God's Gentle Giants

 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones,
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.”

For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.  -Genesis 2:18-24

We usually speak of these verses in Genesis to talk about the Godly relationship between a man and a woman, a husband and a wife. But each time in my life I've read those verses, I'm also captivated by the concept of God bringing each of his living creations to Adam for him to name, and to determine what type of relationship man would have with each type of animal. Working relationship for some? Suitable to hunt and eat for some? Best to 'stay clear of' for some. Man's best friend? One thing I'm sure of, is that Adam was at least as awestruck when first meeting these creatures as I am everyday when given the chance for a close encounter along life's trails. Oh sure, some of these animals have their intense moments and violent nature at times, but for the most part we are blessed to be able to experience the gentle side of Creation....God's Gentle Giants.

When God brought the first moose to Adam, how long did it take to realize "Nope, not suitable (well maybe suitable to eat, but this won't be man's best friend)"? The moose in this picture stopped to check me out on my walk "down the trail" this evening. With Alaska being about as close to the Garden of Eden as I can come in this life, I wonder if this encounter was similar to Adam's.


This eagle landed in the tree outside our bedroom window again tonight. This is Spot, our resident female, taking a break from sitting on her eggs in the nest near the house. When God brought the Bald Eagle to Adam, I wonder if that encounter was similar to this. I don't suspect it would take Adam long to realize, "Beautiful creature, but not suitable as a helper for me".


Now, when God brought the dog to Adam for him to name, I'm guessing that was as close as any animal came to being a suitable helper. Adam probably had to think long and hard about this one. Maybe he coined the phrase "man's best friend" right there at that moment. Not perfectly suitable, clearly, but I'm awful glad God created the dog.


I've seen plenty of pictures taken by people at a beach or pool, with just their feet in the picture, to hint at their version of paradise. I guess this is my version, taking a short breather on my walk with Dino through our "Garden of Eden".


"Break-Up" is upon us. The time of year when the ices breaks up on the rivers and creeks (and in our yards). When the ice 'goes out', meaning breaks up and floats downstream, we watch for ice-jam induced flooding. But this year, like last, has been a nice gradual (and early) warming, and the rivers seem to be breaking up more calmly. Other parts of the world are enjoying the season of Spring, but here in Alaska it is "break up" season.


Grayson was an auctioneer at his school performance of "Yo, Leonardo!", and sported his favorite bow-tie.


Auctioning off a work of art to start the performance. Do I hear $20,000?


Dino and Heidi, they seem to be getting along pretty well. I can only imagine that the first cat likely paid no attention to Adam at all when first brought to him, unless he had catnip in his pocket.


Squirrel!!


I suspect Dino is trying to convince himself in this picture that "If my eyes are closed, the moose can't see me".