SMOKY TIMES

Caw, cawing. Raucous,

a murder of crowers, flap

on air of blame, on waves of . . . of

cacophony, caw cough phony.

Not one unflappable.

Invite them inside, will you?

Where it’s warm?

Offer suet, seed, a talon trim.

Might take awhile, for

when have they known

a place like this,

with no door on the cage?

*******

And IN AN EGGSHELL, here are SM posts from earlier this week:

Rib knit.

“Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.'”

—1 Peter 5:5

*******

Stopping by the woods on an autumn morning . . .

and I almost tripped when this beautiful barnie surprised me—in bright daylight. Sorry to have disturbed her, but so thrilled to see her.

Female, I think, because of her larger size, the barring on her wings, and her darker legs and more heavily spotted underbelly. Your thoughts?

Wonder how far she’ll go before she sleeps?

*******

Groundswell.

“‘Let us start rebuilding,’ they replied, and they set their hands to this good work.”

Rebuilding things like trust, hope, unity, faith, self-discipline, community, love, integrity . . . lives . . .

—Nehemiah 2:18

*******

Stems and leaves.

“Be imitators of God . . .”

—Ephesians 5:1

*******

Uh-oh.

Amazon deleted old reviews for THE VIEW FROM GOOSE RIDGE. I’ve contacted their team about restoring them, but without success.

If you’ve read this book, would you be willing to help bring it to a new generation of readers by leaving a review? Even a line or two would be great—and would prompt that crazy Amazon algorithm to notice it. To leave a review, click here: https://www.amazon.com/…/078526…/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0…

If you’re a GoodReads person, would you also be willing to comment here? (Amazon owns GoodReads.) Feel free to copy and paste your Amazon review. https://www.goodreads.com/…/2705211-the-view-from-goose…

Thanks a million! ❤️

Meanwhile, to celebrate THE VIEW FROM GOOSE RIDGE’s 20th anniversary, I held the hat (a real hat this time) in front of Blake, and he drew another weekly book winner. If you’d like to add your name for drawings through Dec 18, just send me a note on the contact page or leave a note in the comments below.

THE WINNER OF THIS WEEK’S DRAWING for a copy of THE VIEW FROM GOOSE RIDGE is . . . Angie Collins!

CONGRATULATIONS, Angie!

Blessings, friends. I’m glad you’re here

Watching Nature, Seeing Life: Through His Creation, God Speaks.