Category Archives: Birds

The Arctic Terns Have Arrived.

Posted in Birds, Ireland, My thoughts, Nature, Provision by

I drove out this morning to town.  I parked my car along the sea front and walked on the sunny side of the street.  It was too chilly on the shaded side.  Resident gulls and Brent geese on the waters below were enjoying the warmth of the early sun too.

The winter slumber of people and nature has been awakened by the warm sun and noisy gulls eager to prepare for new life.

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The population of gulls along the shore has increased dramatically this week.  Artic terns have arrived at their usual nesting place on an island near Strangford harbor.  They are safe from intruders across a short stretch of water, but near enough for the onlooker to enjoy their activities.  They gather in the evening, bodies white against the black, sea washed rock.

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Another attraction for many black headed gulls this morning was the presence of a farmer ploughing up a field nearby.  It is seed time.  He is busy getting the land ready.  I was reminded of the poem I Will Go With My Father A ploughing, by Joseph Campbell.

I will go with my father a-ploughing
To the green field by the sea,
And the rooks and the crows and the seagull
Will come flocking after me.
I will sing to the patient horses
With the lark in the while of the air,
And my father will sing the plough-song
That blesses the cleaving share.

Instead of horses the farmer today is using a big tractor pulling a large wide machine which grinds up the soil.  Hundreds of gulls follow the fresh upturned soil.  They dive for tasty morsels of worms and insects destrubed by the machinery.  Rooks and crows live nearby in the forest.  They join in the foray, just as the poem says.  Joseph Campbell was born in Co Down.  Perhaps his father ploughed in the green fields by the sea near where I live.

Look at the birds of the air,  they don’t sow nor reap yet your Heavenly Father feeds them.  Matthew 6 v 26
I saw our Heavenly Father at work today feeding the gulls.

Bird Watching through my Kitchen Window

Posted in Birds, Ireland, My thoughts, Nature by

imageIt is the eleventh of February today.  I am recording the activity of birds in my garden.  I live along the Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland.  The warm morning has invited all kinds of birds to flit about in the garden.  A wren stays low along the hedge.  A robin jumps about among the plant pots.

The busiest birds I see are starlings.  There are three pairs flying back and forth.  Each pair had found a nook in the old wall adjoining my garden.  One bird flys in with a small twig in his mouth.  He didn’t exit for five minutes.  He must be building his nest, preparing for young.  I am excited to discover birds building their nests in my garden and so early in the spring.  I will look forward to catching the starlings’ progress each morning.

It is relaxing to sit quiet and patient keeping an eye on the nest sites.  My breakfast dishes need washed, benches need cleared, floor needs brushed.  I want to make some phone calls.  E mails need checked.  All can wait.

I am bird watching from the comfort of my kitchen.  I don’t have to go for a drive to a special bird watching sight, or get wrapped up in warm clothes to face the elements.  Watching the birds is taking my mind off all immediate troubles.  There are many things that could cause me to worry or fret.  Instead I am looking at birds.

Jesus said “Look at the birds.”
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭25-26, 33-34‬ NIV)

A pair of doves rested on a bare branch.  One flew off with a low moan.  The other followed.  I hope they return.

Later in the morning one single bird was singing from the treetop in my garden.  I think it was a Great tit.  He was announcing loud and clear.  “This is my domain.  He was attracting his mate to join him.” I will be looking to see where his nest is.

Spring Is Springing.

Posted in Birds, Cancer, My thoughts, Nature, Restoration by

Yesterday was one of those days promised long ago.  “You will see many good days.”
The sun rose and its light reflected off the water.  The light brightens up the front of our home.  I went up through the house to pull back the curtains to let the warmth and light in.

I heard bird song.  It is just January.

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Outside my window I noticed birds feeding among the dead leaves.  A wren, a blackbird and a robin turned over leaves close to each other.  None of them chased the other away.  They live at peace with each other.

I looked out onto a walled garden at the back.  A starling was inspecting a hole in the wall where a family of starlings had been reared last year.  He must be preparing for this year’s brood.  Chaffinches sang and flew about in the ivy above on the wall.  I will keep an eye out to see if they have nesting places in the wall as well.

I remembered back to our house in Saul Street where there was a garden that had trees and undergrowth at the back.  It was an ideal habitat for birds.  Blackbirds found plenty to eat under the leaves that had not been cleared away.

Many things needed my attention.  In the past I would have been overcome by worry and stress about my children or other pressing needs.  Nowadays after being knowing God’s power and love to help me be healed from cancer, I cast my care upon The Lord.  The cancer will not come back!  Today I can see and enjoy what is around me.  I go out and enjoy being alive.

Later in the day I decided to pay a visit to a friend.  I went to the vegetable store that sells locally grown produce.  No GM produce there.  The owner showed me early daffodils and tulips.

On my way to a friend’s house a hare crossed my path.  He ran along the road in front or me and then swerved into a field.  I stopped to see him skip over the hill.   Hares are rare and are know to be seen in March.

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I parked the car to take in the view of the sunset.  Another car pulled alongside.  A man got out with his camera.  He was looking for that memorable short.

The water level was low in Strangford Lough.  I walked along looking for Sea Glass.  I picked up some shells.  They make good angel wings in my mosaics.

My friend was glad to see me.  I am so thankful to God for being alive to enjoy a good day!

Calm After Storm

Posted in Birds, Ireland, My thoughts, Nature by

The sun comes up its a new day dawning.

Yesterday Ireland and Great Britain felt the effect of storm Desmond. Winds and rain caused much damage. Many people stayed home due to gale warnings.

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This morning I am watching the sunrise over the hills to my left of the mouth of Strangford Lough. The sea is calm, trees are still and birds are venturing out to feed in the daylight. I love this winter morning.

Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. (‭1 Chronicles‬ ‭29‬:‭11‬ NIV)

 

There is calm after the storm.

I Must Go Down To The Sea Again

Posted in Birds, Ireland, My thoughts, Nature, Restoration, Travel by

imageI am inspired to write this blog after reading “Sweet Killough, let down your Anchor”,  written by Maurice Hayes.  His mother was born in Listowel Co Kerry.  Living in Killough at the other end of Ireland seemed a million miles in the 1930s.  Her mother sent her a copy of the Kerryman every week.  News from home kept his mum in touch.  She seldom got to visit Kerry.

Hopefully my experience will give you a flavour of life along Strangford Lough near my home in Portaferry, N Ireland.  For my family abroad, my friends and followers dotted around the world, please take a walk with me on this pleasant November morning.

Brendan and I decided to take a walk, soon after sunrise.  Each time we take a walk we get a glimpse of the wildlife along the seashore, in the water, in the air or on the nearby grasslands.  This morning was no exception.

In the bay in front of us many colourful buoys, all shapes and sizes bob about in the water.  They provided anchors for yachts during the summer.  The swallows have left and so have the boats.  They will winter out in the safety of some yard.  Each buoy has a bird perched on it.  The biggest buoy has the biggest seabird, ranging from a heron, cormorant to some seagulls.  They squabble for supremacy.
They rest there enjoying the rising sun and still air.

Along the road I see a small upturned crab, partly eaten.  How did a crab get stranded along the road. I believe it is the remains of a meal a crow had left behind.  There is a forest along part of the shore.  Crows settle there in the evening.  In the morning most of them head off to feed on fields inland.  Not so our resident crows.  There are a dozen of these birds that have adapted to living off food from the shore.  As I was driving one day a crow dropped a sea shell onto the road.  The shell cracked open and the crow enjoyed a tasty morsel.  Clever creature.  They have adapted to foraging along the shore: food at their doorstep.

Brendan drew my attention to two aeroplanes flying west overhead, one in front of the other, to a far off shore.  We are enjoying having our feet on the ground after our recent travels.  We are beside still waters instead, having our souls restored.

The Lord is my shepherd;  he leadeth me beside the still waters. (‭Psalms‬ ‭23‬:‭1-2‬ KJV)

We heard a honking sound from the other side of the lough.  There were large birds, I think swans, flying in formation to our right.  Brendan counted fourteen, the number of our  children.  They have flown the nest.  Gone but not forgotten.  This day forty four years ago I gave birth to our first child.  So started many years of child rearing.  A new season for us now.

A group of oyster catchers were hardly noticeable along the water’s edge.  They sprang into flight as we approached.  Herons and oystercatchers live happily together along the shore.  Gulls will try to chase herons, much to their annoyance and screech their disapproval.

A lone curlew catches Brendan’s attention.  He takes a closer look with the binoculars.  It has a distinctive long curved bill.  My Little book of Birdwatching comes in handy.  A few blackbirds dart into the hedgerows, taking shelter for the winter.  I was delighted to see a group of the Brent Geese sheltering behind Ballyhenry Island.  They had ventured down the coastline from Newtownards.  They looked fat and their white under bellies were high lighted in the low sunshine.  I can expect them soon to be feeding near the bottom of our garden.

A large bird dropped speedily into a field nearby.  It later perched on the top branch of a tree in the hedge row in the distance.  We could see markings on the back feathers.  We knew it was a bird of prey, but which one?  I looked up my Little Book.  It was a female kestrel.

The ultimate visitor was a seal diving into the seaweed offshore.  This area must be his territory.  We have met him before.

All of us were enjoying the unexpected warm morning.   Brendan and I returned home uplifted, thankful for the beauty of creation around us.  I had braced myself for a cold wind with hat, scarf and gloves.   But no, it was a pleasant, warm, bright morning down by the sea.  Unlike John Masefield’s description of his going down to the sea in his poem  ” Sea Fever”.

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

Thank you for sharing my walk down by the sea.

“All creation rightly gives you praise.”

A Sparrow Falls to the Ground.

Posted in Birds, Canada, Ireland, My thoughts, Nations, Nature, Travel by

When Brendan and I travelled with our family on holiday down through Ireland, we saw that there is plenty of space in the countryside, forests and bogland uninhabited.  When we fly over Canada we see wide open plains below with few towns.  As I travel through Slovakia I see open fields, valleys and plenty of forest lands.

Why do people say there is not enough room on the earth for people to live?   Why do people want to control the population of the world, saying there is not enough food?  Will not God look after mankind, whom he made in his image.

In these open places wild life abound.  No one sees this abundance of life except God.  We have the priveledge of admiring the wild life that turns up near to where we live.  The blackbirds in our garden, the fox that comes to steal the chicken, or the swallows or swans that fly overhead.  Where do they lay their head at night?

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Jesus said,
Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” (‭Matthew‬ ‭8‬:‭20‬ NIV)
We only get a glimpse of the beauty of living creatures from nature programmes.

In Job the writer says,

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.

“Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?

Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.

Who gives the ibis wisdom or gives the rooster understanding?

“Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions

Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food? (‭Job‬ ‭38‬:‭4, 16, 18, 36, 39, 41‬ NIV)

“Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?

Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds; they leave and do not return. “Who let the wild donkey go free? Who untied its ropes? I gave it the wasteland as its home, the salt flats as its habitat.

“Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will it stay by your manger at night?

“The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, though they cannot compare with the wings and feathers of the stork. (‭Job‬ ‭39‬:‭1, 4-6, 9, 13‬ NIV)

We only see a small part of what God has created.  He cares for it all.

I saw this photograph today.  It reminded me of the verse when Jesus said,

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.  Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.  Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.

So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (‭Matthew‬ ‭10‬:‭28-29, 31‬) NIV.

God will look after you and provide for you.

There is Life after Cancer!

Posted in Birds, Cancer, Healing, My thoughts, Nature, Prayer, Restoration by

People coming to my blog site for the first time may wonder why I am telling stories about my family, food, garden, my holidays, birds, scenery, and not All about cancer.  I looked at my list of topics I write about and cancer isn’t even in the top ten.

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I thank God that he is faithful to help me as I have faith that he exists.  I do not have cancer in my body.  He is a living God who answers my prayers.  The power of the death grip that cancer had on my body has been broken by the power of the blood of Jesus.  Jesus died 2000 years ago but his sacrifice is effective today to heal me.  Jesus, when he was on earth healed ALL who came to him for healing, no matter what their condition.

There is no other person or spirit that can claim to heal or deliver and give abundant life.  Other spirits can heal but give you some other curse.  There is no other God that can forgive, love, bless, heal and deliver and give a new start in life and do all this for free.  Many people seek other remedies or therapies for healing of mind and body.  They will be out a lot of money, like the woman who came to Jesus.  She had spent all her resources to get healed to no avail.  One touch of Jesus garment brought her complete healing from an issue of blood for twelve years.

I now tell stories about how my life is being restored.  I am not just healed of cancer, I have new life experiences happening all around me.  My eyes are opened to see all the life around me, in my garden, in nature, in new grandchildren and in restored relationships.  If I was in the grave I could not write or tell of the wonderful things that are happening to me.  The grave cannot praise God.  I am alive to give thanksgiving and glory to God.  I now live for God.  The old Angela is dead but my new life is hid with Christ in God.  I no longer live but Christ lives in me.

English was not my favourite subject at school.  I had no desire to read books.  I know others who love books and can’t get enough time to read them.  My husband and I wrote a book about being healed from Cancer, Staying Alive.  Brendan has been writing for many years.  My book was the fourth book he has published.  I have learnt much from his wisdom.  I gleen from his hard earned experience.

I am surprising myself when I write a blog on the internet that is going out to the nations.  Psalm 71 says,

I will tell everyone about your righteousness. All day long I will proclaim your saving power, though I am not skilled with words. (‭Psalms‬ ‭71‬:‭15‬ NLT)

The Word of God gives us a wonderful promise.  Jesus came to give us life and life abundantly.  He says,

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. (‭John‬ ‭10‬:‭10‬ NLT).

The work of the devil is to steal, kill and destroy in people’s life.  He comes to steal our health through sickness and tragedy.  He is the thief Jesus speaks about.  Jesus defeated Satan when He shed his Blood on the Cross.

Jesus promise is true for me.  I am living a rich and satisfying life.  I do not have much money.  But who could pay a mother pheasant and her five chicks to walk across my lawn?  Can I pay for the sun to rise every day and give me light and warmth?  Can I pay for forgiveness of my sins and healing for my disease?  Can I pay for my son to catch fish for supper?  Do I pay for the produce that grows in my garden?

When I believe in God the Creator, and his son Jesus he gives me so much in return.  As I have faith in God he is faithful to help me when I need him.  He promises to be with me in trouble and deliver me out of it.  He will not forsake me now when I have grey hair.  I can highly recommend you my reader, no matter what age you are, to have faith in God Almighty, creator of the heaven and the earth.

O God, you have taught me from my earliest childhood, and I constantly tell others about the wonderful things you do. Now that I am old and grey, do not abandon me, O God. Let me proclaim your power to this new generation, your mighty miracles to all who come after me. (‭Psalms‬ ‭71‬:‭17-18‬ NLT)

Young people may wonder “What is the point in my believing in God and obeying his commands?  I am young, healthy, strong, I have money, a good job, everything looks rosy.”  The prodigal son went off to see the world.  After many years when things didn’t work out he needed help.  I was like that.  I turned to God for help in my distress when I was twenty eight.  I tried to follow his ways since then.  When I was nearing death God was faithful to help me.  So the years of following God have not been in vain.  It is true God has not abandoned me now I am old and grey.

I am alive to enjoy the goodness of God in the land of the living.  Bring on the coffee and cake!

Pheasants Come to Visit.

Posted in Birds, My thoughts, Nature, Provision by

I was sitting by my bedroom window with my feet up taking a few moments to praise and thank God for the beauty all around.  I have been writing about birds in some of my posts.  I am learning from them each time because Jesus says “Look at the birds.”

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I was pleasantly surprised when some movement at the side of the lawn caught my eye. I watched as a mother pheasant followed by five young, walked along the side of the garden.  There is dead, brown vegetation as well as green grass there.  The five chicks spread out looking for seeds in the mixture of vegetation on the verge of the lawn.  In the photo I hope you can see the hen on the look out, a chick to the left under a bush and another to the right.  One, with coloured feathers like a necklace, ventured further than the others.  He must be a young male.  His coloured feathers were beginning to show.

I enjoyed the scene before me for some minutes.  I wanted a closer look.  I got my binoculars.  The hen stopped, relaxed and began to preen her feathers.   She stretched her wings, ruffled her feathers and scratched.  I could see the pattern on her feathers as she picked through them.  Her overall colour blended well into the background of brown vegetation.  Her chicks investigated the foliage around her.  They had no fear, as their mum was close by.

A farmer is harvesting his crop of wheat over the fence from where we live today.  Beyond the field is a forest.  They must have been disoriented today because of the noise of the farm machinery.  The wheat would be their convenient supply of food.  It is harvested today. They will have to search for seeds left on the ground.

It is true what Jesus said.

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? (‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭26-27‬ NIV)

God had supplied a whole field of wheat for this family.  I can see the pheasant family are well cared for, how much more will God care for me and my family.  We are more important than the birds of the air.

What are the main things people worry about: health, lack of money, how to look after their children, what to eat, being alone, where to live.  Have faith in God, who promises if we seek him first he will add all things unto us.  I can testify to God’s provision for food, houses, and health for my family of fourteen children.

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭31, 33‬ NIV)

I was pleasantly surprised to see this family of pheasants cross my lawn in the early morning after we returned from holiday.  I watched as they jumped up onto the bank to the left and head back to their nest for a rest after their morning forage.  I will see them again.

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Update, Sunday 20th September, saw family in orchard garden in the afternoon.

Saturday 26th morning at dawn family flew from neighbours garden into ours.  They played about for a while.

VIDEO: Young Swans Meeting

Posted in Birds, My thoughts, Nature, Travel by

I often get inspiration from bird watching.  Jesus told us to “Look at the birds of the air.”

I was pleasantly surprised on Sunday evening near dusk.  I was returning home along the River Quoile when I noticed a gathering of swans in a bend of the river.  I stopped the car and scrambled out to investigate.  I had never seen such a large flock of swans there before.

Young adult swans were having a evening together.  Circling, resting, washing, dipping, sailing, hissing, eating, cleaning, chirping, doing things swans do.  Apparently at these get togethers the young adults chose life partners and start a family together the next spring.

The male and female swans mate for life.  About eight eggs are laid and hatched.  In the Downpatrick area I have seen families of swans up to seven fully reared young.  At about a year the cygnets leave the parents and join the flock of other single swans.  When the swans are four years old they are mature to pair off and make a nest of their own.  They have to find a new territory to rear their young in safety.

It was timely for me to come upon this scene.  My daughter is leaving home to travel to Canada this week.  Another son will leave soon.

Seeing the young swans together reminded me that it is the natural process of life for young to leave their parents and meet other young people of their age.  My grown children will start out in their lives and meet his or her life partner and start a family of their own.

Testimony Tuesday. My Experience of How Nature Restores My Mind.

Posted in Birds, Dreams, Healing, My thoughts, Nature, Restoration, Testimony Tuesday by

I was reading and article on the internet, from the New York Times, written by Gretchen Reynolds.  It is entitled “How Walking in Nature Changes the Brain.”  I will quote some of the article,

“A walk in the park may soothe the mind and, in the process, change the workings of our brains in ways that improve our mental health, according to an interesting new study of the physical effects on the brain of visiting nature.

City dwellers also have a higher risk for anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses than people living outside urban centers, studies show.

Volunteers who had strolled along the quiet, tree-lined paths showed slight but meaningful improvements in their mental health, according to their scores on a questionnaire. They were not dwelling on the negative aspects of their lives as much as they had been before the walk.  They were allowed to walk at their own pace.  As might have been expected, walking along the highway had not soothed people’s minds.

Most of us today live in cities and spend far less time outside in green, natural spaces than people did several generations ago.”

Thank you Gretchen Reynolds for this article.  I agree with this article.

In Psalm 23 I read,

The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need.

He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful waters.  (‭Psalms‬ ‭23‬:‭1-2‬ NLT)

I lived in a town house when our children were small.  I grew up in the country and I longed to live again in the country.  I dreamed of my children putting on their Wellington boots and going out to play in nature in all kinds of weather, as I did when I was growing up.

Being in the town had more benefits for our family at that stage.  The schools, post office, shops, library, swimming pool, dentist, medical centre and friends lived nearby.  Driving my children to school, or to the shops would have added stress to our already busy lives.  I was at peace and realised living in the town was the best thing for us then.

Before we had a car Brendan and I always took our children on walks along the river or into a forest, nearby.  When our family increased we went for drives to the beach or other beauty sites a little further away.  Everyone piled into our minibus and headed out for a drive after tea or on a Saturday to enjoy nature.  We returned tired, refreshed and had a good night’s sleep.

Being in the middle of nature did lift any stress we or our children were under.  Any bad feelings or attitudes were forgotten as the children played together.  Brendan knew what would do us all good.  No need for headache tablets or Prozac for us.

Brendan and I now live in the country, beside a forest and the sea.  We have a double portion of nature.  Each time Brendan and I would take a walk for a mile along the foreshore we see something new.   One evening we saw six large storks that rose up from their feeding places as we walked along.   Their big wings flapped like skirts and they screeched, because they were unsettled from their feeding positions.  Never mind we had a wonderful display.

Another time I noticed something stir in the shallow water off the shore.  Air bubbled to the surface.  Was there a whale or dolphin out there.  No, three divers came to the surface.  It is a popular spot to explore wrecks of ships out in the bay.   A seal swam in the water along side as we walked by another time.  Every evening  there is a beautiful sky as the sun shines through the clouds at sunset.

We went for a walk along Barhill Rd, a National Trust property one Saturday evening.  Not many people know about it.  A lane took us to open ground beside a near a newly sown corn field.  We saw six hares play together in the evening sun.  The path continued down to the sea.  We walked along a bar made from stones throw up by decades of sea waves.  Across from us on an island lay many fat seals, safe from an intrusion.  We rested a while, amazed.  “How Great Thou Art”

Brendan and I are certainly enjoying nature and our minds and moods are being changed by the healing environment where we live.  Our souls are being restored.

Yes I recommend old and young getting out in nature for a walk.  You will be surprised by the show God puts on for you.   You can listen to the music of birds, leaves, wind and waves.  Your eyes will see life around you.

Nature declares the Glory of God!