-winged blackbirds - and a few humans also walked along the path.  

I was by myself when I saw a Killdeer who apparently had a broken wing.  My first thought was "Oh! It's my Easter egg hunt!" because Killdeer mama's who are leading you away from a nest pretend to have a broken wing.

I let her lead me away but went behind a tree and took a photo of the eggs in the nest before she walked back over to sit on them. 

I walked out of the area thinking of the lyrics of one of my favorite songs by MxPx, a pop-punk band out of Washington.  One of my favorite songs of theirs is "You Make Me, Me" and some of the lyrics say:

"These days so few seem to have faith,
in the Son of Man and in His Grace.
I feel Your breath upon my face,
as You replace my broken wing."

As I continued to walk back towards my car, I was thinking of Jesus and my own personal faith and what Easter means to me, when I rounded a corner on the path and there was the Easter Bunny!

I literally said out loud as I raised my camera "Hi Easter Bunny!" and was quite surprised when the bunny not only did not run away, it started hopping towards me as if to say Hi! back!

I thank my Heavenly Father for all of my wonderful adventures, but especially when he throws some special thoughts and jokes my way!  

I got in my car and drove towards the Cosumnes River Preserve and as I was driving down Franklin Blvd, I suddenly started seeing the Cross in every telephone pole that went by.  I was moved to stop and take a photo because I just kept getting all of these reminders that today was Easter and my Redeemer lives!

As I got turned around to walk back to my car, I had a feeling that I was being watched over and not just by my Heavenly Father!  I turned and there was a little lamb in the farmer's field across the street who had run away from the protection of his mother to have a look at me.

The picture is a little blurry because I was honestly so moved.  This little lamb stared at me for a minute as I stared back and then he let out a little baaahh and kicked up his heels and ran back to his mother.  

I just said a little prayer of thanks for the reminder that the Lamb of God had taken the sin from the world on that first Easter day.  With that, I got back in my car and headed to I-5, but I was moved, once again to stop.  As I turned the corner onto Hood-Franklin Road, the first thing that caught my eye was a cross on top of a grave.  

And a bible verse was brought to mind in Isaiah, 25:8 (which I'll be honest, I had to look up when I got home) which says:

"He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces."

"I know that my Redeemer lives.  
What comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives! He lives who once was dead!
He lives, my ever living Head.

He lives to bless me with his love!
He lives to plead for me above!
He lives, my hungry soul to feed,
He lives to bless in time of need."  ~~ Words by SamuelMedley

I'm very quiet about my faith.  And I was moved to post this because I believe that being Christian means being kind and loving your fellow man.  Trying to be the best person I can be, especially to my fellow humans and this world we have been given.

This is a very scary time and I am dismayed to see how religion is being used by all sides to breed hate and distrust.  I know I am a daughter of God and my duty is to please Him and live by His teachings and example as best I can.  

You won't often hear me preach, but I just felt like I was given signs while I was out contemplating Easter and this world and my role in it so I needed to post whatever came together while remembering my Easter morning.  

I'll leave you with one thing which I truly believe:

God is Love

xoxo

Nikon D3300

Salton Sea: Burrowing Owls and Sonny Bono 2017

So I went to the desert to see flowers and got beauty at the complete other end of the spectrum!  I decided to visit somewhere that I've always wanted to go, just for it's strangeness.  

It did not disappoint, let me tell you!

But we'll start with the not so strange...my first stop on my revised itinerary (revised only because I'm an idiot and didn't stick to my foolproof plan.  Stick to the plan!), the Sonny Bono Wildlife Refuge, home of the ever so adorable Burrowing Owl!

But before I even left my desert oasis, I was awakened by songbirds...not really something I expected in the desert!  But what do I know, I've never been to a SoCal desert before!  Except for brief stops in Barstow on my way to Vegas, that is.

I'm not sure what these two are, but they sure sounded pretty!

Here's a tip:  Look for these guys on the side of the roads where there is a drainage ditch, canal, etc.  They're probably staring at you as you fly by them (pun intended!) in your car.  But slow down a bit and you'll see them!  In spades!  I did, anyway.

This cute couple was sitting roadside, literally.  I passed them at first...slowly braked and then reversed, making sure that my car wasn't too close to them.  I then took this shot right through my passenger window.

Whereas this guy was across the ditch and definitely more nervous of me (even though I stayed in my car).  I quickly moved on so as not to stress him further.

Funnily enough, I came expecting burrowing owls, but I did not expect to find fields upon fields of egrets!  The first field-full that I came across just blew my mind!

And this was all just on the drive there!!

I reached the Wildlife Refuge and decided to do the short hike.  I really didn't expect many birds.  Little did I know that had I come here just one month earlier, there would have been scores of birds to see! (Already planning another trip during the Pacific Migration.)

But the area is just so fascinating, so I really wanted to get out there and see the surrounds.

The trail is called the Rock Hill Trail. You can see why in the photo below.  :-)

It's a 2-mile, out and back trail.  There was a sign that said to look for rattlesnake rattles on the trail (which I definitely did!) so I wasn't sure what sort of critters I might find.  But I did find critters!

Starting with seeming hundreds of tree swallows that were flitting around the telephone polls/wires. Which made for some really cool photos.

Love the guy on the left! "Get off my wire!"

 I'm still on the right trail!  And about halfway there.

This is the view back towards the visitor center.  You can see a geothermal plant in the background.

 Rock Hill overlooking the Salton Sea to the left.  Those little white dots in the middle of the picture are American White Pelicans floating around.

I was delighted to see scores of bunnies!!  Desert cottontails!  They look like Riparian Brush Rabbits but with longer, Jackrabbit style legs.

And then, I saw something that I have only seen once before and that was in a zoo.  A real, live Roadrunner!

 These pictures are shite, but I had to include them.  They move really fast!  Even when he's standing still he's so fast he's blurry!

 Running in black and white (cause I convinced myself it looked better in B&W)

 I couldn't even get a clear shot when it was standing still!  lol  It was fun trying though. Luckily no coyote was chasing him!

Oh my goodness, the day was VERY frustrating in that I saw two species of bird that I'd never seen before and that don't live in or visit my part of California.  And I could NOT get decent pictures!  

The desert was wreaking havoc with my camera's focus (I guess because everything was camouflaged well) and then these birds were so FAST!  

The next one is Gambel's Quail, a gorgeous fellow with scarlet head and stripey wings.  And fast legs!   

Funny that the slightly better picture is the one of them hiding in the bushes!  lol  

A beautiful testament to the volcanic activity that built this area are chunks of obsidian scattered about.  The gorgeous black glass is such a strange sight to this NorCal chica. 

There are some man-made ponds on this Wildlife Refuge, but the roads leading beside them were closed.  Signs stating "Birds only beyond this point" gave me a chuckle and made me happy that I had a 300mm lens!

I took just one shot of the grouping on an island because there are several birds worth noting such as the breeding and non-breeding American Avocets, Marbled Godwits, Ruddy Ducks, and of course, Northern Shovelers. 

And more bunnies!  This guy kept an eye on me while managing to keep nibbling the greenery. 

There was a pond between the path and the Sea, and one lone Avocet was taking advantage of it. 

This next photo is a hazy blue on blue photo of a pelican floating on the Salton Sea.  It was really gorgeous and peaceful out there. 

 Yuck.  This next photo is a surprise one of me and shows me in the most unflattering light possible.  But it is proof that I did make it to the top of Rock Hill. lol  So I guess I'll leave it in.  Yuck.

#Motivation

 This was taken from the top of Rock Hill. 

 Ditto.  Note the geothermal plants in the distance. 

The pond on the left of the photo is where the Avocet was wading. 

I FLOVE this next series of photos.  I'm not sure if this Killdeer was nesting, but she definitely became very vocal as I came off of Rock Hill.  She didn't do the broken wing trick that Killdeers are known for, but I really felt that she was leading me away from where she was sitting.  

So as not to stress her, I gave a wide berth and couldn't see any eggs mixed in with the rocks through my lens or in these photos. So I don't know.  Maybe I just bugged her.   

Eventually, she stopped walking ahead and just let me pass when she could tell I wasn't coming towards her. 

As I walked back, the lone Avocet flew over me to join the others in the deeper pond.  It looked really cool to see him floating!  I haven't seen one floating before and they are certainly very elegant looking birds!

My last stop on the Refuge was the visitor center where the helpful lady showed me some other points of interesting, including how to get to the mud volcanoes that I was planning to see.  She also made sure I knew about their resident Burrowing Owl couple that was near the parking lot.  

So cool! 

I can only imagine how incredible this place is during the migration.  I will definitely be back here sometime this winter!

But for now, I was off to find the mud pots!

xoxo

Nikon D3300