Mysteries So Bright

(This article copyrighted 2009 by Caroline Progress and Lakeway Publishers, Inc., written by myself and used by permission)
“The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” (Ps 19:1 ESV)

Sketch of Venus and Moon – 29 Jan 2009

We are having another conjunction of Venus and the moon this evening.  They will be very close together somewhere else in the world later tonight – probably in Japan.   I went out to observe the sky – it was breathtaking, the evening western sky.  I never tire of seeing it.

I started a sketch book of what I see, with the first drawing shown.  The left side of the sketch shows Venus and the moon as they appeared to my unaided eye.  On the right side is a sketch of Venus made as I looked through the eyepiece of my 4.5 inch reflector.  You can see that it is less than 1/2 full at its present phase.  It will get “thinner” the next few weeks, but will get brighter as it draws closer to us in its orbit.

Bluebirds the next morning.
At the end of a morning walk with my bride, I strolled to the back yard where the snow had melted in all the sunny areas of the yard.  Here it is, January 30, and already the robins are actively finding food in the grass.  I counted at least a dozen.

And then I noticed a small bird that looked to me like a Junco (snow bird) sitting on the top of the tall swing set pole.  He next flew down to a near-by young tulip tree about 15 feet away and looked at me, turning his body as he did so.  Ah ha!  Look at that flash of blue – it is an Eastern Bluebird!

Not only that, he was gradually joined by 4 other Bluebirds that were females, I believe, since their coloring was more subtle.  And they were hopping around on the bare branches.   One swooped down to the ground when she spotted an early spring bug emerging, I assume.

I started talking with them, asking why they had stayed around this winter.  They cocked theirs heads and replied, I felt certain, that they had grown up in the bluebird box in our yard,  and they just wanted to be near home.

They seemed very friendly and stayed for about five minutes, at least it seemed that long.  Then they said, “See ya later.” and flew off over our rooftop.

I stood there a few more moments reflecting on how wonderful God’s creatures are, and how he created such a wide variety of beautiful animals, of stars, planets, galaxies for our enjoyment and to display His glory in the splendor around us.

Write me at BrightMysteries@verizon.net

Boyd