This is an excerpt from my journal almost a month ago, but I wanted to save it on my blog along with the pictures
Tuesday was a beautiful day here….sunny and clear the whole day…which is quite unusual for Nauvoo in the winter, we have discovered. It often is clear early in the morning, but then becomes hazy and cloudy as the day goes on. We get out of the Temple early on Tuesday, so I decided to walk down to the river along Parley’s street and get some pictures of the sunset. Well, unfortunately I did not leave soon enough and by the time I reached the river the sun was gone, but the river and the sky looked so beautiful, I took several pictures anyway. As I was walking down Parley’s I could hear the geese somewhere north of me, but I couldn't see them. Their honking became louder and louder while I was at the river, so I decided to walk north through the wooded area and see if I could find them. By now it was getting a little dark, but I could still see my way through the trees. There is a little pioneer grave yard over there too that I had been to before so I knew where I was going. As I got to the edge of the woods where the corn fields begin (all the corn has been cut down of course …just about 8-10 inches of the stalk left) I could see them….hundreds again and all honking…they are such noisy birds…I often wonder what they are talking about all the time . I crouched down to get a picture, and they apparently heard or saw me and ALL STARTED TO FLY!! It was an incredible site. I took a little video, but of course it doesn't capture the sight or the feeling. THERE WERE SO MANY!! And as they began to fly, they began to honk and squawk every LOUDER!! For a moment I was a little frightened. I knew they were upset with me and I thought of the film The Birds by Alfred Hitchcock…where the birds begin to attack people! I thought with all their numbers and their size, if they wanted to attack me, they could peck me apart in minutes!!!
Lovely thought, huh? But of course, they didn't…they just keep honking and circling around and around. I really didn't see how they could see me because it was pretty dark by now and I was in the trees and being very still…so I thought I will just wait a little while and see if they land again. So I waited and waited about 5 -10 minutes, BUT they didn't land…they just kept circling and honking, and finally began to fly away. While I was waiting, however, I did see another fun thing…several deer came out of the trees and bounded across the corn field. I counted about 8-10 of them and it was so fun to watch them. I then decided I had better get home, because I knew Rick would be worried about me. I didn't want to walk all the way back to Parley’s St. and besides our apt was just due east from where I was, so I just started walking east to the edge of the trees and into the corn field. This corn field is huge…about the size of 3-4 football fields, but since the corn was cut down, I just walked in the snow between the rows. I did have on my snow boots of course, because there were several inches of snow on the ground. Anyway as I walked, I could see the lighted Temple ahead of me on the bluff…the red sky behind me on the horizon through the trees, the sliver of a new moon overhead, the deer off in the distance and the geese overhead!!! IT WAS AN INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE!! I felt like shouting or singing praises or something! I felt so grateful for the beauties of this Earth, and for the blessing of being here in Nauvoo! It is indeed a blessing on so many levels!
I didn't quite make it to the river before the sunset but it was beautiful from here along Parley's 
The frozen river .
The cornfield I walked through...looking towards the Temple
This video is really dark, but you can still hear the geese and see how MANY there were if you look closely. It was truly amazing!
No comments:
Post a Comment