Category Archives: Itsnotta farm

Footprints in the Snow

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Hello again, my beloveds! Sorry we missed you last week… we were recouping from a family wedding in chilly Minnesota! It was a whirlwind trip with weather to boot! Minus 35 with wind chills… but we were surrounded by warm hearts and warm hugs. (Not to mention a new baby to cuddle and a new bride to congratulate!) Still, I was happy to get back to “warm” Canada and a light dusting of snow. And if you’ve been following along on our Instagram stories, you’ll notice we had lots of visitors. The bird feeder has been well attended recently.

It has been fun to see the footprints in the snow. Unfortunately, the snow is now crunchy and I missed taking photos of all the little markings, but it’s what I have been musing about. Of course, in addition to my own, the dog’s five little beans have been all over the property! The squirrels have definitely been to and from the barn along the rim of the barn roof to their favourite pine trees… it’s been fun to see hops versus running lines. I swear I saw hooves near the coop once. Perhaps wishful thinking that deer have taken short-cuts through our woods. Luckily no fox or coyotes have left their mark.

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) tracks in fresh snow.

My favourite, however, have been the teeny tiny little three toed markings of the hopping songbirds. There are a mass of them under the bird feeders, of course, but a few distinct lines have been along my porch … more than likely for the citrus or suet crumbles left on the railings. They’re like a little stick road travelling along the patch of white that secretly disappears on dry land. Super cute. I wish I had my own photos to show you!

While we were away, the hubby did capture this photo in the deep snow of our airbnb! Bunnies! Not ours, but wild ones braving the Midwest freeze!

So what can we observe from the diversity of my little visitors and the marks they leave? First, I am struck by the differences. Thick hops, quick little lines of the squirrels and tiny birds. The dog prints are thick with pad and nail marks. The family boots leave their own treads in various sizes. I’m sure we’d find more if we were isolated on a trail somewhere. Each with their own unique story. Bunnies hopping from a safe shelter to find food. Birds lightly treading – nervously close to my front door. Deer taking a quick short cut. Bears? 

I’m reminded that even my own family have their unique identity. Not only evident by the shoes they wear, but also in the lives we lead. Where our shoes take us. We each have our own distinct story to tell. God has made each of us wholly unique — with a special plan for each of us. He has not given us a path to follow, but a wide open, snow-covered field to make our own marks in. Perhaps a prompting by the Holy Spirit leads us in a straight path to safe hiding or a bountiful bird feeder – amass with other fellow footprint makers. Sometimes we tread lightly, other times we leave a deep mark that makes a definite imprint for others to see. I marvel at it. Then, all too quickly the snow disappears and our “marks” are wiped out. This doesn’t mean we were not there, of course, it just means we’ve come by in secret. Carrying out the day to day without recognition. 

So next time you see fingerprints on the window, or footprints in the snow, or tire tracks in the spring mud, take heed, knowing that Someone sees, and He knows the path you are on, and is waiting at the end when the wind drives the snow away. Be blessed !

Photo by Ron Lach on Pexels.com

Unspeakable Joy

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Welcome back, my beloveds, to the last week of Advent and the countdown to Christmas! We are so unprepared! Nevertheless, time will go on and Christmas will come and go – whether I am prepared or not. Hopefully, this little post will help us all get in the mood. Thought I’d share about the final theme of Advent for this week: Joy. Our youngest experienced the joy of her first snow day today. A new experience for us… buses cancelled and therefore no one shows up to school? What’s with that?! I’m not complaining though… it means I don’t have to drive in it. Bonus. 

(and so has the snow !!)

This is not the first time I’ve mused about Joy. It’s a recurring theme on mittonmusings.com. If you are interested, go back and check these posts out. They’ll make you smile:

Unspeakable joy. It’s one of the lyrics in the adapted Joy to the World hymn that’s circulating around this time of year. I wonder, though, what does it mean? Unspeakable joy. Usually when you experience “joy” you wanna chat about it, no? Shout: ”Snow day! No school! Hurray!” Tell the world about your experience? Spread the news? Does unspeakable mean indescribable? So dumbfounded that you can’t speak about it? Or awe? Like the marvel at something that just takes your words away. I’m thinking it must be like that.

I’m also guessing it takes a little bit of discipline to see those things around you that bring that unspeakable joy. I’m imagining a new mom… hectic chaos in the midst of bottles, burps and bathing. It’s not until that early morning feeding when the quiet allows you to take a moment, when no one else is around, to marvel at your baby’s tiny features. So perfectly designed. The softness of their delicate skin, and the sweet smell of sour milk and baby powder. If you know, you know. I wonder if Mary had that moment with baby Jesus. I’m sure she did. In fact, I am sure she had it a few times. 

I’m learning to discover it more and more as I take the time to slow down and practice seeing those little things in the world around me. Tiny footprints in the snow. The flame of a warm fire as it dances. It’s dangerous. Fire consumes. Yet, if you take the time to quietly observe things, you will see the beauty in it. That’s when that marvel comes in to play. That’s when you begin to get that awestruck “joy” that there is Someone so much bigger than you who has mastered the tiny intricacies of life as we know it. And that Someone has set them in to place so that this big wide world goes ’round with the exact precision it needs to be set at. Amazing.

We had a unique experience this past week when we were decorating our front porch. We discovered a dead pigeon on the lawn. Now before you scroll away, hear me out. We don’t know what happened. There was one tiny blood streak. A hawk maybe. Or a cat? We don’t get a lot of pigeons, so I think it was dropped in from elsewhere. And I don’t want to glorify death, but there was something beautiful about this bird. Each feather layered in a silky, smooth collection. Some feathers glistening in green and purple iridescence. A striking contrast to the grey and white body feathers. Each wing stretched out to reveal strong flight feathers. Yet so light as to carry this creature on the wind. It hit me with that awe and wonder for a moment. I was able to somehow experience the joy in death. It allowed me to observe a creature I would otherwise not have been able to examine so closely had it been alive. Do you get it? I hope you see it through my words.

Beauty in the everyday. Photo via Popular Science

And it’s the wish I have for you, my friend, as you go into this holiday season. I wish you the chance to experience “unspeakable joy” this Christmas. To practice seeing the beauty – even in some not so beautiful experiences. Perhaps, like many, the holiday season is not an easy one for you. It is not the “happy” season everyone talks about. Joy is different. It goes beyond the happy to a deeper, somehow indescribable and unspeakable emotion of awe in the essence of Christmas. The emotion behind the truth that the Creator of the entire world came to the earth as a tiny, helpless babe. Do you feel it? I wish it for you, my beloved. Joy, unspeakable Joy, to the world!!