When is an island not an island?

Woke up this morning to a lovely sunrise and the promise of a sunny day. Life is good! Jeremiah, my rolling home, enables Cat and me to have wonderful adventures. What will today bring? I got ready for the day, had breakfast, washed dishes, and spent two minutes sweeping the floor. Bring it on!

Binoculars, camera, hat and sunglasses – I head out to explore. The deserted Mesquite camping area (no electricity, not much shade) offered opportunities for bird watching. I saw more new birds: Ladder-backed woodpecker, Say’s Phoebe, and Brewer’s blackbird.
American goldfinches were singing; a sweet contrast to the woodpeckers’ harsh call. I was hoping to see the wild turkey that campground host Bob said frequents the area. He thinks she has a nest nearby.

An island is not an island when the lake level is low! As I walked toward the lake, I noticed that what had appeared from the top of the dam to be an island, was a peninsula. The ranger said it usually is an island, but the water level is low due to the drought. I walked out to explore it. The walkway is about 50 feet wide, solid in the middle and gushy on the edges.



Next I walked to a playground and found this play structure made from recycled materials.

A sign said: RECYCLED MATERIALS AT WORK. This play structure is made from the equivalent of 9,032 plastic containers, 16,105 aluminum cans, 10,836 soup cans and 10 car tires.

About noon I set up my chair in the covered cabana and let Cat outside to explore while I read. I had just settled in when a LBB (little brown bird) landed on a short post near by. The bird had some grassy twigs in its beak. It flew to another post and then back to the first post. She seemed to be sizing things up. I looked behind me and up – and discovered the bird’s predicament. I was between the bird and the nest being built on a rafter. I quickly gathered things up and moved. I could almost hear the bird give a sigh of relief before flying in to continue the construction project. So much for hanging out in the cabana. Seizing the opportunity to watch the nest project, I moved my chair under a nearby tree. She worked on it all day.

Daughter Sue called with great news! She and Dave will soon sail back to the East Coast and then make a trip to Albuquerque!

The book I’m currently reading is “Cure for the Common Life” by Max Lucado. He is a minister at a church in San Antonio and one of my favorite Christian writers. Max always gives lots of anecdotes to illustrate his points. The book offers practical tools for exploring and identifying a person’s uniqueness. I read with pencil in hand to mark portions I want to remember.

When writing about “uniqueness” here’s what Max Lucado has to say:

God made you and broke the mold. Scan history for your replica; you won’t find it. No box of “backup yous” sits in God’s workshop. You aren’t one of many bricks in the mason’s pile or one of a dozen bolts in the mechanic’s drawer. You are it! And if you aren’t you, we don’t get you. You offer a gift to society that no one else brings. If you don’t bring it, it won’t be brought.”

It’s been a great day! The bird nest is looking good.