Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Spring?


Today was the first day of Spring, as evidenced by the forecast above and... wait a minute.  That is not a spring forecast, is it?  Yes, in fact it is.  That's tonight's low, which is pretty darn chilly if you ask me. I know you didn't necessarily ask me, so I'm sort of volunteering that information anyway.

This afternoon, Mommy and Madison did some foraging.  Literally, they were out in the back yard area, both were picking up sticks and twigs to use for kindling for the fireplace.  The end result was two boxes filled with some good fire starting material.  Tonight we had a great fire roaring in the fireplace, just when we needed it most:  the first day of Spring.

Today was a Wednesday, which Madison knows is Daddy's longest day.  Still, he and Lance made some time to come by the house around dinner time, which has become a great tradition.  We pick up Madison from her cooking class (she made muffins today), and we drop her off at the house where we have some dinner.  Today, Mommy had this huge Mexican feast prepared for us, with fajitas and tacos and more.  It was too much - in fact, we didn't finish it.  But it was sure nice to sit inside and enjoy a meal together, all in the warmth inside.

Tonight's service was a fun one, dedicated to a lot of the animals on the Pridelands, which is still the series of the month.  We talked about a few lessons from different animals found there, one of which is called the eland.  A few years ago, I'd never heard of an eland before.  Now, of course, is different.

Not long ago, we got to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, where we had a room inside the big horseshoe looking out at all the animals each day and night.  It's a great place to stay - and someday we hope to take Madison there to see all the wildlife.  We'd keep our balcony doors open at each night - and all was quiet there, despite all the animals about.  Except for this clicking sound.  It sounded like castanets clicking in the distance, and we were scratching our heads as to what that noise was.

During the one day, we asked an employee there who told us it was the eland, an animal you can't miss.  It's pretty much an oversized gazelle that marches around the grounds, clicking as it walks.  It is a fascinating creature, one that Daddy drew at least one point of a message from:



ELAND

     Along the Pridelands Reserve, you’ll encounter all sorts of antelope, the largest of which is called the eland. This is one antelope you don’t really want to mess with. Upon hearing the word “antelope,” you might picture the fleet-footed, high jumping animal that looks much like a deer. But when you see the eland, it may remind you more of a bull!
     Indeed, the size and power of the male eland usually is enough to discourage any predators from tangling with this large animal. How big is this antelope? They can be six feet tall, eleven feet long and weigh up to 2,200 pounds!
     If the power of the eland doesn’t intimidate, then its horns just might do the trick. These tightly spiraled horns form a v-shape that’s about four feet long.
     You can hear them coming, sometimes hundreds of meters away. It isn’t a roar, and it isn’t any heavy ferocious breathing. It’s a clicking sound, like a castanet – and it comes from their knees. Isn’t that wild? Zoologists are still trying to figure the noise out.
     Some believe that the clicking noise is a message that tells the others who the biggest and most dominant eland is in the herd. In other words, if you’re king of the antelopes, you walk around clicking your knees to let everyone know. The strength of your tendons in your legs will click and sound off just how powerful you are.
     Of course humans don’t do it that way. We use our knees with a completely different method: that’s when we get down on them in prayer to God. By praying time and again, we become stronger. It’s a different kind of strength than what the eland has, but through prayer it becomes possible for us to do all things. And like the tough eland, we can walk around with our heads held high, knowing that with God, all things are possible.
     Just don’t try clicking your knees. 


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