I Can Not Wait for the Secrets of the Desert.

This is a little blog I wrote a couple of years ago about an experience I will never forget. It has been on my mind as I look with anticipation toward moving to Kuwait, and photographing some of the beautiful birds I have seen in images that are native to that country.  The creatures that come from God's hand have so much to teach us.  I am anxious to get to Kuwait and explore the wonders of the country.  So, for those living in Kuwait, I offer a story of my personal experience with a little bird and her "baby,"a couple of years ago

My husband is due in tomorrow for leave, and I am "gimpy" right now.  I traded in the original knee immobilizer, and it was such an improvement. Now it just goes from above my knee about six inches to about four or five inches above my ankle, but still getting around is so hard.  When my husband comes home on leave, I want everything perfect.  So I called in my friend Juana, and she came out with her girls to help me.  I hate accepting help, but I can get anything in the middle, but nothing low, and nothing high when it comes to housekeeping right now.  I get to spend Randy's leave having surgery to repair the injured knee.  Sigh... all that said, what I am trying to convey is, I am really busy today, and don't have time for distractions, things have to get done.

 About six weeks ago, after a week of rain Austin County desperately needed,  I made a professional courtesy.  I had been cleaning the back porch when the rain started with lightning and thunder, and I just left the trash can I was using on the porch and went inside.  It rained and stormed every day for about a week.  When I went back to the task, and started to pick up the trash can, out darted a little bird.  In the trash was a beautifully constructed nest.  Of course one mother to another we immediately had an understanding, and I just left the porch, trash can and all exactly as it was and allowed her to finish her project.

 
Every day Rosie, as McKenna dubbed 

her, (she typically names everything Rosie,) toiled away getting her nest just so-so, and then I didn't see her for a quite awhile.  I have a large window above my kitchen sink and I can observe my kingdom as I work in my kitchen doing everything from canning, cooking, and dish-washing.  Rosie and I became pretty good buds.
I admired her work ethic, and she admired mine.

 Then I saw her coming and going again, now she was bringing rollie pollies, little worms, and other delicacies.  I began hearing little cheeping from her nest.  Still I did not venture out to the porch, well actually I thought one time I would sneak out to the nursery and catch some photos, but her protests sent me back to my kitchen.

Then this morning Rosie began acting so strangely.  She started flying right smack into the kitchen window.  Flying up she would hover, staring straight at me,  fly away, only to come right back, and she was panting.  That really puzzled me.  I maintain a bird habitat, with a stream I engineered that runs into the pond so the birds will have plenty of fresh, shallow, water.  I keep feeders there as well.  This bizarre behavior continued until I realized I needed to at least try to take her water.  When I went to the back porch carefully balancing the bowl of water, she flew straight at me, turned and flew to the end of the porch, then down behind the storage container that sits about three feet from where the dryer vent exits the house.  She repeated this behavior, and then I heard the familiar cheeping from where she was dropping down by the dryer vent.

Well, here she is, Rosie's little chick, we named her Bunnie after we rescued her from the oven like area where heat from the running dryer was definitely overheating her.  She had left the nest a bit early.  Returning her was not an easy task.  As we attempted the rescue Bunnie, as we had named her, she flew off the porch.  It was a lengthy rescue effort then, because she attracted the attention of the barn cats.  (They aren't that big on dry cat food.)

After taking photos, (after all it took a lot of my time and attention to return her to the nest,) we tucked her back in and watched from the kitchen window as Rosie gave her the lecture of her life.  Each of the girls, Maria and Suzanna, wanted their picture made with Bunnie!  She won't be around long if she keeps venturing out of the safety of her nest.  I hope Rosie realizes just how busy I was, and that I only took time out to help with her wayward child out of professional courtesy, one mom to another.  We moms have to stick together.

Genesis 1:20-23
And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." And there was evening, and there was morning-the fifth day.

Job 12:7-10 - But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. 

That was an awesome little experience I would not have believed had I not experienced it, and shared it with three friends...

I Made a New Home for My Poetry

http://debralecomptepoetry.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-poem-that-means-most-to-me-if.html

I Like Winter Weather, As Long As I Don't Have to Get Out In It

I will miss the winter weather when we move to Kuwait.  It is sleeting for the third time at my house this year. I live an hour from Houston. I can't believe this. While I love the snuggling in front of the fire place with my computer, I hate feeding the horses and other animals in the cold, the ice, and the mud. 

The cold weather also makes me miss my husband Randy. When we were going to military balls, I remember one where we were at the command in Chicago, and attending General Anson's celebration ball upon his receiving his first star.  Brigade business kept my husband at the unit up til the time we had to leave for the ball, so I had dressed in the unit lady's room.  That wasn't particularly desirable, but I was always a good Army wife, and it didn't ruffle my feathers the least bit.  

We arrived at the front of the hotel where the event was being held, and I was as dressed up as I get... long formal... long white fur coat, the whole deal... Like the "eight grade boy trapped in a man's body" that he is, we get out to allow the valet parking and my husband began throwing snowballs at me... he was in his "dress mess," I was in my long WHITE coat... long formal with a "fan tail," which I was holding up with my right hand to keep it out of the snow.  For a bright man... sometimes... he runs with scissors. Ladies, that is just one of the reasons we love a man in uniform, isn't it?

Sometimes I just love being out in the winter weather... 

I Just Don't Know About Patriot Going to Kuwait With Us

Patriot is the sweet Australian Shepherd which I rescued at Tony's the local restaurant in Sealy, one day after church.  I named her Patriot, and shortened that to Patti.

 She was soaking wet from being out in the rain with her two siblings, (I talked two other folks into taking the sibs,) and covered in fleas.  After a warm bath with flea shampoo, she snuggled down and got warm.

She became the newest member of our household.  She didn't housebreak well, so soon she became an outside dog.  She enjoyed being outside, because there was more room to run.  She loves to run, to jump, and to herd...

I will confess, I have neglected the training part.  Health issues, and another of those scorching hot summers in Texas kept me inside for much of the summer.

You be the judge, where do I start with Patti in her present state of mind?

Is she a good candidate for life in Kuwait?

Would she be welcome at the Embassy?

       

Breathtaking Images!

If you want to see the most beautiful of Kuwait, you must visit the  following page.  This young man named Abdullah AlAbbad works in the oil industry at Kuwait Oil Company, and attends the Australian College of Kuwait.  He lives in Kuwait City.  His photography is magnificent! I hope to interview him when I arrive in Kuwait, and have he and his family as some of the first of our dinner guests!  The photos on his Google+ page fascinate me.  Be sure to see the one of the sea star he found near the Hilton Hotel!  I sent it to my husband, he had no idea how beautiful the waters of the Persian Gulf!  I do not have permission to use his work or I would post it here, but you can find it all for yourself.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/+AbdullahAlAbbad/posts

There is a Google + Community With Interesting Info on Kuwait!

https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/102439709484144227115

Texas Castle, Yes, I Said Texas Castle!

Mike Newman, of Newman's Bakery fame, built his own castle near Bellville, Texas.  It took him 12 years, and hiring a helper on occasion, but he built the castle by himself.

 

Posing on the Ground

This cardinal watches me as much as I watch him. I wonder if he has a tiny little cell phone camera, and he takes my picture too?

Bird on a Wire

Blog So Full of Infomation You Won't Want to Miss It!

http://desertgirlkuwait.blogspot.com/

I learn so much every time I go to this blog! 

I've been wondering, are there squirrels in Kuwait?

Texas Doesn't Have Just Horses, Cows, Wildflowers, and Rodeos

They have castles too, like this one in Bellville where we live!

 It took Mike Newman 12 years to build this castle, and he did it mainly by himself.

There Are Cows in the Woods, and Fog Too.

Tribute to Old Soldiers

Old Soldiers Sleep Soundly at Night

When they lay down their gray head, old soldiers sleep soundly at night.

They have borne the battle; they have fought the good fight.

When liberty and the freedom which Our Almighty ordained,

Was threatened forever to be forgotten, and liberty to be stained.

The call had gone out for men with bold courage and heart,

For those willing to wage war, yet from honor never to depart.

He had been young then, confident, and full of vim and vigor.

Muscled and strong, he had possessed the necessary will to pull the trigger.

Soon he learned just how hard and unforgiving meeting the enemy would be.

In those moments another life would be taken, no other way could he see.

Because the enemy had been impossible by any words or reason to hold at bay,

Inside without pause, he realized he could defend all he loved in no other way.

After that first battle, when the stranger lay dead at his feet.

His mind had reeled in despair, knowing that he had sent him his Maker to meet.

It seemed forever he was in a foreign land where all he could see was sand.

Victory, he knew, could be won only by making a committed stand. 

Years had rolled by as in service to the conflict he came and he went.

His children grew up while he was at war, the enemy would not relent.

The sparkle in the eyes of his beautiful wife had slowly died.

For too many nights she lay lonely and sad as she had cried.

They both had known that his absence without doubt, had been required.

While she grieved at time forever lost, his dedication she deeply admired.

At long last he had put in his time and had come home never to leave.

For a long time what he had seen caused him deep inside to quietly grieve.

Then the years and hard gained wisdom softened the wounds of his soul.

Peacefully and never forgetting the cost of freedom, he had grown old.

The nightmares and images seared on his heart at the time,

Always he had deliberately kept in a contained corner of his mind.

Whenever the flag passed or the pledge of allegiance was said.

Love of his country and memories of the fallen caused a tear to be shed.

More than most, he knew the price that always had to be paid,

To preserve the country from those whose vanity sent them on evil crusades.

 His own answering of the call for defenders of all that we hold dear,

Was the thing that caused him to sleep without worry or fear.

His debt for the privilege of life in our country whose truth is self-evident.

Had been paid and he knew that his final sleep was growing eminent.

Sometimes good men must do dreadful things to pass on to those they love,

The gifts and blessings of that great precept that comes from above.

When they lay down their gray head, old soldiers sleep soundly at night.

They have borne the battle; they have fought the good fight.

Found a Beautiful Web Site on Fashion in Kuwait

You will find beautiful style and images on this web site!

http://www.confashionsfromkuwait.com/

Something in the Woods

I know that trees will not be in great supply in Kuwait, so I made photos this morning while feeding the animals.  Trees and woods change through the seasons, and these pictures communicate how gray and stark they look in the winter, they are quite lovely in a different way than they are during the summer.