Siggy's Blurbs: Siggy's Edge of Country …

The dark is your worst haven.  It is the time you magnify your problems.  You are all alone.  You can’t escape yourself.  There is no place to hide.  Somehow you have to break the chains the night puts on you.

And strive for the light, where freedom is.  And when you are surrounded by the night, you have to keep an eye and remain open for the light the dawn will bring.

There is always another way but the devil tries to convince you this is all there is when you are surrounded by the night.

When you are able to open your eyes to the possibilities the new day brings you can break the chains the night brings.

Every person has to face the evil wrought when the night falls.  Nevertheless hold on to your faith when darkness envelopes.

It is never too late to face the light and do not be deceived by the bleakness of the night.  It will end and the light always comes in the dawn we face each day.

Tags: all alone, bleakness of night, break the chains, can't escape yourself, darkness, dawn, devil, evil, face the light, freedom, God, hold on to your faith, light, light always comes, magnify your problems, night, night fall, no place to hide, open your eyes, the dark, the devil, the new day
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I love walking outside just before dawn.  The birds are alive in song.  There is an anticipation of the next day.  There is the sense of the mysterious.  There is so much in that hour or two I just can’t wait for the day to start and to see what the next day will bring.  For a long time I was usually asleep at those hours.  I was missing so much.  Even though it is still dark the day lightens up gradually.  It is flush with anticipation and mystery.  I love predawn.

Tags: anticipation, asleep, bird song, birds, dawn, daylight, God, just before dawn, love predawn, predawn, take a walk, the mysterious, what the day will bring
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I only spend a short time there:  After a quick cup or two of coffee at the local diner, I drive to the nearby Susquehanna River.  I view the ever-changing water and mountains lit by the upcoming dawn.  It is such a short time I spend here but it may be the most important part of my day.

The seconds here (and they are not more than that) remind me there is a world, universe just below my sight that I have no idea of.  I am transported to another world.  The time here reminds me I have to be aware what is just beneath my eyes may be a world I know nothing of.

This tantalizes me.  It also prompts me to be more alert of every step I take.  The familiar may have become too familiar.  Habits sometimes imprison you and somehow you need to free yourself of them and see what truly is there for the first time.

My short visit to The River is a reminder that I often have blinders on and must take them off.  There is world after world just below the worlds we are familiar with.

Even your own backyards which you view every day can become too familiar to you and if you can change your focus another universe will open up to you.  Universe after universe is right under your eyes.  There are no lack of universes to explore.  All you have to do is remove the veil under your eyes.  My visit to the shore of the River is a daily reminder of this.

Tags: dawn, God, habits, local diner, morning coffee, mountains, other worlds, see what truly is there, Susquehanna River, take off blinders, the familiar may become too familiar, thirty seconds of my day, universe after universe
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The sky is dimly lit just before the dawn.  The birds are in song in full crescendo.  I am wondering when I will see the first chickadees, tufted titmouse and downy woodpeckers come to my feeders.

I am thinking about that Carolina wren that built a nest in the large pansy pot hanging from my garage door.  Yesterday before it became light I shined a flashlight into the nest–flushing the poor frightened bird who high tailed it for parts unknown–and peered into the nest spotting three tiny speckled eggs.  My wife reprimanded me for scaring the bird.  I will leave her alone now.  I want the mother to successfully raise its young and I do not want to scare it out of its wits further, possibly abandoning her eggs.

Two years in a row (the last two) an eastern phoebe built a nest just outside our front door on top of the right lamp but I guess there was too much traffic in and out the house so it abandoned the nest and raised its young somewhere else.

This year a pair of robins have built a nest in the right corner in the gigantic bush.  At least twice I looked inside it but I could not spot the nest.  A few times when I walked nearby I flushed one of them.  Two robins keep feeding under our large pine tree which is somewhat unusual.  Several time I saw a robin extract a worm from the earth, toss it above its head, then gobble it down.

I love to observe the natural world around me especially the birds that come to our four feeders.  I am expectantly waiting for the first hummingbirds to come to our two feeders I have set up for them.  One is hanging from the pine tree mentioned and the other is hanging close to the window.

According to my bird journal I have kept for over five years the first one usually appears the end of April.  It is the twenty-second of April so my eyes have been continually sweeping the area outside our large living room window.  It was over a month ago the local nature columnist reported someone spotted one passing the Mason Dixon line and they would be here any day.  I put out nectar immediately after that announcement.  Well I am still waiting to spot one and already had to replace the nectar I set up and clean the feeder immediately after I noticed black mold in the feeder.  I guess they must have turned around or taken an extended stay along the way.

Watching birds give me such pleasure.  The money I spend on feed for them is worth every cent.  I love observing their antics:  they are all different.  This has been a lifetime hobby.

Tags: April, bird eggs, bird journal, bird migration, bird nest, bird-feeders, bird-watching, birds, Carolina wren, chickadee, dawn, downy woodpecker, eastern phoebe, flower pot, God, hummingbirds, lifetime hobby, Mason Dixon line, my wife, nectar, pansy, pine tree, robins, sun comes up, tuftet titmouse, watching birds gives me pleasure
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Everything is by grace.  Your new day, the next dawn, is only by grace.  I am so aware of that.  I have gotten a solid night sleep, drunk my morning coffee and now await the dawn.

I know that is a privilege.  It is so easy to take the next day for granted.  And sometimes I do.  But not today.

I am waiting for the darkness to lift and then see the steady stream of the birds come to my feeders.

Today I see my optometrist.  I am glad I can.  I have never seen one who has such a gentle touch.  I think of the many people who service my wife and me, the shop we bring our cars which we depend on.  Bob’s customer service is so good.  I do not take it for granted.

There is my family doctor who I go to for checkups (and their support team).  There are so many people whose services I use who I try not to take for granted.  I am well aware everything is by grace.  And I appreciate everything given to me.  They are all gifts.  I did nothing to deserve them.  And that is such an incomplete list.

Tags: bird-feeders, bird-watching, birds, customer service, dawn, do not take for granted, doctor, everything-is-by-grace, gifts, God, grace, morning, morning coffee, my wife, new day, optometrist, service, they are all gifts
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I love mixing with people but I have to linger alone at times to recharge.

I love the quiet of night–the darkness that conceals me and then I withdraw. It is true I often listen to music then but that also enables me to withdraw.

There is so much I want to explore, so much I love but my solitude is essential.

When I come out of my reverie, I am ready to meet the world that is so quick to envelope me.

I love the dawn, the birds that reawaken, who greet me in song in full crescendo.

It is so easy to miss what is under your feet every day and there is so much you take for granted, so much you are unaware of.

There are so many universes you miss because your mind was elsewhere.

Solitude brings me back to the true pulse of the universe.  Then your perception of the magnificent returns even if it is only a shadow of the infinite.

It was there all along.  My universe expands and contracts.  I want to see, experience everything although that is really impossible.  My solitude always enables me to reconnect with the world surrounding me.  My time here is so short.  The world is so vast and I am only one grain of sand on the many beaches that inhabit this earth.  And the earth is only one drop of water in the cavernous oceans of the rest of the universe.  I keep trying to fathom the mystery I truly am.

Tags: alone to recharge, beauty, bird song, birds, dawn, experience, fathom the mystery, God, listen to music, one grain of sand, quiet of night, so many universes, solitude, still of the night, take for granted, the magnificent, time here is so short, world is so vast
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The dawn is only an hour away.  I can not wait to see the first chickadees come to my feeders.  They never fail to delight me.  I am always thrilled by the magnificent red-bellied woodpeckers who come to feed on the suet I have put out near the trunk of the large pine tree outside my large living room window.

The downy woodpeckers come during the day.  They seem to stand at attention as they feed and go around the trunk of the tree.  The occasional cardinals who feed on the ground are very wary.  The beautiful bright red male cardinal never fails to delight me, too.

Every once in awhile I see a brown creeper.  And the many goldfinch who love the thistle I put out for them.  They will sit at the feeder for five minutes eating the thistle.  Often there will be a dozen feeding on the ground.  I can not wait for the males to turn yellow again.  Before, I rarely saw them.  Now they have become commonplace.  Maybe, now I take them for granted.  The slate covered junco come in flocks and might have gone away.

These are the more common birds I see out of my window every day but I never know when I will be surprised.  I am waiting to see if I see any flocks of indigo buntings.  They are such beautiful birds who I only see a few times a year.

There are also the piliated woodpeckers.  I usually hear them not see them.  Their wild cackle is unmistakable and when I am lucky I actually spot one with its large long red crown.  It is such an exotic looking bird over a foot long.  I never forgot the first one I spotted outside my house.  I had to run into the house to grab my binoculars to get a good look at it.  It was over a hundred feet away perched on a stump.  I absolutely love birds.  I have all my life.  I guess you got that idea.

Tags: beautiful birds, binoculars, bird-feeders, bird-watching, birds, brown creeper, cardinals, chickadees, dawn, downy woodpeckers, exotic looking bird, God, goldfinch, I love birds, indigo buntings, my backyard, nature, piliated woodpeckers, red bellied woodpeckers, slate covered junco, suet, thistle, wild cackle
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