ART & POETRY BY PAUL & KATHY BOECHER©

Paul was part of a daily study of an osprey nest at the Coon Rapids Dam park several years back. There were about four guys altogether, who met each morning to bird watch. They kept copious notes and took hundreds of photographs as Paul set up his easel and palette. Being the naturalist that he was it wasn’t long before he had laid the underpainting and made notes as he watched. The project lasted for more than a month from the beginning of the nesting process, the laying of eggs to the new life that finally sprang forth. Paul was a stickler for detail, because every little bit of a painting tells a story. He took note of the different sizes of the birds – the expressions on their faces – the pecking order – even the details within the nest. You’ll see a dog collar, which was scrounged by one of the mature birds to hold things together. All that remains of that adventure is this painting and many unused notes and photos. The memory lingers, however, of a few guys getting together in nature and enjoying the view.

The osprey will return each year to the same nest. I wonder if that particular one is still there.

The dark days of winter have finally passed, a new day awakes with the sun,

The earth now gives way to the greening of grass, the squirrels are all on the run,

A robin is perched on a sweet budding branch, a cardinal sings beautiful tunes,

A newly tilled field lies awaiting a chance, to enjoy the sun’s long afternoons,

From dormant, dead soil, springs new life once again, sweet flowers explode in the rain,

The water from God benefits the terrain, and gives all  that it needs to sustain,

The process of life, makes us blessed like the earth, with seasons of unending bliss,

The story begins at the time of our birth, there are days that we’d rather dismiss,

We cannot escape trouble, it’s part of the plan, to test and refine us each day,

To strengthen our growth in life’s tenuous span, to trust in our God as we pray,

No more will we lay in that backbreaking ground, a new life awaits in the end,

Upon our last day, we’ll inherit a crown, given by our sweet Jesus, our friend