McHenry Monday

It was late morning when Don and took a stroll around the park.  It was just too nice to stay inside and Don had already been out walking... he wanted me to enjoy the warm sunshine, too.  We found our good friend from Noble, Oklahoma, Perry Brown (on left) soaking up the rays with a new friend from Kansas/California, Harold.  Perry and Harold like it so much here they have both purchased a lot!

Before we saw Perry and Harold, we had been in to visit Jim and Thelma Taylor.  Jim was doing a little better this morning.  Thelma was elated that the swelling of his feet and ankles was less than yesterday.  We prayed with them before leaving.  Such dear, dear folks who love the Lord with everything that's within them.

On our way to Beth and Merril McHenry's, we stopped to chat a few minutes with Jim and Judy Drury.  Jim creates beautiful woodwork and Judy won three blue ribbons with her gourd creations at the local gourd show a couple of weekends ago.

Meet Merril McHenry, a degreed ornithologist (a bird biologist).  Such a gentle man with so many gifts and talents.  Here he is holding one of his gourd creations.  Merril also had five entries in the gourd show and brought home four ribbons, one blue.

Merril drew these birds freehand and then burned in the details, followed by painting.

The reverse side of the same gourd.

A Bobwhite quail, different from the Gambrel quail we see here in the Arizona desert valley. This piece of artwork is all gourds.

Also, made of gourds by Merril McHenry, Luna moths.

So pretty.

Merril's knowledge of birds just fascinated me.  He has etched, burned  and painted a couple of varieties of shore birds on gourd containers. Here is the American Avocet << click for more info and a recording of their voice.

The Black-necked Stilt << click for more info and a recording of their voice.

The male blue-billed or Ruddy Duck << this duck makes a unique sound.

The next three pictures are of the same gourd container created by Merril. [I have emailed Beth for a description of the artwork.  Check back for the update.]

**Update as per Merril McHenry**

"This gourd represents the 2 years that we worked in Swaziland ... actually called "The Kingdom of Swaziland"...

The traditional Swazi people dress in brightly colored cloth (emeheia  ... not sure of the spelling) and dominent colors are scarlet, black and white. Married women wear a "beehive hairdo", a black cowhide skirt, and a meheia tied over each shoulder.  Men wear a cloth & skin skirt and a meheia tied over one shoulder.  The women weave beautiful baskets and make clay cooking pots.  The king has many wives so all clans are related to the king!  Swaziland is a small country in southern Africa; I was teaching  at the university there and Beth was a volunteer nurse at the orphanage(Enjabulweni ... house of happiness). We were with the Mennonite Central Committee Teachers Abroad Programme."

Here's the handsome couple, Merril and Beth McHenry.  Thank you both for such a wonderful and fascinating couple of hours of food and conversation.  You are an amazing blessing and we are two more who have been blessed by meeting you.  I just wish I could write everything you shared with us today about your life adventures... I couldn't do it justice. 

Thanks to school mate, Phyllis, for sending the following to me.  Please enjoy >>The Sparrow at Starbucks<<