Welcome to Wonder*FULL March. As always, keep scrolling for more prose, poems, photos, and a giveaway!

INVITATION 1

A Little Bird with a Secret

I joined an Audubon birding group one morning at Gilbert Riparian Preserve. Of course, I’ve noticed birds in the four decades I have lived here, but more as a hiker who sees an occasional feathered flyer, rather than as a bird watcher who slows down and notices birds in their own habitats.

We took one and a half hours to go about a mile. In that time, we documented over fifty-five different bird species. Not fifty-five birds. Fifty-five different bird species!

These people know their birds. And I’ve learned the best way to learn something is to spend time with experts, with those who have gone before me. I barely had time to record the names of the birds before the group called out another one.

“There’s a mourning dove,” someone said, pointing to the branches of a mesquite tree.

“Three Abert’s towhees under that bush,” another said, pointing to the brown birds with black face masking.

“A great egret flying overhead,” an older woman pointed to the large white bird with its black legs extended behind it.

And so it was, for the next ninety minutes.

As we left one of the ponds and skirted around a young cottonwood tree, the leader pointed to movement in the branches.

“Looks like an orange-crowned warbler,” she said.

“What? Where?” I asked, eager to see a bird I had never seen before to add to my Life List. An orange-crowned warbler!! I couldn’t wait to see its beautiful orange feathers highlighted against the gray winter sky. 

“There,” she pointed at a small, olive-green songbird moving among the leaves.

“THAT is the orange-crowned warbler?’ I exclaimed, disappointed. “Where is the color? The orange? The detail that gives the bird its very name?”

The woman laughed. “The warbler only shows its orange crest when it is startled or during mating season. Otherwise, the bird is the color of a dirty tennis ball.”

A dirty tennis ball. The description was accurate.

Interestingly, the scientific name of this warbler is Leiothylpis celata. The first part of the name, leiothylpis, means plain and unknown. The second part, celata, means hidden or secret.

The orange-crowned warbler, a bird the color of a dirty tennis ball, has a hidden, beautiful secret that is only seen by those who wait and look for it.

1 Corinthians 2:9-10 says, Rather, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

 If we are not careful, we will have eyes that only see a dirty tennis ball, in ourselves, in the world, and in others we meet.

Instead, God invites us to see what is hidden, what is secret, what is beautiful. To see the deep things of God that are only revealed by His Spirit.

Accept His invitation.

INVITATION 2

Your Soul’s Backpack

Let’s pause again with the verse mentioned above.

Rather, as it is written:

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard,

no heart has imagined,

what God has prepared

for those who love Him.”

But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things,

even the deep things of God.

1 Corinthians 2:9-10 NIV

INVITATION 3

Consider the Beauty Where You Live

In March, the desert is like a teenager deciding what to wear.

“Should I put on my old sweater or is it time for my cute, new t-shirt and shorts?”

March can never decide, so she pulls out all the clothes in her closet.

Our nights are still cool, but our days are warm here in Arizona. I will be out on trails looking for wildflowers, but with our limited winter rain, they may hold tight to their vows to bloom this year. Migratory songbirds arrive from Mexico and South America, so adventures await with my birding friends. The Spring Equinox unfolds, splitting the time into equal day and equal night.

March is full of wonder.

Three moments of beauty where I live:

INVITATION 4

A Giveaway!!

(Congrats to Judith Y and Susan V as last month’s winners!)

This month’s giveaway is the book, Strengthened in Faith. I have a story about a time when my grandmother almost burned down the farmhouse, but something unexplainable occurred to prevent it. The other stories in the book are also true stories about God’s mysterious ways.

Click on the link below and send me an email for a chance to win! I will draw the winners on March 5.

LOCAL EVENT

I am thrilled to be part of a collaborative work involving four creatives from Chandler, Arizona and four from Tullamore, Ireland. We traveled to Ireland with our art in July 2024 and now the show, Ceangal/Connections, will be in Chandler from March 15- July 20, 2025. My contribution to the exhibit is desert poetry. The other Arizona artists include videographer Devon Hancock, photographer Bob Rice, and fiber artist, Laurie Fagen.

Location: Chandler Museum, 178 E Commonwealth Ave, Chandler, AZ 85225. The museum is always free!!

March 14: Artist Reception from 5:00 - 7:00 pm. Attend the Grand Opening and chat with the artists.

June 3: Lunch and Learn from 12:00 - 12:30. Hear about our Sister City relationship with Tullamore and the details behind this exhibit. (Bring a lunch!) I will be one of the speakers.

A link to RSVP for March 14 so we can plan food! Or use the QR code below.

Speaking of Events!

All Photos are by Lynne Hartke, unless otherwise noted.

• Chuparosa blooming in my yard.

• Praying Hands in the Superstition Mountains by Kevin Hartke

• Great blue heron at Veterans Oasis Park in Chandler

• Mourning doves at Gilbert Riparian.

• Orange-Crested Warbler from All About Birds website.

• Mexican poppies with lupine from 2024. Praying with get some blooms this spring!

• Toppled saguaro. Marco de Niza Trail on South Mountain

• Paradox Arch in the Superstition Mountains by Kevin Hartke

• Bee in globemallow. My backyard.

• Ceangal Flyers, Chandler Museum and QR code.

• Desert poetry at Esker Centre in Tullamore, Ireland by Kevin Hartke.

• Vintage typewriter by Laurie Fagen.

• Last Photo: Cairn to Paradox Arch.