Celibate and Sane: I'm Well Trained

October 6, 2010

I'm Well Trained

I've written in an earlier blog entry about the birds that have been visiting us seeking food scraps in the last few months. Today I confirmed just how well they have been training me!

This friendly magpie takes
food straight from my hand.

The Pied Butcher-bird
is an excellent acrobat

The magpies warble a greeting when they arrive, and today the pied butcher-bird stood on top of my clothesline and very loudly announced her presence. Laughing, I grabbed some minced meat from the fridge and took it out onto the back verandah.

The pied butcher-bird is usually too scared to take the food from my hand. Instead I toss little pieces into the air and she leaps up and snatches it. She is an amazing little acrobat.

Yesterday I was delighted to get a couple of reasonable photos of a nutmeg mannikin. These little birds are so full of energy, and so tiny as they flit from branch to twig, that they are almost impossible to catch in a still pose for a good photo.

I have also been trying to get a good shot of the pheasant coucal (koo-kull) or storm-bird as we locals call it. Just recently I've spotted the male chasing a female. Hopefully one day they will both stop close by so I can get some really good photos. Unfortunately, this is really the only decent photo I've been able to get of the male. He usually likes to hide behind as many branches and leaves as possible. I think he's camera-shy.

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Personal Quotes from Vicki-S

"Occasionally I find my breakfast a little bitter, and sometimes it's difficult to chew and swallow; though at other times it's sweet, but it’s very satisfying and always sustains me. My most important meal of the day, is feasting on God’s Word and drinking up His presence."

I love me, because God loves me. It's not that God doesn't see my flaws, they are like blazing torches in His eyes, but rather that He sees past my imperfections and still loves me. And who am I to argue with the perfect God that I am worthwhile, that I am worthy of love, and that He accepts me and wants me to be His child, His beloved daughter? When I understood this, I began to accept and embrace His version and His vision of me, and not the world's.

"The silent treatment and sulking are simply two other weapons in the arsenal of the manipulator."

"Often people use the metaphor of a butterfly emerging from its cocoon to describe how we can grow from difficult experiences, but what they don't mention is the fact that at first we start off as an ugly caterpillar."

"We so often just get caught up in trying to just get through each day, that we forget to pause and be thankful for the fresh one that is presented anew and untouched each morning."

"Contrary to what we might think, forgiveness isn't so much about healing our relationship with that other person, but about healing our own broken heart."

"The purpose of school reunions is to show off how much you've achieved in life, to laugh at the once popular kids who've aged more quickly than you; and to wince at the guy who was a bully in school and who aptly became a policeman."

"I've found in many organisations where volunteers are needed, including the modern-day church, that 80% of its people sit back and let everyone else do most of the work, then there's the 10% who actually make the place run, and the remaining 10% just like to whinge about the 10% doing the work, especially about how they could do it better."

"When traced back to its source, every sin, every despicable act, and every war was motivated by someone's selfishness."

"I do not want to think of man, for that would distract me from God. But if I focus on God, I cannot help but think of my fellow man, and each day God keeps the scales balanced so that I have enough within me to do both."

"Overcoming depression isn’t about changing ones attitude, or just ‘getting on’ with things, it’s like removing one’s personal black shroud one thread at a time, with ones teeth.”