The Littlest Deer

Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds...
You care for people and animals alike, O Lord.
How precious is your unfailing love, O God!
All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.
You feed them from the abundance of your own house,
letting them drink from your river of delights.
Ps. 36

My eye caught a movement outside as I walked by the bedroom window. On closer inspection, I saw a very small deer scraping up the last of the bird seed I had scattered on the ground for the quail. He, no doubt, was hungry as he was scavenging for every crumb left by the birds. He was one of the smallest deer I have seen other than young fawns in the springtime. Jack said he was probably a late summer fawn and born to a young mother. There were no other deer around.

I continued to keep an eye on him the rest of the afternoon. We can only guess as to why he was here alone. Did his mother get killed by a car on the highway? Did he get separated when dogs chased the herd? I worried and watched--hoping he would be reunited with his deer family soon. I didn't want him to wander away from the safety of our place.

After a long while, he meandered around to the front of the pasture, still just outside the yard fence. With almost human like actions, he wandered to the left for a few steps, then turned and walked a few steps in the other direction--just like a lost child. I could almost read his mind-- "where is my mother?" He stomped his foot a few times like deer do when seeing something they don't understand, and he kept looking toward the east pasture where we feed the deer herd every afternoon. I too, was searching for another deer to come to his side. Nothing!

I watched him slowly curl up in the dead grass --a lesson I'm sure he had learned from his mama. He was positioned so he had a good view of the feeding area. Being a patient and trusting little fellow, he seemed to know if he waited in the safety of the grass long enough, help would come. I continued to check on him every time I passed the window (I passed the window a lot!) He was so camouflaged in the brown grass that I often lost him. If I scanned the area long enough, I would see a little ear twitch and, I would be comforted to see him still and waiting. He wasn't sleeping, but watching, trusting, hoping.

Finally, I couldn't wait for regular feeding time. I fired up Jack's four-wheeler--the sound the deer recognize as "feeding time", and drove to the feeding area to put out some corn. It didn't take long. I saw the little fellow standing, within a few yards of the four-wheeler, watching me from the edge of the trees. As I left, he was already out and nibbling the scattered corn. My question now was--where were the others?

The herd finally came, a few at a time from every direction. We think there was something, probably dogs, that scattered the herd that day. I watched as the "littlest deer" blended into the herd. I could never tell if his mother was one of the group. However, I was relieved to see him the next afternoon come up the hill, on time, with the rest of his "family". I will continue to keep an eye out for our "littlest deer". And, I believe Someone else is doing the same.

Our World Is So Full....

Wildflower Falls at Mountain Springs Cabins

As Jack and I drank our first cup of coffee before daylight this morning, we discussed the weekend and decided it was perfect! The rains came, the winds howled, it snowed, we had unexpected guests, and we cleaned two cabins!

Friday was nice. I drove in to Jasper to visit Mother, then hurried home to decorate cupcakes and make a casserole for the Valentine's Banquet at the church. We got the cabin guests at both cabins settled in just before leaving for the church. The food was delicious, the company wonderful, and the music outstanding. Joe Villines brought his guitar and banjo and sang for us. His family has lived in Boxley Valley for over a hundred years. It is encouraging to see him and his young family living and working here. He will be singing at the Ozark Cafe in Jasper this month and into the spring.

Saturday morning we got a call that my favorite cousins would be driving up to visit for the afternoon. They arrived in a rain storm. We had a couple of hours of catching up (not enough by any means!) Then they left in another rain storm! They will be back. We aren't too far from their new retirement home on Greers Ferry Lake. Jack made a trip to Berryville to check on a tractor, and came home the proud owner of a new (slightly used) tractor. He has dreams of a summer filled with tractor "work"!

Then, the rains came! It made "springs pour into ravines so streams gushed down from the mountains...Ps.104:10 It is one of life's "little joys" to curl up on the sofa by the fire and hear the raindrops pound the roof and splash over the gutters. Our mountain is so in need of rain! It was a night to watch a good movie. We thought "South Pacific" with Glen Close was perfect. Jack followed the story, but cringed everytime they broke out in song. I loved it and sang along, remembering most of the lyrics from my teenage years when I owned the original LP. The night was my version of Some Enchanted Evening!

Sunday was still cloudy as we went to church. Jack and I were in charge of a lively Sunday School class of first and second graders! We fed them left over Valentine cupcakes which, I'm sure energized them for Children's Church later. The sun was peeking out as we walked out of the church house. We could hear the roar of the river from the parking lot. We drove down to the Ponca low water bridge to check the river. Water was gushing over the top. Logs and other debris were sailing past. This weekend will bring out the kayakers and other brave, and experienced floaters. This isn't a time for the inexperienced! It is fun to watch them though.

Hopefully, this is the beginning of a great floating season for all, lasting to early June.

We capped off the weekend with cabin cleaning, which, thanks to our considerate guests, didn't take long. We even had time for a little hike/four-wheeler ride to our own Wildflower Falls. We check often to keep leaves and debris from building up. In another month or so the wildflowers will be peeking through.

I stitched a quote on a pillow years ago. I still have the pillow, and I still love the meaning of the quote.

The world is so full of a number of things, I think we should all be as happy as kings!

We Gather Together...

Fix these words of mine
in your hearts and minds...
Teach them to your children,
talking about them when you sit at home
and when you walk along the road.
Deut.: 18-19


On a spring-like day in the middle of February, four generations of our family gathered together to celebrate the birthday of the eldest of the Jackson Henry Carpenters. How blessed this family was on this day. No matter what happens in the the days to come, this day will be remembered as a gift to us all.

Our precious Jack Henry, the fourth and youngest (17 months) Jackson Henry, was at his finest. What a joy he has been to his parents, and the rest of us. A note to soon-to-be grandparents-- always pray, not only for good health for an expected little one, but also that the Lord will give him a spirit of joy. It was an answer to this grandmother's prayers.

We often have multi-generational families rent one or both cabins for a few days. Family members travel from all directions across the country to gather in a cabin in the mountains of Arkansas for a gift such as the one described above. For a few glorious days, the real world and its worries are left behind--grandparents get fun time with the grands, mom and dad find a peace and serenity of their own--and the children shout for pure joy as they bask in the freedom and adventure of being outdoors.

Notes in the cabin journal attest to the wonderful memories families will take home. I will always treasure the note left by, Sophie, aged 10, describing her time here at Mountain Springs Cabins--"I want to stay forever!" she wrote in large, child-like letters across the journal page.

Thoughts on a Winter Day

Cardinal in the Snow

Ed sent this picture after the snow of last week. We are encouraged to see our cardinal population on the mountain increase. When we first moved here, the bluebirds were plentiful but we were seeing only one pair of cardinals the first winter. However, I counted, or at least tried to count, a dozen on the ground this morning. No doubt a year round supply of sunflower seeds has lured the flock to Mountain Springs. I often look out the kitchen window and see them perched in the bare trees on the edge of the woods. The brilliant red of the birds with the gray winter mountains in the background always makes me stop my work for a moment and ponder the wonders I see around me. It's one of those "little joys".

I read that cardinals mate for life. It saddened me recently when a little female red bird flew into the window too hard and didn't recover. I worried about the little male as he must have waited all night for his mate that never returned. I think, like humans, he will move on. And, I like to imagine that he finds a lonely little female cardinal who has had a similar experience, and they live "happily ever after". I know this happens. I have seen it in our own family. "Joy cometh in the morning".

We had a record 76 degrees on Monday. Today, we woke to see a covering of snow and hear wind howling around the corners of the house. As I sit at my desk looking out the window, I hear the covey call of quail as they run from feeder to feeder picking up scattered seeds. Jack always throws out extra seeds on the ground hoping to keep the covey near the house. He's very protective of them. I see the squirrels are "hogging" the feeders so I need to bundle up and go out to fill them up--the feeders--not the squirrels! The dogs will be glad for a little run in the snow. They will be just as glad to come back inside to curl up by the fire again! Me too!

Great are the works of the Lord;

they are pondered by all who delight in them. Ps. 111:2

Snow Days

Daisy and the new Flexible Flyer

As a girl growing up in the south any snowfalls were special. They still are! Though not spectacular, we enjoyed the snow that came in on Thursday and Friday. It is especially nice when the snow comes in the daytime when I can sit at the window and watch the yard and surounding fields fill up with the white stuff.

Some of my favorite memories involve snow. Jack and I were married in January during semester break at college. That week one of the largest snowfalls to hit south Arkansas came and stayed! Some of the wedding party missed the rehersal dinner the night before, and some never made it to the wedding! The flowers for the reception at my grandmother's house were partially frozen when my aunt, thinking she would keep them fresh overnight, put them on the attic stairs! The snow meant that our honeymoon had to be p0stponed until the following summer. Maybe it was providence since this was when we discovered the beautiful mountains of north Arkansas.

When Jay was little, we lived lived a little further north in Benton-- on a hill. Our family, along with the neighbors survived nine glorious days "stranded". We spent the time sledding down the long hills in the neighborhood. I can remember a night with kids and grownups alike sledding in the moonlight and warming our hands with mugs of hot cocoa between runs. Priceless!!

That was when I learned what an exhilerating experience sledding can be. We still have the old Flexible Flyer from that time when Jay was little, but early this winter I bought a new one in anticipation of someday seeing Jack Henry on it. (Really, I wanted one myself. ) Though the snow was melting fast yesterday, I managed to get in several good runs on our own "bunny slope", with plans to go the distance on the "long run". The "long run" is the ultimate in sledding fun. We start at the top of our drive and go sailing down to the mailbox--a distance of about 200 curvey yards. Again, priceless! However, the temperatures and sun made the long trip down impossible, and I bogged down into the soft gravel before reaching the bottom. Oh well, it is just February. Still time for another good snow or two before spring.

Snow Toward Evening

Suddenly the sky turned gray,

The day,

Which had been bitter and chill,

Grew soft and still.

Quietly

From some invisible blossoming tree

Millions of petals cool and white

Drifted and blew,

Lifted and flew,

Fell with the falling night.

--Melville Cane

Trumpeter Swans Part 4

Sad news from the swan world. Two of the new young swans released by the Game and Fish Commission and others were victims of some kind of wild animal attack. The remains were found in the field behind the pond. Speculation is that it was either a bobcat, river otter, or coyotes. I saw the three remaining swans this morning swimming on the pond enjoying the sunshine and warmer weather. Hopefully, they will make the winter without harm. Nature is often cruel.

Of Rockhouses, Stones, and Bottle Trees

Blue Bottle Tree

A friend called Friday afternoon and asked if we would like to drive to Eureka Springs. He was "searching for his roots" he said. "Sure", we said. School had let out early in anticipation of an ice storm that fizzled before reaching us. In our view, a snow day or even part of a snow day is considered a free day and shouldn't be used for work or normal activities. Sounded like an adventure to us!

Actually he wanted to find his grandparents' farm--a place he remembers visiting in the summers as a young boy over 40 years ago. Some of the places he had seen in earlier trips to the area seemed to bring back memories--the old concrete bridge over the Kings River at Trigger Gap, the name "Rockhouse", and just that feeling of "being there" at some other time.

We took Rockhouse Road off of 62 in Eureka Springs. It is a back road that leads to the Kings River area, and then on to Berryville on 221. All he had to go on was a memory of the neighbors' big dairy barn and their unusual name (which must have been German), swimming in the creek across the pasture, and fishing on the concrete bridge at the Kings River. We turned off the pavement onto a gravel county road that lead through an old farming area with lots of fences in need of repair, barns that had seen better days, and pastures with several cows lazily grazing on round hay bales.

We passed by a large old barn with an old farmhouse nearby. He stopped, studied it ,and said "Eureka! This is it"!

The old house showed some neglect, but was still occupied. There were chickens in the yard, a little pen with a small, probably orphaned, lamb basking under a warm heat lamp, and a very large dog, who watched warily as we stopped the truck long enough to get a quick picture. As we looked across the lane, we were surprised to see the old German neighbor's name on the mailbox. Our friend instinctively turned down another old road that ended at the swimming hole on the creek. The old bridge leading to the other side was blocked with a threatening sign warning folks of the hazards and dangers (and law suits) of even thinking about crossing over to the other side. Time to turn back!

It is our friend's plan is to come back at a later time. Maybe after a phone call to the number he located online when he entered the name and address from the old sign that was nailed to the tree by the drive. Right now it is enough just to find the actual place that brings back so many memories.

The old home place wasn't the only thing that got our attention. Further down the road we started seeing little stacked-stone statues in the pastures, on the side of the road, and in the yard of an old, but still lived-in, log house. (I have no idea what the stone statues are, but I will find out more.)From the condition of some of the logs, it was apparently very old. By studying the logs, one could tell that new rooms had been added from time to time. The last addition showed fairly new log walls. Since we are kind of partial to log homes anyway, the structure was worth a short stop. No one home, so we didn't tarry.

The log house and stacked stones weren't the only things that caught our attention. Blue bottles! Lots of blue glass bottles! Piles of blue bottles! Some were decorating a roof line of an shed, some were placed around in the old flower beds, and some were hanging on a "bottle tree" in the middle of the yard.

I remember seeing bottle trees in yards in south Arkansas when I was young. Bottle trees are of African origin and were originally placed in yards to ward off evil spirits. The spirits were supposedly captured in the bottles so as not to enter the house. Now 'a days, they are considered "yard art", and one can even order pre-constructed, metal bottle trees --complete with colored wine bottles--online.

A bottle tree design has been forming in my head since I read an article about them in a garden magazine some time ago. This one in living color has brought it back to mind. We often have interesting wine bottles left in the cabin trash. I think I will recycle them and make my own version of a bottle tree. If you come to Mountain Springs Cabins this summer, you will most likely see one growing in my backyard. Only joyful "spirits" allowed!

You shall go out in joy...and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Is. 55:12