Early Spring at the Wildlife Refuge & Kootenai Creek in March

You've seen Kootenai Creek in both late Spring & the Fall on my blog. The Hallelujah Hikers decided to start our hiking in "early Spring". We slip - slid along the trail loaded with packed snow & ice. No flowers or wildlife were in sight, although the trails of the deer down to the creek for water were visible at various locations. Limbs & snowdrifts stretched over the creek boasted icicles. After 90 minutes we were chilled through. We drove to the lower meadows of the Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge to search for signs of spring & found some: Buttercups, Canadian Geese, a variety of other ducks & a Blue Loon who serenaded us with his mating call.

This Friday - A day of 2 gallows.

Yesterday was spent baking several batches of Hamantaschen cookies for Purim. ( See past blogs at this time of year for the recipie of these three-cornered hat cookies.) As five of us from Beth Tephila rolled out the sour cream dough with its orange zest flavoring, we discussed the unusual convergence of Good Friday & Purim this year. We know that Good Friday is a time to remember the crucifixion of our Messiah Jesus. Purim commemorates the rescue of the Jewish people from Haman's murderous plot as recorded in the book of Esther. Rarely do these days converge on the exact same date but because of the differences between the Jewish calendar (lunar) & the Roman calendar (solar), it happens this year. David Brickner, current leader of "Jews for Jesus", compared & contrasted these two days as recorded in Scripture. Here is my summary of his article:
. Both events took place in the Middle East, one in Persia & the other in Israel.
. Both were preceded by a hero's triumphant procession through the streets
of the city.
. Both gallows were made of wood. We know that Haman's gallows stood 75
feet tall. We know that the Roman gallows, or cross, was made of 2 pieces
of wood, the top piece weighing about 100 pounds.
. Death on a Persian gallows resulted from a broken neck or strangulation,
(some sources speak of impaling instead). Death on a Roman gallows resulted
from suffocation or the trauma of blood loss.
. In both cases, the gallows were built to execute innocent Jews. In the Purim
narrative, Haman plotted against Mordecai because of his (Haman's) wounded
pride. In the Gospel accounts, certain Jewish leaders plotted against Jesus
because He exposed their hypocrisy, among other things.
. In both instances, those who plotted the death of the innocents sought to make
weak rulers complicit in their plot: the Persian King Ahashueras & the Roman
Governor Pilate.
. Executing Mordecai was part of Haman's plot to destroy the Jewish people.
Executing Jesus was part of the devil's plot to destroy humanity.
. Haman's plot was thwarted when he & his sons were hanged on the gallows in
place of Mordecai. The devil's plot was thwarted when the planned execution
took place; Jesus hung on the cross in the place of sinners.
. On Purim, God worked behind the scenes; there is no mention of His name in
the book of Esther. On Good Friday, God's work was evident through signs &
wonders so that even a Roman centurion recognized Jesus as the Son of God.
. On Purim, the Jewish people were saved from destruction so the Messiah's
line remained intact. On Good Friday, God brought salvation to the whole
world via His Messiah, to all who would receive it.

Farewell to Celeb

Celeb, our 5-6 year old spotted Tennessee Walker, has been permanently put to sleep at the Blue Mountain Vet. Hospital. (See Jan. 21st entry for his photo.) His last three months have been filled with suffering since he cut his right rear pastern down into the joint. Three vet. hospital stays, with as many IV antibiotics, were meant to help & heal. No matter how much he ate, Celebrity grew thinner as the days of recovery stretched into weeks. His ribs & hip bones became more pronounced under his sagging skin. He started putting weight back onto the injured leg, only to begin lifting the left rear leg. We examined the left leg for cuts & found none. We assumed that he had overworked the muscles of that leg while the right leg recouped & was just giving them a rest. Recently he learned to walk with just 3 legs... one was his newly healed leg. It was a pathetic sight. Celeb would strain all of his neck & chest muscles as he hobbled around the small area by the feeding troughs or over to the water trough. Louis trailered him back to the vet hospital on the way to work yesterday after we found a blood stain trail on the snow where he had haltingly limped to get water. Celeb was bleeding from the bottom of his left hoof. He was to be examined & x-rayed by the vet after her morning rounds.

During the I Peter neighborhood Bible Study, I received the diagnosis via my cell phone. I excused myself & walked into the next room to listen to the vet. Celeb had developed severe laminitis in the left rear leg. His hoof had separated & the bone was working its way through the hoof. He had only more suffering ahead & no respite in sight. We were offered only one option.

This was Louis's dream horse, birthed in our own pasture. Louis spent hours imprinting Celeb immediately after birth, so he would be easier to train later. Celebrity followed Louis like a dog at mealtimes or whenever Louis was in the field. He will be missed. I am left with some guilt as well as sorrow. I had been praying that God would convince Louis to sell one or more of our horses because they were putting such a strain on our finances. I had argued with Louis to at least sell Celeb's mother - an older bay mare with ringbone. I got nowhere. Now I am left wondering if this was God's answer to my prayers?

Signs of Spring

Calving started a couple weeks ago in the Bitterroot Valley. Our lambing started yesterday. I began the evening chores early since I have nursery duty at AWANAS on Wednesday evenings. After feeding the three horses, I headed toward the back of our garage/barn. I heard a faint newborn lamb " baa" or did I imagine it? As I walked closer to the sheep feeders with my armload of fresh alfalfa hay, I noticed one of the ewes bending over her just-dropped lamb. She had licked enough of the placental filmy layers off his head that her lamb was feebly attempting to cry, while shaking his head. I dropped the hay into the feeders to keep the other sheep busy & ran to the house for water & towels. As I helped the ewe dry off the lamb, I could see she was straining with more uterine contractions. Yes! I was going to observe the miracle of new birth at least twice tonight! Another lamb's head was already protruding when I checked, so I was able to help ease the twin out into the slightly chilly world. The ewe had picked a great place between the barn & feeders. It was out of the wind, in trodden hay & away from the other sheep. I helped clean up both lambs. The next move was aiding them in finding those two all important nipples so they could drink the life-giving colostrum & milk. Then I stayed around observing the nurturing licking & hearing the tiny "baa" grunts of the ewe - waiting to see if there would be triplets. This ewe has had them before. I left for AWANAS after waiting an hour & deciding another lamb was probably not on its way.

Robins, Stellar Bluejays & Meadowlarks are showing up on the lawn & at the bird feeders. Today was a glorious, sunny 50+ degree day. So I caught the lambs with my camera after their nap in the warm hay. They are walking steadily & finding Mama's milk without trouble now.