Ecclesiastes 1 New
American Standard Bible (NASB)
1 The words of
the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher,
“Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”
“Vanity of vanities! All is vanity.”
3 What advantage does man have in all his work
Which he does under the sun?
4 A generation goes and a generation comes,
But the earth remains forever.
5 Also, the sun rises and the sun sets;
And hastening to its place it rises there again.
Which he does under the sun?
4 A generation goes and a generation comes,
But the earth remains forever.
5 Also, the sun rises and the sun sets;
And hastening to its place it rises there again.
The repetitive cycles of the seasons and the days always
intrigue me. Each morning the sun rises
in the eastern sky and each evening it takes its place in the west slowly
dipping beneath the horizon until all that is left is a brilliant tableau of
God’s handiwork. I like to walk out
across the land during that time and just observe and listen as everything
around me – both man and beast – prepare to rest after a full day.
It is not only the sun that moves in a predictable
pattern. Animals have set routines as
well. Each of our (oh, I don’t know 70,
maybe?) chickens has their own personal roosting place where they sleep at
night. Some roost in the hen house. Some roost out in the chicken tractors. Some roost atop the woodpile. And there is a new group that has taken a
liking to roosting on top of the hay ring.
 |
| Settling in for a long summer's nap |
These four birds – three barred rocks and an Aracauna,
are settling in for the evening and I really like the silhouette of them
against the painted sunset. These old
girls probably gossip a bit about scandalous barnyard happenings before closing
their eyes and dreaming about whatever chickens dream about – worms or bugs, maybe?
 |
| A balancing act |
How in the world do they sleep balancing on the top pipe
of the hay ring? Anyway, they sleep there
until around 5:30 the next morning when they hear the creak of the gate latch
as we sleepwalk into the pasture with our milking buckets. Then they hop down and follow us to the barn,
eagerly anticipating the hearty breakfast that we’ve prepared for them – a
bucket of fermented grain and laying pellets.
As I walk back to the house this evening, I hear the sound of cars and
trucks passing by on the road home, neighbors heading back to their own
“roosting spots” after a full day and I take another look at the sunset.
Before I walk inside to see what Tricia has cooking in
the pot for supper, I take a last look out in the pasture and take in the
stillness of the evening and capture a full moon rising up over the barn,
illuminating the landscape. The cows are
appreciative of the moonlight as they’ll take advantage of the lighting to eat
grass out in the pasture past their normal bedtime.
 |
| A Full Moon on the Rise... |
As for me? Well,
I’ll go inside and eat a nice meal and enjoy my own routine until bedtime, and
then we’ll get up and do it all over again tomorrow. The sun also rises tomorrow...
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