Everything Horses and Livestock® Magazine August 2021 Vol 6 Issue 3

Everything Horses and Livestock Magazine ®

Summers singsong melody of Locusts announcing their presence is ringing through the air as I sit before the sliding glass door this warm July evening. Their song drowns out the subtle chatter of the birds settling in for the evening. Warm childhood memories are awakened by their song. Walks along the dirt road in the twilight with my grandma, ending with a huge glass of her famous sweet tea. Evenings filled with family and games of rummy and poker. Rodeo’s, hay bales, and fresh blackberry cobbler with homemade ice cream. The county fair and cotton candy whose stickiness turned your fingers to flypaper! Delightful delicacies fit for a King to be sure. The wonder of finding the locusts beetle casings all over and collecting them as treasure, stored by the firefly jar, another magical favorite. Huge lunar moths with their green wings with “eyeball” markings and butterflies of every color flooding the flowerbeds. My memory keeps strolling along as I sit and listen to the ongoing song. This choirs chorus also symbolizes a season of change is approaching. The mornings will grow cooler and the evenings shorter. Our trail-rides will become Saturday thrills as we enter the season of harvest and rest. I can smell the smell and see the leaves of fall all crisp and crunchy under foot. Frost will soon replace dew in the upcoming season anew. My heart and mind are drawn to give praise to our maker. I am in awe of the life songs he has given his creations. To stop and think about it- He created even the Locust and gave it it’s song. Appointing it it’s time and seasons of life- from grub to Beattie- to mature flight-able adult.. Transitions, and transformations occur along its lifespan. I grows and goes through metamorphosis. It sheds its old skin and emerges. Adorned now with winds and a song. Once it’s wings have dried it is ready to take flight and continue the cycle and so on and so on. According to the makers plan. Funny isn’t it that the locust can bring such great joy and yet can bring great devastation in swarms to fields and crops. It’s song can bring hardship and sorrow in a blink. It’s longevity is factual and historical. As I have sat and considered these things, I see so many similarities to our life’s song. We are formed in the darkness of the womb and emerge breathing in life, as we grow we are transformed from infant to toddler- from child to teen- from young adult to Middle Age- to senior adults- to glory. Every season along the way we shed our old “skin” of ideas and needs and grow and mature. Through the cycle we are transformed and changed both physically and spiritually. We can be a sweet song and cause dear memories – or we can be devastating with our words, actions, and deeds. We of course have the freedom to choose, where our subject here does not. The Lord has given us that great gift. As we enter this new season, I am seeking the Lord to guide me through the Holy Spirit to be a sweet singsong in the lives he has blessed me to be a part of. In this upcoming I season I desire to be kinder and more open. To listen, really listen and to respond in encouragement and love. The View From the Sliding Glass Door by Gerri Groshong

Everything Horses and Livestock® | August 2021 | EHALmagazine.com 30