"Crawl With Me-Sit a While"

Come along with me. I want to share something profound with you. Truth is, there are three very weighty realities each of us can understand from this little trip. First, we have to take the trip. Out location is just out of town. It may be five miles, less the way the crow flies. We’ll park in a grassy parking lot on top of a hill. Let me warn you, wear warm clothes, the air temperature is around 30 degrees and there is a west wind.

 We’ll both want to pause to look around before we start. The view on the hilltop is spectacular to the northeast and the north. We’ll both rejoice that the gray clouds of early morning are now a magnificent cloud line in the east. Sunshine makes them look darker than they are.

 You wonder why we are here. When we left, my goal was a brisk morning hike in tallgrass. But as we drove uphill to the parking lot my roaming eyes spotted a group of Trumpeter Swans in the wetland just below the parking lot. I brought my camera. We have a chance to take some good Swan photos. But we’ll need stealth.

 First let me tell you our “rule.” We are not going to disturb them. These are migratory birds. They are feeding and resting for the long migratory journey ahead of them. They will be wary. I also noticed a flock of diving ducks with the swans. They will be even more cautious. People have been shooting at them. My camera and tripod may look like danger to them. They will be watching. But I have a plan. It begins with not slamming the pickup doors…push them shut. Thank you!

 We will walk bent over…half our height. We’ll use the trees below that ring the west shore of the wetland as cover. Can you stay low? I thought so. First, we need a photo of the morning sky. The best view of those clouds is through the telephoto lens. I’ll show you later.

 I see a slight gully through the grass. That gets us even lower, we’ll use it. We are doing very well, we’ve closed the distance by half. Oh no-stop. The diving ducks are swimming out. They have seen us or heard us in the grass. We have to crawl. Your pants will be ok, glad you wore your old jacket. We’ll crawl a little and stop to watch. Do you notice the dust in the grass? We can’t see it, but we can smell it.

 We make it to the edge of the trees…the swans and the ducks are still on the water. Our crawl strategy worked. Look at the terrain with me. We need to be closer. We need an opening for the lens through the branches and grass. Yet, If we go down slope too far the cattails will be too high to see the birds. I’m sorry, I have to whisper. Getting to our final spot will take time. We’ll move a little and stop and wait long.

 Yes, I know we move slow. But in three more moves we make it to the best place for the camera. We are still concealed and we are as close as we can get without spooking them off the water and away. Now, we’ll wait for them to swim into our little window to the water.

 While we wait, we can take a photo of box elder limbs against a blue sky. Its my opinion, but I think you like sitting here in the quiet with the cold wind behind us and blue water before us. So do I.  

Doing a sneak on waterfowl is something I’ve found delight in since I was a boy.

 We both see movement in the trees in front. Surprise, we get bonus pictures of chickadees. We’ve been sitting for a long time now, are you growing tired of waiting like I am? We’ll debate a moment about leaving. Thanks for reasoning with me, getting me to settle down and wait longer. We would have missed the Rooster Pheasant clucking to the east. We would have missed the silent flight of the Rough Legged Hawk in front of us. The chickadees didn’t, their alarms gave us an early warning to be on the alert.

 After we’ve sat for nearly an hour, it happens. The swans begin to swim into the water area with a clear view of the lens. First one then 5, then we count 12. Its hard to count swimming birds congregating together. Then the diving ducks swim in. Too many to count, but to beautiful to miss. I wonder with you where these birds have been before arriving at this wetland on Monday, October 28.

 Now we realize we actually got the photos we thought possible. Closer would have been nice. But it was not feasible. We look at one another. Time to head back to the pickup. But, I put my hand on your arm and shake my head. We won’t scare them off the water now. We’ve been so careful. We wait. Wait for the birds to move. But three adult swans swim closer to us. We look at one another. They definitely seem to be watching us. So, we sit. We wait, and wait some more. Finally, they swim away. At the same time the ducks take off. We did not cause it. Quietly we back away using the trees to hide us. As we reach the grassy hill above the trees we turn and watch as 25-30 Ringbill, Scaup, and Redhead ducks circle over the wetland. Their wings flash in the sun. We both softly gasp. Waterfowl on the wing is perfect wilderness.

 At the pickup we store the camera and tripod in their cases. We both agree that the heater can go on high for a while. And we agree we both have cold feet. I don’t ask. I know your heart has been refreshed like mine.

 Remember the three powerful realities I mentioned at first? They are found in a verse from the Bible. In Ecclesiastes 3:11 we read these words, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

 3 weighty realities are packaged in one verse. We experienced all three on this trip.

1.       What God makes is beautiful in its season. Think of what God has made-begin with what we saw this morning. End with yourself. There is beauty in everything…God put it there.

2.       God has set eternity in your heart-and mine. We both thought about eternity this morning. We never spoke of it.  Eternity is forever. Forever is in your heart-mine too. How do we live with knowledge of forever in our hearts? It won’t go away.

3.       We cannot fathom what God has done. To fathom is to measure the depth of the water. We can measure the depth of water. But we cannot measure the depth of what God has done. Think of the swans, chickadees, the hawk, the ducks, the sky. Don’t forget the blue water, and sunshine. And again, think of yourself-God made you (and me). We cannot begin to measure or understand what God has done, but we can delight in all of it.

What has God done? In His greatest work, He sent Jesus to die for our black sin filled hearts. He gives us righteousness-it’s just as if we have never sinned.

What has God done? We are just getting started. This is -Something to think about.

Oh, before I forget my manners, thank you for taking a crawl with me.