Not An Ordinary Sunday

It was an unusual day today. "Unusual" for a couple of reasons.

First, Pastor Dad got a nosebleed. And I don't mean just a small one either. He doesn't have them very often so the fact that he had one at all would qualify for such designation, but it was . . . well, . . . I'll spare you the details.

Anyway, we have a Sunday morning routine that we've modified lately so that Pastor Dad can return to the house to pick up the Bear and me after his early morning run to the church. Soon after his arrival this morning the nosebleed commenced and refused to quit. Once it became obvious that Pastor Dad wasn't going to make it to Sunday School I hurriedly drove The Bear there so that he could lead our class in, oh, I don't know . . . prayer, quietly singing "Kum Ba Yah," or something appropriate. Then I returned home even more hurriedly because this nosebleed stuff is uncharted territory for Pastor Dad. The Bear and I? Not so much. We get 'em often. We . . . well, once again, I'll spare you the details.

The next unusual thing happened when I got home. The hemorrhage was pretty much over and an ashen Pastor Dad was sitting in my rocking chair in the living room. "I see your big woodpecker in that tree across the street," he said.

"Which tree?" I asked, thinking that it was good that he was talking and also thinking that it must be the biggest bird from my photos that he was talking about. The only thing I was trying to figure out was how he could see the bird from that distance. The one I photographed looks large close up but it wouldn't be that noticable from such range.

"That tree," he said pointing at a large, stately growth located in our across-the-street neighbor's yard. "If you look quickly I think you'll see him."

Well, I looked quickly but I didn't see anything but the tree. As if I wasn't worried enough about my husband's physical health I was now worried about my husbands -- oh, never mind! I don't want to say things I'll regret. But I wasn't sure how much blood he'd lost and it wouldn't be the first time I'd questioned his sanity. I'm kidding!!!!

Anyway, to get on with the story.

"Did you see that woodpecker that I worked so hard to photograph a few weeks ago?" I questioned.

"No. That wasn't him."

This answer caused me to walk into the kitchen for my Peterson's Field Guide to Birds so that he could show me a picture of just exactly what he'd seen. I never made it to the book. There on the deck railing was a gorgeous pileated woodpecker! Unfortunately, this unusual bird flew away before I could take his picture.

If you've never seen one of these majestic birds go here and take a look at those photographed by someone who has had more success than I. We've had pileated woodpeckers visit us before but it has been over 4 years since the last one was sighted here. I truly hope that their visits will happen often enough now not to be considered all that unusual.

(I used paper and elements from Vicky Day of Today's Scrap kit "Winter Wonders")