I am a country girl at heart. I was raised on a farm, but when I was ten, my family moved in town. I've been spoiled by modern convienences. I love the air conditioner, bed and, of course, my internet! But I long for the country. I love the mountains, the valleys, the meadows and swamps. I love the wildlife (well, I could do without snakes...and roaches...and the mosquitos that buzz in your ears and the gnats that try to fly up your nose, LOL!).

Right now I am at a teacher's workshop at a nature park in Alabama. It is beautiful here. The weather has been great. I love it when our instructor takes us out on hikes and just shows us all the flora and fauna we can find. Tonight we found a catterpillar (the name escapes me now), gorgeous magnolia blossoms, a hummingbird (we were near her nest because we upset her so), some rosemary and dill, just to name a few. My favorites were the one I saw on my own, the Snowberry Clearwing Moth (a hummingbird moth - very cool looking) and a large Blue Heron (it flew out from under a bridge I was standing on).

Sometime if you have a chance, and if you are not squeamish about such things, you should check out this website: www.whatsthatbug.com. He is a bug expert and has wonderful pictures that people have e-mailed him asking what the bug is. This is another great website for specifically Alabama wildlife: http://www.discoveringalabama.org/discovery/.

I am just continually amazed at the variety of wildlife that our God made! It is truely a beautiful world and one we should enjoy. Also, I have resisted getting on the environmental bandwagon. I think it can be carried too far to extremes where we care more for the spotted owl than we do for the humans! But, I have always put my trash where it belonged, and have done my best to leave places as I find them or better than I find them. I am also beginning to transplant unwanted pests in my home to their preferred home outside (accept roaches - yuck!).

I know that I have quoted these verses on my blog before, but it is a section I continually come back to and think on as I meander through this beautiful world God made. Psalm 19:1-7:

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.