August 12 - “Bird Wars”

Here’s a quick story I forgot to write about. Micah reminded me of it. 

While we were casually munching on our sandwiches under the trees at the picnic area in Colonial Williamsburg, suddenly there came a rustling from above. Then a bustling. Then the leaves themselves seemed to come alive. Then the racket that had been sort of a background rumbling exploded into sounds of an all-out battleground. What in the world …?

It was … Bird Wars. Playing out right above our heads was an aerial battle to rival the best space fight scenes from Star Wars, complete with a screeching sound track from which there was no escape. A beautiful Peregrine falcon was being attacked from virtually every direction by at least a hundred tiny black birds. No matter what direction it took or what maneuver it attempted the falcon just couldn’t escape the relentless dive bombing of those little black birds. Even when the falcon seemed to give it up and fly away, the tiny tie-fighters followed for one last shot to teach a lesson. Do not mess with a black bird family, or the entire community will find a way to retaliate. 

Back to the trek. The plan was to drive for an hour or so to a state park with a good hiking trail. Once there we … got wet. Yep. It started raining as we started on the hiking trail. But did that deter our little band of pioneers? No! Of course not! 

On we plodded. Past the natural bridge formation (well, technically, under the bridge). Past several interesting caves. Until finally we arrived at the waterfall. We have seen bigger (we HAVE been to Niagara Falls, after all). But they were pretty cool to see after hikin’ in the rain 🎶. And speaking of cool to see … we also spotted a snake in the water. Not sure what kind, but it soon slithered away under the bridge. And as we made our way back to the visitor center in the van, we saw a mama deer and little Bambi. Gotta love the critters. 

Before we left, we pulled out some sandwiches for a picnic in the van. A picnic on wheels, that is. We ate while driving. Had to get Micah back to school for a meeting he had last night. That meant racing back to the house for showers, then back in the van and off. Well, actually, it was back in the van for Micah and his Mom and Dad. The rest of us hung out at the house. Game time for the kids. Wash clothes time for the older folks. I heard a rumor that Mom and Dad were gonna make another stop at Walmart. I’m jealous. 

Supper was really good. That Walmart stop proved well worth it. Spaghetti and chicken Alfredo. Salad. And best of all … fried cheese sticks. Haven’t had one of those in a long time. I used to get them and have just that for dinner. Sigh. Those were the days. 

After dinner we took a walk. Me, Chris, Christina, Josiah, Noa, and Ezra. Went down to the local park so Ezra could play catch with his brother on a real baseball field. 

Noa and Christina found a real live inch worm. And with Noa’s assistance, he was racing across the fence. The rest of us spotted another marmot. Ezra and I went up close to where we saw him. He had disappeared by the time we arrived, but we found his burrow. More critters. Cool. 

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭6‬:‭9‬ says, So we must not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.

Father, thanks for a little more of your awesome creation. Amen.