Observing Her

Bethany loves critters. She loves the kind that creep, crawl, purr, bark, and cluck. She loves them all, truthfully, and if she had it her way, we'd have a farm where she could spend her days enjoying all that God has made.

This is a stock photo of the baby bird we found.

Yesterday, we found our 3rd bird of this summer season. It was under a tree limb which had broken off during a wind storm. It was obviously a little baby that couldn't fly. Bethany found a box for it to stay in until we could get it to our favorite bird rescue organization, Fallen Feathers. Using her Birds of Arizona Field Guide, she was able to correctly identify the fledgling as an Inca Dove. Her thoughts were confirmed by the volunteers at Fallen Feathers. This was an Inca Dove.  Fallen Feathers is about 30 minutes from our home, but were it not for that, they would have a new volunteer in Bethany.

We love this guide!

Bethany also has her Daddy's navigational abilities. She's grounded. While that's not a good term as a pilot, which is her Daddy's profession, it's a strong compliment for a 12 year-old girl. We were on our return trip home from the bird rescue home when I decided to explore an alternate route, also known within the confines of our Honda Pilot as  "creative driving."  The children always know that when I use that term, I'm probably not 100% sure how we're going to find our desired destination. When we got to a certain point where railroad tracks paralleled the street, Bethany said, "Let's take that road. Railroad tracks go near the park where we have homeschool park day, so that should take us close to home." I took that as my cue as her idea made perfect sense.  Guess what. She's got a built-in compass. Based on my own lack thereof, that will serve her quite well.

 So, here I am, momma to two, one of which is Bethany. Though she's sure to have a few of my attributes and characteristics, she's so like her Daddy. He's a navigator, she's a navigator. If he doesn't know how to do something, he tackles it anway. If Bethany doesn't know how to do something, she works at it until she has it.  God put some wonderfully special things inside my little blonde package of a daughter, and daily life unwraps one special detail after another. I have the best seat in the house, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.