ELDONUTs Should Stick to the Truth - Stay on the Vine

ELDONUTs continue to complain about this blog to someone who has written nothing here at all, not even an anonymous, blind, don't-tell-Mom comment. I laughed as I said on the phone, "Isn't my email address clear enough on the top of the blog?" I made it more apparent for those who wanted to send a message. For that I got some unwanted spam, but I can zap that to the junk folder.

The so-called Lutherans of today do not like Luther's teaching, nor do they even name the English Luther Bible developed by Tyndale in conjunction with the Lutheran Reformation. Tyndale gave his life for the Scriptures, and the fat slugs of Lutherdom will not even mention the King James Bible when speaking about translations.

Of course, the really conservative ones use the Babtist New King James Bible. The very departure from the Reformation that Luther deplored is embraced by those who trade on his name.

The same cranky and arrogant spirit is found in Christian News, the Missouri Synod, WELS, the ELS, and the venomous CLC (sic). They share with ELCA and Thrivent the same disdain for the unborn child and Justification by Faith.

Thrivent can fund abortion-on-demand through Planned Parenthood, as long as the grants keep coming. No one has provided an adequate excuse for this. A few LCMS pastor fussed for a month - five years after Brett Meyer exposed the Thrivent Planned Parenthood funding on this blog.

Missouri alone makes over $50 million a year from Thrivent, so that is worth a few million babies.

This incredible hardness of heart toward the unborn is best explained by how ashamed these Lutheran sects are - ashamed of faith. No, they will say they are 100% for faith, but not Justification by Faith. Even ELCA will dust off faith every so often. But they all agree with ELCA's Universalism, which is the excrement of rancid Pietism.

This Pietism phase came from a genuine interest in Biblical piety, studying the actual content of the Bible. But Pietism began as a program, and such programs have a way of removing precise Biblical teaching in favor of cooperation and just getting along.

Every argument against Justification by Faith is rationalistic. Example - "If Jesus died for the sins of the world, then everyone is already forgiven." I realize that having poor teachers and hearty drinking buddies are both adverse to learning in seminary. But what keeps the future pastors from studying the Word of God on their own? What keeps them from the low cost - and even the free versions - of Luther's Galatians?

A Program of Friendliness
The answer to the nastiness of Christian News and the Lutheran sects is not a program of friendliness, like the Friendship Sunday fad that WELS promoted - copying Fuller Seminary.

The only solution is teaching the singular purpose of the Bible - Justification by Faith. As Luther wrote, the Scriptures are a long sermon about the man Jesus, to create and sustain faith. Through this faith created by the Spirit in the Word, God grants forgiveness and salvation.

But there is far more to this faith that simply trusting in God's mercy and salvation. The believer is united with Christ and the Spirit dwells in the believer's heart. That moves the Christian to hear the Gospel with gladness and to live a life of continuous contrition for sin and joy in forgiveness.

The more an individual dwells on the True Vine through the Means of Grace, the more fruitful he is for the Kingdom. See John 15. The two kinds of cleansing are clear in that passage. Believers are cleansed through the Word of Grace, that they might be even more fruitful. The unfruitful are pruned away to be gathered up and burned.

We should not be shocked that those who devote themselves to Justification Without Faith (UOJ) are so unproductive, proud, harsh, mean, self-centered, and cruel. They lay waste to households for their revenge and destroy congregations to get even with people who offend their delicate feelings.

John 15 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Why Bother with Synodical Politicians?

I have a lot of contacts, every day. Most have genuine concerns. A few want to play synodical games with information they will not address on their own. Or they want to trade gossip, their wampum for my gold. No thanks.

I have all the time in the world for doctrinal discussions and insights on recent Lutheran history. Almost all those contacts are laity who are sincerely involved in studying Lutheran doctrine and looking for good authors to study. A few are pastors who find out things before I do or subscribe to periodicals I would not use for mulch.

Christian News has always been a political tabloid, which is what I avoid. If Larry Olson were a Synodical President, I would kiss his feet and carry him in my arms - if he only taught Justification by Faith and the efficacy of the Word in the Means of Grace.

I have never seen positive results from the campaigns that elect one person or another.

Tell me, is WELS better off for so many years under Mark Schroeder.

May 14, 2007

Dear called workers,

President Gurgel has announced he will decline nomination for reelection at the synod convention this summer. He mailed a letter to all of you late last week explaining his thoughts. If you have not yet received it, it should be arriving shortly. 

Sincerely,

Joel Hochmuth
Director of Communications
WELS
414-256-3230
joel.hochmuth@sab.wels.net

Nine years later, Mark Schroeder has leveraged the damage done by Gurgel and Mischke before him.

One example will suffice - Schroeder went to Appleton to cut a deal for Ski, and soon Ski's own district broke its rules and sent Ski down to Round Rock, Texas.
That was symbolic of "No one touches the Mark Jeske Crime Family."

The feminist-gay-Church Growth agenda of the Church and Change contingent continues unabated. Gurgel was bad, so bad he was forced to leave the presidency? He was the savior of WELS before he became SP. Schroeder is worse than Gurgel.

Shroeder could not even take a stand for a good translation of the Bible, though he told others he hated the New NIV, which is now standard and unopposed in WELS.

One WELS pastor had his son contact me and leak all kinds of information through Ichabod. He was standing at the computer while he did that, so he could say, "I never wrote to Ichabod." I have enough sources so I could determine quite a bit about what was going on.

I am pleased to say that official tabloid for synod politics, Christian News, never misses a chance to sully its own reputation for bad reporting, bad facts, and bad faith.

Rain Promised in One Hour - Holy Moleys

Last night Mr. Gardener was watering his lawn and bushes, and I was watering the roses. I have used his lawn mowing as 100% proof of rain in the near future. He finished mowing his property, front and back. It has to rain now.

We talked about the Crepe Myrtle bush he wanted to plant. I pointed to Almost Eden to our right. The nursery infrastructure is easy to see from our yards. When I saw the new structures going up, I knew we had a business starting in the old dairy farm. In Bella Vista we used to shop at a mini-mall that was also a former dairy farm. I like this conversion better.

We walk across a mown field of grass to reach the plants. Sassy considers a walk through Almost Eden a regular duty. She can track cats, dogs, rabbits, and anything else - as I look at plants. We often find Almost Eden watering many of the plants while his dog Opie waits.

We share the same perspective on plants - no toxins. Almost Eden has an abundance of insect and bird life as a result.

Mr. Gardener is going to shop there for Crepe Myrtles. They might be called Southern Lilacs. I have seen many varieties of Crepe Myrtle in this area - pink, raspberry, and purple blooms. Their popularity comes from a long blooming time (months) and tolerance of hot, dry weather. Unlike Chaste Tree, which hates watering, Crepe Myrtle responds well to watering and also enjoys a heavily mulched base.

Plants Are Self-Mulching
Mulching is a generic term for placing a layer of organic material around the base of a plant:

• Newspaper
• Cardboard
• Grass
• Compost
• Manure
• Flowers
• Leaves.

When I was a beginning gardener, I raked leaves out from under bushes, so they could have bare soil around them. Most bushes promptly dropped more leaves to mulch themselves.

God mulches every plant, much more than people imagine. Leaves, pollen, flowers, and dead insects fall off each plant to add organic matter to the top of the soil. That layer of organic matter keeps the soil cool and moist while feeder the very creatures we want to tend the roots - bacteria, fungi, protozoa, earthworms, and many more. This spring a mole circled the supercenter of food underneath my Crepe Myrtle, the same area that I mulched for the last four years. His digging for food was exactly where I mulched, the first time I have seen a mole dig a food tunnel in a perfect circle. He took days to complete his work. 

 "I love Creation gardeners,
and I frustrate the rest of them.
Goodbye and thanks for all the June-bugs."

Earthworm Enjoyment

Insects are undoubtedly mole nutritive staples, but they're not actually their first priority. Large earthworms are actually what moles generally like to eat the most. Moles consider earthworms to be so valuable they regularly stash them away for later consumption. If they have an earthworm surplus, they tuck them away inside designated safekeeping units. One researcher found a unit consisting of more than 1,200 earthworms. The unit also housed several grubs.

Big Appetites

Moles possess extremely speedy metabolisms. Because of this, it's absolutely crucial for the subterranean mammals to take in substantial portions of food daily. If they don't, they simply can't sustain themselves. Moles generally consume between two and three times their body weights every 24 hours. Moles are unable to survive without eating for 12 hours or so.

Over 500,000 bacteria will fit inside the period
at the end of this sentence, so a mole is this big or bigger in relation
 to soil creature size.

Moles love earthworms, but they also consume pests in the ground before those grubs hatch into big pests. Although the mole doubtlessly wiped out or stored most of those earthworms underneath the bush, plenty more available nearby. Less hysterical gardeners -the ones who welcome moles - also realize these enormous animals (in light of most soil denizens) are the Caterpillar tractors of the yard.

Moles may frustrate you, but June-bugs (Japapese beetles) infuriate me. Moles do no harm, but June-bugs devour the best flowers and do nothing to make up for their vandalism. I suggest gardeners thank the moles for reducing the number of destructive insects developing under the soil.

The most often named villains of the garden - moles, Starlngs, Grackles, Crows - are also the most voracious predators of pests. Likewise, people complain about Dutch white clover, whose only fault is pulling nitrogen out of the air and fixing it for the soil - thanks to bacteria in the roots.

Clover will sit there in the grass, feed the bee population, mulch the soil with its leaves and flowers and pollen - and die off leaving tiny pods of organic nitrogen compounds for the grass roots. And it expands it beneficial network wherever it can find purchase for its benevolent growth.

People would pay big money for Pokeweed
if the birds did not plant it for free.
We tend to denigrate what is free
and chase what is expensive.

Mulch Has To Go Somewhere

Before garbage pick-up trucks, people gathered organic waste of various types and composted them. During morning walks I find green bags of grass - later leaves - that will go to the dump. If I were building compost, I would grab the grass bags and add them to my compost pile. However, they would lead to hauling the finished compost somewhere in the garden, not my idea of fun. And that ignores the chore of picking up a big, moist bag of stinking, rotting grass and dropping it into the Icha-boat.

I will wait for dozens of bags of autumn leaves, carefully and conveniently gathered in the same bags, lightweight, dry, and devoid of that memorable rotting grass stink. 

I also pick up pieces of rotting wood, often very light - wormed out by soil creatures - and freshly dropped deadwood, still weighted by moisture and ready to feed the troops. Both types are valuable to weight down the cardboard layer before the autumn leaves arrive. I also use them to prop new bushes prone to wind or animal damage. Several logs held up a newly transplanted Butterfly Bush that was weaker than a UOJ argument. After several months of rainwater, the bush was flowering and standing on its own.

Meanwhile, the logs and cardboard held in moisture, served as a food zone for insects and birds, and kept us all from walking into the bush and uprooting it. I moved the small logs to the new cardboard, to keep our yard from airmailing the covering during the next wind storm.

The bare cardboard adds a note of Dogpatch to the backyard at the moment, but it will soon be covered with autumn leaves and promoting the growth of Hosta. Meanwhile, the grass is rotting into the soil and increasing the soil creature population.

When I thought of short-cuts, growing up in Moline, my father would say at the bakery, "You are the laziest thing I ever saw." I looked for ways to shorten the time involved since youthful energy was not lacking. I doubled the load. Now I have moved from flours to flowers, and I still search for ways to make it easier and more productive.

Note for the Frugal 

Newspapers, cardboard, grass clippings, and tree offerings are all free and yet packed with potential soil nutrition. Tree stumps are easily harvested from the curb during fall and spring clean-ups. 

Neighbors see tree stumps as trash to be hauled away. I see stumps as free bird perches and soil creature food. If they have little off-shoots, so much the better. 

Make a rustic fence with these on top of the wood mulch.
Stumps make great squirrel and bird perches.
They love to be a little off the ground and look
for food from that position.

Reviewing CN 8-22-2016. Otten Praises the False Teacher Reuel Schultz, RIP, WELS Church Growth Enthusiast. Want the Same Treatment from Otten? Attend Fuller Seminary!

"For several years I've been a Pete Wagner fan. Although I don't see eye to eye with him on many important theological points (he approves of faith healing and speaking in tongues as long as it promotes church growth and he comes from a Billy Graham decision for conversion doctrinal background), he is the most eloquent spokesman of the Church Growth Movement. A prolific author on mission/evangelism/church growth subjects, Wagner is also an excellent teacher and a crystal clear writer." 
Pastor Reuel J. Schulz The Evangelism Life Line (WELS) Winter, 1980.

"The publication TELL ('The Evangelism Life Line') has been inaugurated to promote the cause of church growth." Ernst H. Wendland, "Church Growth Theology," Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly, April, 1981, 78, p. 105.

Schulz was famous for his Fuller Seminary, Church Growth Enthusiasm.

Otten:
The first eleven pages of this issue contain some of the many writings of one of the WELS’ finest pastors and writers. Read what Pastor Reuel Schulz wrote and judge for yourself. Northwestern should now publish “A Pastor’s Role Model” with the writings of Reuel Schulz. Right now CN is working on a book titled “Back to the Bible, Luther, and ‘Old Missouri’ – The Writings of Raymond Surburg.” Northwestern has far more help and resources than CN to publish the writings of Reuel Schulz. In an age when far too many computer literate pastors spend little time visiting both members and the unchurched it would be helpful for them to read what the brilliant, courageous, well informed, bold and humorous Reuel Schulz has written.

The Wit and Wisdom of Fuller UOJ Pastors - 
One of Reuel Schulz’s humorous comments on p. 3 mentions the “GJ Church.” CN’s review of Thy Strong Word by Gregory Jackson, Ph.D., who at one time was considered the WELS’s whiz kid, is still on the growing pile of material prepared to publish for which CN has not yet had space. Finances prohibit adding more pages. Hopefully it will appear next week. Jackson writes: “We now belong to the largest synod of all, the 5,000,000 people who are Lutherans but refuse to attend the synodical franchise congregations. Some of us have started independent congregations” (ii). “Do the LCMS, WELS, ELS, and CLC leaders ever imagine that their jealousy, spite, envy, and peevishness have driven the synod into the ground?” (477). “Christian News has been a spectacular failure” (509). “Once Ylvisaker and the Preus brothers were gone, the ELS had no intellectual leadership” (510).

And here is the bon mot from WELS Pastor Schulz, apparently from 2000 -

“Thanks for printing all my articles about our mission in Grenada. So nice of you: “Best regards and God bless you, RJS “P.S. Have you heard about the new church in Arizona, the GJ Church, with one member who has a tough time getting along with himself. G for either God or Greg. J for either Jesus or Jackson."

***

GJ - If Schulz had spent some time checking out his facts, he would not have made a fool of himself in print. Church Growth dogma has dominated WELS for a long time. But why would Otten exhume this typical WELS misfire as an example of wit?

Our congregation has pioneered streaming video for live and saved worship services, which are viewed around the world. So far we have 14,500 views. The sermons are recorded live and also published via this blog - with a Luther sermon each week.

This blog has 4.8 million total views, with the highest number going to a Luther quote - the object of Ichabod - to promote Luther's doctrine.

Herman Otten does not like to reminded of his ecumenical twists, his need to have SP candidates fawn over him until they are safely in office, at which point he says his latest Sycophant President "must go."

I would much rather read about Harrison singing "The Ballad of Herman Otten" before being elected the first time - not much later, after being enthroned in his office with a princely salary.

I would love to see Herman Otten finally teach the Chief Article of the Christian Faith rather than the dogma of Halle University, Universal Objective Justification.

Otten the politician has the same faults as the Synod Presidents he promotes and then disdains. He has no grasp of Lutheran doctrine, promotes Church Growth, and tries to silence anyone who disagrees.

Review

Here is a brief review of crimes covered up in Christian News by not reporting them or - at best - burying them on page 17 (Hochmuth).

Question on Adult Education Classes

One reader asked about what I use for adult education. Luther preached for an hour at a time and advised pastors, "If you cannot preach that long, preach 30 minutes." Now the standard is 10 minutes of fluff copied from the Net." Therefore, Luther combined preaching the Gospel with doctrinal and Biblical lessons.

No wonder the modern Lutherans are copying from Captain Billy's Whiz Bang - or the equivalent thereof. Many Lutheran pastors cannot define their own doctrine, apart from memorized and confused bits from the talking points in Dog Class.

First of all, I feature one or more Luther's sermons for the Sunday in the historic lectionary year - no papal readings for us. I publish those weekly on Facebook and this blog.

Secondly, I quote from that Luther sermon during my sermon. I have used Lenski a lot and will use Lenski more in the future.

The adult class is either going through a book of the Bible, verse by verse, or a section of the Book of Concord.

Here are three books others have used for adult classes or confirmation:

Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant

Liberalism: Its Cause and Cure

Jesus, Priceless, Treasure - An Introduction to the Christian Faith

Soon all three will be on Amazon and Kindle.

Feedings, Inspections, Weedings and Blessings

Sassy and I are usually up before dawn, so she waits for some sunlight to take our walk. Today the sun was up already. Sassy ate her Science Diet breakfast while I got dressed for the walk. She walked toward the Four Esses, where every daughter's name starts with an S, but she veered when the Army Ranger called out. "Get over here, you three-legged dawg."

Sassy's favorites are greeted by a howl of pleasure - "Ah-roo-roo-roo." The Ranger and I had a long talk about politics and crime while Sassy got petted and combed by my fingers. When she was ready to walk, she barked sharply. "Have you got an appointment?"

"Bark! Bark!" People laugh about our dialogues, but we communicate all day long. She stops on our walk, hanging back so I can play "Go. Go." with her. She will be 50 feet back and bark sharply. I yell "Go go go go!" as she races toward me, like the days when she was running toward me in the park. I reach toward her and she dodges me each time.

If I miss the implication of her sounds and body language, she lets me know. The other night I thought she was ready for sleep at the end of our bed. She sat up, after having lidded eyes and that drowsy look. "Aroo. Bark! Bark!"

She wanted good-night petting from both of us. She wants to be invited, so I clap my hands softly and say, "Move, move." She comes up and sits for some petting from both of us, with exclamations of how gentle and loving she is. We enjoy that session almost every night, but we have to invite her.

If I miss all hints I suddenly find a dog's head under my hand, with a big Sassy grin looking up at me. "Time for night-night?" She will stand up and fall over for both of us to pet her.

That is the hanging feeder - not my photo.
My squirrels are much livelier.

Feeding Time for the Birds Squirrels
The normal quota for the bird feeders is - one big cup of sunflower seeds for the platform feeder and four cups for the hanging feeder.

Today I had a young squirrel on the platform and another one using the hanging feeder as his vending machine. Squirrels know to spin the six-sided feeder to bring the loose seeds closer. I closed the window sharply to reset the feeders.

Birds and squirrels fly, but still remain close to the food. The Butterfly Bush is strong enough for both. Now seven birds are on the platform and one squirrel is spinning the hanging feeder for breakfast.

Spiders Casting Their Nets on Privet Hedges
Two neighbors behind us on Joye Street do landscaping work and have boxy privet hedges on the front of their property. They keep them trimmed neatly.

Almost every morning the spider webs on top of the hedges are highlighted by dew. What a bountiful zone for spiders. They can snag the insects landing on top and the bugs crawling up from the branches. Bushes are feeding zones for spiders, nesting places for birds, and havens for insects.

The webs are irregular circles, never touching, leaving a margin around each feeding site. Web spiders are created and engineered to cast a net wherever food is likely to appear.

Spiders without webs (cursorial) march across the property to hunt for food. Spiders alone number in the thousands in a field, so one can only guess how much damage they do to pests.

God manages all the beneficials so they have their own territory and favorite foods, including themselves. Almost every beneficial will devour its own, but that protests the gene pool to favor the strongest.

At first we earthwormed the yard,
mulched and pruned the Crepe Myrtle.

The Crepe Myrtle was newly trimmed in this photo.
Now the bush and yard are even more bloom covered.

Honoring Creation
Not using toxins is one way to trust in God's Creation, engineering, and continuous management.

The plants and animals carry out their duties according to a calendar and plan we do not comprehend or implement. I know the Crepe Myrtle bush enjoys plenty of sun and food for its roots, so I have another pyramid of food under the bush, an explosion of color people point to as an example of they want to grow.

The food supply is comprised of cow manure, shredded wood, the blooms I cut off to encourage more growth, twigs cut to spur growth, pieces of rotten wood, and pieces of lawnmower manure. The large powered lawnmowers build up clumps of dust and grass, which fall off from time to time. Some are scraped off. They are pure energy held together by fine dust. This larder is almost free and always settling down.

What happens?

The soil creatures, mold, and fungus work on the more complex ingredients of bark and mulch, and share it with the roots below. Spiders set up shops to process fresh insects, the hollows and dampness ideal to attract their food. Bees manage the flowers to provide seed for the Cardinals nesting above.
Bacteria devour the simpler foods, like grass, below. Earthworms and slugs shred bigger pieces, and bacteria in the earthworm gut carries out digestion for the earthworm. Since bushes attract insects, the Cardinals also have fresh meals for their young. Additional flying patrols are carried out by beneficial insects like wasps, tiny Flower Flies, Tachenid Flies, and Ichneumon Wasps. Although I knew only a portion of this last year, the creatures did their work anyway.

If anyone has ever worked on a church building project, it is well known that the project will take at least two years to complete from start to finish. Many details have to be managed, so one error can spoil the results. And yet, this little spot of Creation can exist and flourish with only a little help from us, if we only appreciate what God has created, engineered to perfection, and managed so well.

Fluffy pink fireworks of flowers
hide the Cardinal nest within.
Note the layer of branches and mulch
on top of composted cow manure.

Inspecting the Yards
Once again I am Hamlet debating - "To water or not to water, that is the question."

Some genuine rain is promised for tomorrow, and I soaked everything already for the recent faux-rain. The KnockOut roses look splendid because we pruned them back by 50% at first droop, and they received some serious rain right after. Our helper and I clipped off the spent KO blooms, so now they are all fresh and bright and reaching their former height.

Roses droop in dry and hot weather, so pruning and soaks give them energy. I have no qualms about sprinkling and hosing them down, to remove the dust and sweat from their toil. OK - just the just. Rose canes are spongy rather than woody, so they soak up the water fast and loose it fast on hot, sunny, windy days. The spongy canes green up fast too.

Veterans Honor - give the rosebush,
share the blooms.

Falling in Love roses donated generously and now rest for the next cycle. They will be a very special next year, with the roots established all winter. I expect some good rains will yield another crop of these roses.

Easy Does It orange roses produce strong stems and clusters of roses. Its color production says "Look at me" all the time.

Mr. Lincoln will generate the longest, strongest, and most fragrant roses before any other hybrid tea. If someone wants to grow impressive roses for the vase or yard, Mr. Lincoln is an easy choice. Our friend loves to see her Mr. Lincoln bud open up and slowly turn purple.

Veterans Honor is the  other red rose bloom in mug-like form, fat rather than tall in shape, its red color so pure that the blooms glow in low light and stand out among all other roses in the garden. Veterans Honor also earns high praise for its longevity in a vase.

In the backyard I found two roses with non-rose leaves. I looked again. Growing from the middle was probably a nut tree, planted by the squirrels - watered and mulched by me.

The ground is so fertile that nuisance trees and bushes erupt from the ground, so I am always doing some weeding and yanking out growth.

Mr. Lincoln buds are tall, very fragrant,
and open up to large blooms.

Birds and Squirrels - New Show Every Hour, Every Day

Norma Boeckler's Bluebird

I set up some bird baths and feeders a distance away from the bedroom window, then moved everything in.

A White Profusion Butterfly Bush has grown at least 8 feet tall and serves as a waiting room for birds, stairs and escape for squirrels. Next to the bush is a large Pokeweed, which is ready to bear fruit for the birds. Together they screen and shade the window.

Below is a children's swimming pool kept clean and full of water for all animals. I cut the sides down to make it easier for all creatures to use. Also, birds are intimidated by deep water but love to bathe in shallow pools. I tried using rocks and deeper water, but that increased the surface area to clean of algae and dirt.

Four bird feeders, sheltered by the eaves, close to the window, keep the area busy:

1. The platform feeder is perforated and filled with sunflower seeds each day.
2. The hanging baskets are filled with suet during the cooler seasons, not in summer when they melt away.
3. The squirrel-proof (sic) feeder has finch seed, so only the finch family and sparrows feed from it.
4. The Lowe's hanging feeder holds a lot of sunflower seeds and its multi-sided design allows five birds to eat at once.

I let Sassy in from the backyard, and there on the Yellow Coneflower was a Goldfinch eating the seeds formed by the flower. The bird was unfazed by our activity, so I went back to watch more feeding. He finished with one flower, looked up, and hopped onto the next. I hope he plants a few seeds in my yard. I bought that plant for beneficial insects and got a bonus.

This Bella Vista super-squirrel owned my squirrel-proof (sic) feeder,
using the mechanism to shake seed into his greedy mouth.

The Daily Bird and Squirrel Show

Naturally, the birds were shy about the new contraptions when the feeders were set up near our window. The Jackson EZ Bird-Swing also had almost no activity.

Now we have a show every day, almost all day. The juvenile squirrels love to squat on the platform and bat away birds that threaten them. Meanwhile birds line up on the Butterfly Bush and hop over to the finch feeder or the hanging sunflower feeder.

Sometimes I open and shut the sliding glass window to get the squirrels away, But they know that opening the window is no threat. They just flinch and keep eating. Popping it shut later can turn two squirrels into flying squirrels in a second. Even then, they prepare to come back in quickly. 

I love to see a baby squirrel twitching and sniffing as he comes up to the window, after crawling up the side of the house. The tail moves back and forth in little darting motions, to show he is ready to eat but also ready to flee.

Believe it or not, the squirrels do not eat all the platform food. When that feeder is clear, Mourning Doves will sit and sift through the seeds to find some for themselves. Sometimes they land close to menace the squirrels away. That makes the squirrel reach out to warn the bird away. 

Dove fluttering - "Away! Away!"

Squirrel - "I will push you out of the air with my paw!"

Cardinals are the shyest birds, so I love seeing Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal eating sunflower seed from the hanging feeder each day. Lately I learned they also love Crepe Myrtle seeds, so I am letting most of the flowers go to seed for them. That also explains why they nest in the Crepe Myrtle. It is like sleeping in the linens department of a Walmart Supercenter. Hungry? Dinner's a few inches away.

Unlike many bird-lovers, I enjoy having flocks of Starlings - and their cousins, the Grackles - in my yard. As relatives to the Crows, they flock together, eat like teenagers, and remove tons of pests, including grubs like Japanese Beetles. 

Many Plants and Bushes Can Replace Acres of Yawn-Lawn

As I learned from the Coneflower, one plant by itself can appeal to beneficial insects and beautiful birds. Each creature of God has its own time to flourish and set up for the next year, by forming a brood locally or - for some birds - heading South.

In the Upper Peninsula, the poor people go to Minnesota for the winter.

Grass makes a convenient pathway between gardens, where everything contributes to a vibrant yard filled with birds and insects.

The Elderberry plants I began - for the first time, from Almost Eden - are now bowed down with black berries. They attracted insects at first and served as base for a lot of beneficial activity. Now they will feed birds into the cold season.

Beautyberries are edible only for birds, and they form very late. They are the berries useful late in the year, when everything else has stopped fruiting. Right now I only see flowers on the Beautyberries.

Leave It Trashy Until Early Spring

Gardeners want to mow everything down and clean up the yard for winter - wrong! The dead plants are havens for beneficial insects and wild bees. A dead stalk is a cozy chamber for insects, which are 99% beneficial.  Flowers gone to seed are bird-food - and that includes weed seeds. How else have some weeds spread so well?

God mulches all his plants, so we should too. I look at leaves as something to add to the yard, not as trash to haul away. I used 60 bags of leaves from my hard-working neighbors last year, and where are they? Some are carpeting the Wild Garden, but most have rotted into the soil, converted by earthworms and mites, slugs and other creatures.

If insects like the tiny flowers,
Hummingbirds are likely to enjoy them too.

ELDONUT Song. Correction on the Vespers Service!

Deacon Anthony Oncken

ELDONA, less than one square mile
Where mullets are in style, year-round.
Oh, church bandit, you sure planned it,
Wherever you're going, I'll goose-step your way.

EL DONA, makes Hispanics smile,
Where mitres are in style, year-round,
We're after the same smells and bells,
Glad we're not in WELS, or with Missouri swells
ELDONUTs and me.
sung to the tune of Moon River

 Official mascot for ELDONA:
Suffragen Bishop Cujo.

At the last ELDONA meeting, a Vespers service was announced, but it was only for the pasteurized, homogenized ELDONA priests and bishop. No layman was allowed to attend. A postulant could not attend either. Nor could an applicant for their seminary.

When laity found out they were barred from worship, they looked around at each other.

What would St. Ignatius say?

GJ - Correction. 8-18-2016. Everyone was allowed to attend the Vespers service, but the party afterwards was for clergy only. Not very hospitable.

"What's wrong with a mullet?"

St. Ignatius ELDONA Seminary, Malone, Texas.
Oncken is in charge of the entire student body - one person.
The Live Bait sign was ordered but was not yet installed in time for the photo-shoot.

Moline Classmate Had His Business Burn Down When a Fire from the Other Side Rekindled - Firemen Went Home

Mike Collins, MHS Class of 1968, lost his entire shop when the local firemen let a fire rekindle from next door. Let's pitch in and help him with rebuilding his business.

https://www.gofundme.com/2gc8nvj8

Here is his Facebook page.