It has been a very unusual week and I believe the weather
has had much to do with it. It kind of sets the tone for all
of our interactions.

What we had the most of this winter was wind – creating high
drifts although there was not much snow. The force of the wind
brought all the snow together in certain spots while other spots
were bare. The beach was all sand and yet I had drifts of snow
higher than the railing on my deck.

We had an early spring with wonderful weather, even though the
temperatures were erratic. I don’t mind getting May weather in
March, do you? Well right now, the last day of April, we are
having March weather. The winds have been blowing so much
that we even had gusts of 50 miles an hour yesterday.

I find watching the weather so fascinating although I do have a
preference for warm summer days when I can go kayaking and
then take a dip in the lake. I kayaked at the end of March but
cannot kayak now because the wind is so ferocious although it
is beautiful to watch the trees dance, especially now that they
have their dresses of flowers on and these flowers are dancing
all around.

The wind also helped me make up my mind whether to continue
with my idea of putting spinwheels ( I always called them pinwheels
but they are not held together with pins anymore) to try and persuade
the Canadian geese not to come on our beach. A beach that belongs
to a private beach club is right in front of my home so I have the joy
of watching the water and all its animals right from my bow
window.

Geese are beautiful and it is a joy to watch them serenely wafting
on the water. Yet….the downside is that they come onto the beach
and leave their calling cards which people and children step in.

Last year we tried a decoy of a coyote which worked until someone
stole it and we were back to square one. I had used spinwheels
placed under my wood fence to deter them from coming onto my
grass for food last year and they worked well. So this year I
decided to try them across the beach front which is considerably
larger than the area I was doing for my yard. I purchased the
spinwheels three separate times because I would run short and
the geese discovered that there was space in between them
where they could come through without hurting themselves.

Yesterday, I came home from yoga to discover flying spinwheels
all over. The wind was so ferocious that the water had white caps
and the waves even buried some of them in the mud at the water’s edge.
If you could have seen me trying to play catch with the wind, you
would have smiled. I laughed at myself as I ran around trying to
catch them. I pulled them all back up and put them away for
safe keeping. Today, I made the decision to surrender my
resistance (what you resists, persists) and pray that someone
else can come up with a better idea.

Do you have a better idea to discourage the geese?I would
love to hear it.

While I was playing this game with the geese, I realized that by
putting up a barrier to keep them away, I was also keeping other
wildlife away. I love to watch the ducks when they come to the
edge to preen and I delight in watching the slow easy stride
of the Great Blue Heron looking for fish and also the little
birds that feed around the edge. All that joy and beauty
had come to a standstill because I had put up barriers and
was trying to fight against the natural flow of Mother Nature.

When I received this link to the photos on the Year in the
Life of our President, I could not help but compare what I was doing
and what the president is doing. He is trying to protect the US and
at the same time, keep our democracy and freedom intact to enjoy
what life offers to each of us.

I am so grateful that the decisions I make do not affect others except
that I was trying to ease their burden of raking up the poop everytime
they come to enjoy the beach and the possibility that it could be shut
down because of contamination. The enormity of what the President
has on his shoulders really came to life for me.

He is not only the President but a husband and father who wants to
make the world a better place for everyone’s children. It takes a
special person to be able to juggle all the demands on his time and
still be able to smile and play with his children and have time with
his wife and yet remain balanced in his Spirit to make those
decisions that affect each and every one of us.

Every parent knows the demands on their time made by their
children, could you handle the awesome responsibility of
the country and your family? I need to admit that I could
not and I am amazed at how President Obama does this with such Grace.

I hope you enjoy the pictures of his first year and the insight
you will get from watching him wear all the hats he has.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ whitehouse/sets/ 72157623126418563/show

Love and Light
Mary Grace

http://www.TheWoundedChalice.com
http://www.TheWoundedChalice.com/blog
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