Saturday, May 3, 2025
Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Field trip
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims his handiwork. Day pours out the word today; and night to night imparts knowledge.
On Facebook I saw video of a kid feeding a head of Romaine lettuce to a Texas tortoise, one bite at a time. The tortoise chewed with gusto. So yesterday we traveled the thirty miles or so to the tortoise’s home, Crowes Nest Farm in Manor, Texas.
We missed the tortoise somehow, but the snake lady invited me to touch, and then hold, her Mexican Milk Snake, so smooth and clean I thought perhaps it had been treated to a bit of make-up and skin cream. How beautiful it was, and her handler assured me there had been no staging or prep time. She showed me how to rub under the snake’s chin, and as I did that I could nearly see her relax. The snake, I mean.
Quiet and calm as I felt with the snake in my hands, we walked awhile around the farm, more like a zoo, really, cages with raptors, pheasants, chickens, llamas, emus and a herd of longhorns … I got tired quicker than I wanted. As happened at the Botanical Garden, I wanted to sit down a bunch more than did Miles and Jasper. We reached a milking parlor with a Jersey cow standing, waiting to be milked. The boys asked me how I learned to milk cows, and I talked about how Dad got up early every morning and sometimes called me out of bed at 6 am, after he’d been up since 4. He milked our 40 Holsteins twice a day, every day. I showed them the milking machines and how to milk a cow by hand. For me it was a nice break.
We were only at the farm for an hour or so, but it was a rich hour. For lunch we found friends of the Crowes nest at Good Luck Grill, where we ate lots of catfish and fries and the kids got a token for a vending machine toy. Back home the boys ran upstairs and could be heard playing together, while their brother Finn slept after two inoculations and a liquid medicine, vaccinations of all kinds on a single morning.
Before we headed out the boys each took a turn holding their brother, while he looked up at them with his slightly crooked, 8 week old smile. They love him so much. Andi said when they come home from school he just stops crying. He follows them around with his eyes, while they get ready for the best part of their day, sitting down with their brand new baby brother.
Through all the earth their voice resounds, and to the ends of the world, their message. I am the way and the truth and the life.
1 Corinthians 15, Psalm 19, John 14)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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