Jesus drawings done on Easter

Jesus outside the walls of Jerusalem

The cloud over Jerusalem in the above drawing is symbolic.  Many of the leaders of the Jewish people were corrupt.  35 years later the Jews of the day would rebel against Roman rule and the city would get besieged by the Roman army.  Eventually it would fall and the people were put into slavery or scattered throughout the world.  This was a disaster for the Jewish people.  They would not get Jerusalem back until after the Holocaust...after World War II. 

Jesus outside the tomb on His Resurrection Day

We members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are Christians and we believe that Jesus suffered and died for our sins.  Because of that the eternal punishment for our sins is paid.  So one day we can return to live with our Heavenly Parents and our elder brother Jesus Christ.  This includes getting to be there with our family and loved ones who also believed in Jesus and repented of their sins.  We ALL sin and fall short of perfection.   But because our Heavenly Father knew this, he provided a Savior for us to pay that eternal price for our sins.  Jesus was and is that Savior.   So never think you are not of value.  Jesus loves you and if you repent of your sins and turn to Him He will hear your prayers. 

Yes it is past Easter right now, but I DREW these on Easter, April 1, 2018.  We were at family's house in Wyoming and unfortunately I forgot my manila folder of drawings so I am just now posting these drawings.   Our relatives mailed the drawings to us.  

T. rex meets its End

T. rex before the Meteorite Strike

I imagine that this first T. rex drawing is from right before the meteorite hit,  in Late Cretaceous Period, Montana, USA.This first drawing shows how there was a lot of volcanic activity in the late Cretaceous Period.  The ash clouds and possible raising temperature from the eruptions.

T. rex runs from Pyroclastic Flow

Still, what really did T. rex in was a meteorite that hit the north end of the Yucatan Peninsula about 65 million years ago.  In the above second drawing the T. rex is fleeing from a pyroclastic flow or pyroclastic cloud OR blast front that you see behind him or her.  So the running T. rex is making a hopeless attempt to evade the pyroclastic flow and the blast front from the meteorite strike down south.  The trees in the background are being hit by the blast front.  The  T. rex, as far as we know, only lived in North America, but other Tyrannosaurs lived in Europe and Asia.  Earlier Tyrannosaurs that were somewhat smaller also lived in North America.  New theories place protofeathers on T. rex. . . maybe even a tuft of hair-like feathers like a crest on a bird. . . or a comb on a rooster.   And there may have been a tuft of feathers on the end of the tail. 

 The catastrophic eruption of a volcano is what we usually think of as causing a pyroclastic cloud.  But even though the meteorite hit over 2,000 miles or over 3,200 km away, in what is now Mexico...what is now Northern Montana would have probably still experienced a blast front or pyroclastic flow.  At least that is what many scientists have concluded, based on the crater size in Northern Yucatan and the Gulf of Mexico.  That crater was discovered by satellites.  The idea was hypothesize by a father and son paleontologist team from Mexico.  Luis and Walter Alvarez found iridium in a layer of clay pretty much all over the world.  This layer is above any dinosaur fossils and after or above this layer there are no more large dinosaur fossils.  This was the smoking gun to indicate the coup d'etat  for the dinosaurs.  (But not for birds)

The pyroclastic cloud or pyroclastic flow can travel at hundreds of miles an hour or hundreds of kilometers per hour.   It consists of pulverized rock and other debris and it generally is very hot, like 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit... or over 1,093 degrees Celsius.  If an animal is hit by a pyroclastic flow or pyroclastic cloud that is traveling at full speed the animal would be killed instantly.  We saw the result of pyroclastic flow of volcanic ash when we traveled to see the town of ancient Pompeii , Italy.  People and animals were encased in hot volcanic ash that eventually became solid.  The ash was from the catastrophic eruption of the nearby Mt. Vesuvius.  That volcanic ash cools and fuses to become pumice.

Dog from Pompeii encased in Pumice from Mt. Vesuvius

Elijah fed by the Ravens

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Elijah fed by the Ravens

Elijah was a great prophet of the Old Testament.  He was brave enough to tell the wicked King Ahab that the land would be cursed with a drought . . . then the Lord told him to go hide in the wilderness by a brook and drink from the brook.  The Lord also told Elijah that the ravens would feed him.  The ravens brought him both bread and meat.  To me this story shows how the Lord takes care of His faithful servants.  This story should give us all hope.  The story of Elijah and the ravens is found in the Holy Bible in 1 Kings Chapter 17.

Ravens are technically a songbird, but they are the largest.  They are as big as a hawk.  They are a very successful bird . . .probably due to their diet.  They are omnivores...they eat both plants and meat.  They are scavengers, so they will eat dead animals they find.  Yet they also eat plants such as grains etc.  They are a species that has coexisted with humans for thousands of years.
Ravens are quite possibly the most intelligent bird on the planet.  Ravens have a high brain to body size ration and that usually indicates intelligence.  So maybe there was a good reason for God to choose ravens to feed Elijah. . . after all, they were one of his most intelligent animals.

While visiting Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, USA, my son and I saw a video of how ravens are symbiotic with the local wolves. In fact, the video showed a raven playing a game with the wolves.  The ravens help the wolves find food.  In fact, we saw this in action the next day.  A raven had presumably spotted an injured elk.  The raven, or maybe ravens, went to tell the wolves about the injured animal.  The wolf pack found the injured animal and killed it and we saw them feeding off of the carcass.  After the last wolf had hauled off a leg the ravens came in for THEIR lunch.  It was amazing to watch through my binoculars.

Inchworm Measuring the Marigolds re-post

In the movie Hans Christian Anderson the title character sings the song, Inchworm.  It is a great song.  The words are below the drawing.  This picture celebrates Easter, spring, and the rebirth represented by flowers.   Remember that the resurrection of Jesus was a rebirth and baptism by immersion also represents death of the wicked person and rebirth of the righteous person.

This is a re-posting of a previous post.   This drawing will now be on the buttons that say "All Printables" finally.    I was visiting family in Wyoming.   This has taken a while to post the printable version because I accidentally left the drawing in Wyoming and I just got it back.   You can now also print it from  from the "Animals" button.  

Marigolds and Inchworm

Can you spot the inchworm?  

The inchworm is also called the span worm or measuring worm.  It is not a worm at all  It is a caterpillar of a moth.  .  .  the Geometer Moth.  An inchworm is a caterpillar that has legs only at the front and back of its body.  When it walks it arches its back as it slides its back legs up to the front legs.  This makes the inchworm look like it is taking a measurement.   Hence the name "inchworm".  

This type of caterpillar will eventually spin a cocoon and go through metamorphosis to emerge as the Geometer Moth.  

Inchworm photo

Geometer Moth

NOTE:  As I wrote before, this song is from the 1952 movie Hans Christian Andersen.   This is the same movie where the song The Ugly Duckling comes from.   I again want to highly recommend this movie to you.  By the way, when I taught first grade and kindergarten I sang this song with my students during Math.  Later with older kids I had them keep the numbers going:  2 and 2 are 4....
4 and 4 are 8....8 and 8 are 16.... 16 and 16 are 32.....and to go on beyond the song.....
32 and 32 are 64......64 and 64 are 128.....128 and 128 are 256.....256 and 256 are 512....
512 and 512 are 1024.......1024 and 1024 are 2048......and so on....

             Inchworm

A song from the movie Hans Christian Anderson

    These are the complete lyrics. . . Previously I only posted part of the lyrics.  

Two and two are four

Four and four are eight

Eight and eight are sixteen

Sixteen and sixteen are thirty two

Two and two are four

Four and four are eight

Eight and eight are sixteen

Sixteen and sixteen are thirty two

Inchworm, inchworm

Measuring the marigolds

You and your arithmetic

You'll probably go far

Inchworm, inchworm

Measuring the marigolds

Seems to me you'd stop and see

How beautiful they are

Two and two are four

Four and four are eight

Eight and eight are sixteen

Sixteen and sixteen are thirty two

Two and two are four

Four and four are eight

Eight and eight are sixteen

Sixteen and sixteen are thirty two

Inchworm, inchworm

Measuring the marigolds

You and your arithmetic

You'll probably go far

Inchworm, inchworm

Measuring the marigolds

Seems to me you'd stop and see

How beautiful they are

Inchworm, inchworm

Measuring the marigolds

You and your arithmetic

You'll probably go far

Inchworm, inchworm

Measuring the marigolds

Seems to me you'd stop and see

How beautiful they are

Two and two are four

Four and four are eight

Seems to me you'd stop and see

How beautiful they are

Seems to me you'd stop and see

How beautiful you are

Country Bunny as Easter bunny

Actually the first drawing is Mrs. Cottontail returning home with eggs for her own children.  Notice that she is wearing the little gold shoes she received from Grandfather Bunny.

Mrs. Cottontail returns Home

The second drawing is showing several years in the future from 1939, when the book Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes was written.  Mrs. Cottontail (the female country bunny from the book) was the first female and maybe the first cottontail species of rabbit to become an Easter Bunny.   So you could say that she broke the gender and race barrier.  I figured that since those barriers were broken I can assume that now it is much more common for females rabbits and for cottontail rabbits to qualify as Easter bunnies.  You will notice that two of these Easter Bunnies are female.   And some times there are more females than males on the job as Easter Bunny.  Also, one of the males is a cottontail rabbit.

The Five Easter Bunnies circa 2018

You will notice that none of the Easter Bunnies are wearing little gold shoes.  I would imagine that only Mrs. Cottontail or one of her descendants (if they made Easter Bunny) were allowed to wear those magic shoes.

NOTE:  We went to Wyoming for Easter (to visit family) and I accidentally left the drawings I was working on.  Those drawings just arrived in the mail.  There are 16 drawings and I will post them in the next few days.  Some are of animals, some are dinosaurs, some are religious, and some are fantasy.

Grave Robber Mammal Necrolestes

Grave Robber mammal Necrolestes

Necrolestes was an ancient mammal whose name means Grave Robber or Thief of the Dead.  It was a mammal that we THOUGHT lived in the mid-Tertiary Period of the Cenozoic Era. . . about 16 million years ago.  It was only about 6 inches or 15 cm long.  It was discovered over 125 years ago in the Patagonia area of South America.  .  The big surprise is that a team of paleontologists from the University of Louisville recently found a new fossil that is essentially the same animal.  But the new fossil is dated to the late Cretaceous Period...BEFORE the dinosaurs died off.  So Necrolestes survived the dinosaur extinction.  This is also a big deal because it indicates that he species survived something like 45 million years.  MOST species only last around 3 million years.  

Necrolestes' niche was pretty much like modern moles.  It was mammal that lived in the shadows of the dinosaurs, but also outlived them!  Its triangle shaped teeth appear to be adapted for eating worms. 

The other animal, the Theropod or meat eating dinosaur is a South American dinosaur from the Cretaceous Period.   It is a megaraptorian or very large raptor dinosaur.  It is called Tratayenia.  It was 26 ft or 8 meters long.  It may have had feathers, but maybe not.  I drew it with feathers.  This one in my drawing would be an adolescent . . . not an adult.  The Necrolestes is not terrified because it recognizes a juvenile and its burrow is close at hand.

FYI... I just learned about Necrolestes by watching Dinosaur Train TV show...with my granddaughter.  She loves that show and I must admit...I do too!  It features a great Paleonotlogist who obviously likes kids. . . his name is Dr. Scott Sampson, but he goes by "Dr. Scott" on the show.
I highly recommend this show.  Dr. Sampson always encourages kids to get outside and make their own discoveries.  Dr. Sampson also wrote an excellent book called, Dinosaur Odyssey.  It is available on Kindle. 

Necrolestes on the Dinosaur Train

NOTE:  The printable version of this drawing is found by hitting the top button labeled "All Printables" and scrolling down to the bottom of the list. . . OR by clicking on the "Paleontology" button and scrolling down the list to the "Animals of the Mesozoic Era" section and then going to the bottom of that sub-list.  

Noah

Noah begins to welcome the first Animals to the Ark

Noah was a great prophet who was commanded by the Lord to build an ark.  According to the bible people lived much longer back then.  Noah was living in a time when mankind had chosen to do much evil and violence.  God told Noah to build and ark and He, God, would kill everyone else with the flood.  There is much controversy about Noah and his ark.  Noah is mentioned in many passages of the New Testament.  So both Jews and Christians believe that Noah was a real person. 

The ark was said to be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high.   In modern measurements that would be 450 ft long, 75 ft wide, and 45 ft tall.  In metrics that is 137 meters x 22.9 meters x 13.7 meters.  There are some scientifically minded people who say it would not have been possible to fit all species of land animals into the above quoted size of an ark.   One explanation for this was that if the Great Flood of Noah’s time was a baptism by immersion of the Earth, maybe some animals that were not on the ark did not die…they just got very wet.  .   .  or maybe they were submerged for a short time but did not die. 

Let me explain.  Some religious people and religion scholars view the Great Flood as a type of baptism for the Earth.   Some religions believe in baptism by immersion in water.  So, if immersion needed to happen then there is the thought that even one millimeter of water all at the same time could still be complete immersion of the Earth.  So even if there was deep water at lower points on the planet, high mountains would not necessarily need to be covered in deep water.  Then, of course, some religions believe in baptism by sprinkling so that would not require the whole planet to flood.  Clearly, according to the Bible, the wicked people who rebelled against God were drown.   But to do this God would probably not have needed deep water everywhere.  IF some of the animals that were left out of the ark survived they just might have survived the rain storms. . . if the flood was not deep everywhere.  Some historians have wondered if the people were all killed where Noah lived, but not necessarily everyone on Earth was killed.  From Noah’s perspective he would still view the flood as being total destruction of all people except for his surviving family. 

Now, don’t get angry at my above explanations.  I believe that the Ark and Noah were real. . . I guess I just think we maybe can interpret some of the Bible stories a little differently that many traditional people interpret them.  Now, I do not necessarily accept all the explanations above, but they are some I have heard. . . and some of them I do accept as a definite possibility.  If one day I find out that the story should be interpreted absolutely literally then that will be fine with me.  But thinking as a scientist who is also a believer in the reality of a divine being who did have the Book of Genesis written… I think that we may want to keep an open mind.   Some science minded people use the story of Noah and the Great Flood to totally discredit the Bible.  They point at scientific evidence like from archaeology and zoology and even paleontology.  I am trying to show that perhaps traditional believers are interpreting the story too literally.  If it was not quite as literal as most believers interpret it, then the argument that it was all impossible falls apart.   Again, maybe it should be interpreted literally.   But, the possibility of looking at other views seems reasonable to me.

 

This drawing at the top of the page shows a small portion of the ark with Noah welcoming some of the first animals to arrive.  I imagined that there would have been small ramps for smaller animals and  there would be big ramps (not seen in drawing) for large animals.  

The following is from Mormon or Latter Day Saint scripture found in the Pearl of Great Price.  If you don’t agree with it then skip reading the rest of this post. 

The book called The Pearl of Great Price teaches that Noah had other children before Ham, Shem and Japheth.  Those earlier children rebelled against God and went for the ways of the World. It was Noah’s later sons and their wives that chose to follow God.  This sheds new light on the tragedy of the Great Flood when we see that Noah had children and grandchildren etc...who would have died in the flood. So it was another great trial for Noah.  Most of his decedents had rejected the teachings of God…that even way back then were the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  

Noah preaching to the People

(This is an older drawing.) 

The LDS scripture also says that Noah tried to teach repentance all to the wicked people but they refused to repent.  So the only people that were on the ark were Noah, his wife, his 3 later sons, and their wives. 

The Ugly Duckling

The Ugly Duckling swimming alone

This first drawing is also posted with the song lyrics below.  Here the "ugly duckling" is swimming alone and happy.  I think it shows that until others tell us something is wrong with us, we can be happy.   It is when others bully us into believing that we are inferior that we can start to doubt our own value.  That does not mean we should not strive to be our very best, but never believe a bully's lies.   Read more to see why.  

The Ugly Duckling  is a story originally by Hans Christian Andersen.  He was a Danish author who was a writer of children’s stories… mainly he is known for his Fairy Tales.  He also wrote many plays, novels, travelogues  and poems… but most of us know him for those fairy tales.  One of them is The Ugly Duckling.  A movie musical titled with a title of  his name was made in 1952.  It stars Danny Kaye.  One of the songs is The Ugly Duckling.

I drew three pictures to illustrate the song.   The last drawing is an older drawing, but I re-posted it on the  following buttons found above...along with the 3 new drawings... All Printables,   Animals,  and Fantasy Myths and Circus.  The lists of printable versions of the drawings are found by clicking those buttons at the top of the blog.  

    

 The Ugly Duckling
With Illustrations by Robin Lyman
Song from the movie Hans Christian Andersen

NOTE:  The Bolded titles below the pictures are not part of the lyrics. 

The Ugly Duckling swimming alone

There once was an ugly duckling 

With feathers all stubby and brown

The Ugly Duckling getting bullied

And the other birds in so many words said

“Ptt get out of town! 

     Ptt!  Get out!    Ptt!  Get out!     Ptt!  Get out of town!”

And he went with a quack and a waddle and a quack

And a flurry of eiderdown

That poor little ugly duckling

Went wandering far and near

But at every place they said to his face

“Ptt!   Get out!    Ptt!  Get out!     Ptt!  Get out of here!  

And he went with a quack and a waddle and a quack

And a very unhappy tear

The Ugly Duckling in the Winter

All through the wintertime he hid himself away

Ashamed to show his face   Afraid of what others might say

All through the winter in is lonely clump of wheat

Til a flock of swans spied him there and very soon agreed

“You’re a very fine swan indeed!”

The Ugly Duckling finds out he is a Swan

“A swan?  Me a swan?  Ah go on!”

And he said “Yes you’re a swan! 

Take a look at yourself in the lake and you’ll see!”

And he looked   And he saw   And he said

“I AM a swan!  Wheeeeeeee!

I’m not such an ugly duckling

No feathers all stubby and brown

For in fact these birds in so many words said

“Tch!  The best in town!  

Tch  The best!   Tch!  The best!   Tch Tch!   The best in town!”

Swan realistic

(This is an older drawing.) 

Not a quack not a quack not a waddle and a quack

But a glide and a whistle and a snowy white back

And a head so noble and high

Say whose and ugly duckling?

Not I!

The ugly duckling story is known to happen in real life with people.  I have known young people who were outcasts in their school days and yet they went on to be very successful.  Some became beauty queens, or millionaires or huge successes in their field of work from doctor to politician.…or they just became happy people with a good marriage and a successful life.  If you feel like an ugly duckling there may just be hope for you.  Your career matters if you strive to support yourself and or your family and try to excel at what you do…whatever that is. 

I myself and my wonderful wife were bullied and teased in school.  She was heavy and I was super skinny at the time.  I had a trach tube and I had no athletic skills at all.  My future wife struggled to learn to read in elementary school.  We were bullied by the "popular" kids.  And yet as adults we have had a glorious life together!  WE are not millionaires yet we are successful teachers who loved our work. . . love our children. . . and love our grandchildren.  We have lots of extended family we care about too!  We have friends who also mean a lot to us.  Some of our family and friends went through the ugly duckling stage in their lives. 

My wife was a Geologists before teaching and I was a Respiratory Therapist before I became a teacher.  We studied together after our marriage and got masters degrees in Geoscience together.  We have served together in our church and as teachers of science.  I feel like we are ugly ducklings that became swans in our lives.  Yes we now have pretty bad health challenges…but yet we are also happy grandparents!  We travel and see new places all over the world as we can.  We truly are happy people who were once ugly ducklings.  In a way, we have been each other's swan.   By the way, I honestly know of some people that bullied and teased me who had a much less successful life  …in my opinion.   

So don’t despair if you have found yourself in an ugly duckling phase of life.  Your swan years may just be ahead of you.  So if you get bullied, never believe the bully's lies.  Again, your swan years are ahead of you.  

Ride of Paul Revere

Paul Revere warns the Colonial Militia

Paul Revere was a silversmith in Colonial Boston.  He was very successful and he was also an American Patriot.  He was tasked with warning the fledgling colonial movement with warning them if the British Army was on the way.  The British had heard (correctly) that the colonials were gathering arms in Concord.  The signal Paul was to look for was by lanterns in the tower of the Old North Church.  One if by land and two if by sea.  The British came partway to Lexington by sea so Paul Revere saw two lanterns in the North Church tower.

Paul was rowed across the river right under the nose of a British Man-O-War.  On the other side he was met with a good horse and off he went in the saddle.  He warned the colonial militia along the way to Lexington and Concord that the British Army was coming.  A small group of colonial militia stood up to the British Army at Lexington and the American Revolutionary War started.  There was one at least one other rider who rode out to warn the colonial militia.   William Dawes and Samuel Prescott also rode out to the countryside to warn of the British approach.

The British Army was hoping to catch some of the leaders of the rebellion.  To the British, the American Patriots were traitors.  Eventually the British ran into a much larger group of colonial militia and the British were forced back.  All the way on their retreat to Boston the British Army suffered casualties from Americans firing at them from behind stone walls, and trees.  Eventually the British or Redcoats as the colonials called them were reinforced.  This became known as the Battle of Lexington and Concord.

More and more American militia showed up as the 700 British Regulars were retreating.  The British commander had sent 1,000 more men as reinforcements and then all the force retreated to Boston... being fired on by american colonial militia the entire way.  By the end of the battle the American forces numbered somewhere around 2,000.  The battle was particularly bad for the British at a couple of sharp turns in the road where they were fired on from the front and side. 

One of the British commanders said that the Americans were not an irregular mob but well trained and knew what they were about.  He noted that they had been employed as rangers against the Indians or Native Americans and the French in the French and Indian War a few years earlier.  In fact, much of the American Militia's tactics they learned from fighting against or with the Native Americans.

A few drawing notes:  

     Remember the sky should be colored dark, and,  I looked it up. . . 

     this is the gibbous non-full moon that was 90% full on that night.

    You might also notice the dust around the horse's hooves.  Paul

    Revere just reined in his horse to talk to the citizens in the doorway.

There is a great poem about Paul Revere's ride called  Paul Revere's Ride.   It was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  I posted the poem below.  You will see from the poem, that today, April 18, 2018 is the 243 anniversary of that ride!

Paul Revere’s Ride

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1807 - 1882

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five:
Hardly a man is now alive 
Who remembers that famous day and year.

He said to his friend, “If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry-arch
Of the North-Church-tower, as a signal-light,--
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country-folk to be up and to arm.”

Then he said “Good night!” and with muffled oar
Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore,
Just as the moon rose over the bay,
Where swinging wide at her moorings lay
The Somerset, British man-of-war:
A phantom ship, with each mast and spar
Across the moon, like a prison-bar,
And a huge black hulk, that was magnified 
By its own reflection in the tide.

Meanwhile, his friend, through alley and street
Wanders and watches with eager ears, 
Till in the silence around him he hears 
The muster of men at the barrack door,
The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet, 
And the measured tread of the grenadiers 
Marching down to their boats on the shore.

Then he climbed to the tower of the church,
Up the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread,
To the belfry-chamber overhead,
And startled the pigeons from their perch
On the sombre rafters, that round him made
Masses and moving shapes of shade,--
By the trembling ladder, steep and tall,
To the highest window in the wall,
Where he paused to listen and look down
A moment on the roofs of the town,
And the moonlight flowing over all.

Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead, 
In their night-encampment on the hill, 
Wrapped in silence so deep and still 
That he could hear, like a sentinel’s tread, 
The watchful night-wind, as it went 
Creeping along from tent to tent, 
And seeming to whisper, “All is well!” 
A moment only he feels the spell 
Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread 
Of the lonely belfry and the dead; 
For suddenly all his thoughts are bent 
On a shadowy something far away, 
Where the river widens to meet the bay, --
A line of black, that bends and floats 
On the rising tide, like a bridge of boats.

Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride, 
Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride, 
On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.
Now he patted his horse’s side, 
Now gazed on the landscape far and near, 
Then impetuous stamped the earth, 
And turned and tightened his saddle-girth;
But mostly he watched with eager search 
The belfry-tower of the old North Church, 
As it rose above the graves on the hill, 
Lonely and spectral and sombre and still.
And lo! as he looks, on the belfry’s height, 
A glimmer, and then a gleam of light!
He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns, 
But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight 
A second lamp in the belfry burns!

A hurry of hoofs in a village-street,
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark, 
And beneath from the pebbles, in passing, a spark 
Struck out by a steed that flies fearless and fleet: 
That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light, 
The fate of a nation was riding that night; 
And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight, 
Kindled the land into flame with its heat.

He has left the village and mounted the steep,
And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep,
Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides;
And under the alders, that skirt its edge,
Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,
Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.

It was twelve by the village clock
When he crossed the bridge into Medford town.
He heard the crowing of the cock, 
And the barking of the farmer’s dog, 
And felt the damp of the river-fog,
That rises when the sun goes down.

It was one by the village clock,
When he galloped into Lexington. 
He saw the gilded weathercock 
Swim in the moonlight as he passed, 
And the meeting-house windows, blank and bare, 
Gaze at him with a spectral glare, 
As if they already stood aghast 
At the bloody work they would look upon.

It was two by the village clock,
When be came to the bridge in Concord town. 
He heard the bleating of the flock, 
And the twitter of birds among the trees, 
And felt the breath of the morning breeze
Blowing over the meadows brown.
And one was safe and asleep in his bed
Who at the bridge would be first to fall,
Who that day would be lying dead,
Pierced by a British musket-ball.

You know the rest. In the books you have read,
How the British Regulars fired and fled,--
How the farmers gave them ball for ball,
From behind each fence and farmyard-wall,
Chasing the red-coats down the lane,
Then crossing the fields to emerge again
Under the trees at the turn of the road,
And only pausing to fire and load.

So through the night rode Paul Revere;
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm,-- 
A cry of defiance, and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo forevermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

NOTE:  This is one of my favorite poems.  You should also look up the song on YouTube called The Ride of Paul Revere by Up With The People.     My family had this record when I was a child.  Also...on the 200th anniversary of the Ride of Paul Revere I jumped out of bed and went running though the house waking up everyone early by yelling:  "The British are coming!"   I was Jr. High age.   Now you know why I fit in for 16 years as a Jr. High teacher!   Here are the lyrics to the song:

THE RIDE OF PAUL REVERE

Words- Paul Colwell
Music- Paul and Ralph Colwell

They saw two lanterns in the North Church tower,
Ride, Ride
They knew this was to be the fateful hour
Ride, Ride

For a man to ride and to alarm
Ev’ry village and ev’ry farm
To awaken them and call to arm,
It was the ride of Paul Revere!

Chorus
Ride! Ride! Tho’ the night be cold.
Ride! Ride! Till the truth be told!
Ride! Ride! Like that man of old!
Ride like Paul Revere!

In seventy five upon an April night,
Ride! Ride!

The air was chilly and the moon shone bright.
Ride! Ride!

They rowed him past the man-of-war
Landed on the Charlestown shore,
Where the finest steed was ready for,
The ride of Paul Revere!

Chorus

Say:  There were many who remained in bed

  Sing: Ride Ride

Say:  But in history, there names are dead

  Sing: Ride Ride

Say:  But the one who history thanks

         started off on Charles River banks

          Twas the ride of Paul Revere!

(Back to just singing)

Chorus

I wonder if, two hundred years ahead,
Ride! Ride!
If they will ride, or if they’ll stay in bed.
Ride! Ride!

When faith and freedom within them die,
And when they hear that midnight cry
And the hoof-beats cross the moonlit sky,
Will they ride with Paul Revere?
Ride with Paul Revere!

Chorus

Bald Eagle over Alaska

Bald Eagle flying over Southeast Alaska

(This is the new drawing today.)

This is a drawing of a Bald Eagle over Southeast Alaska.  I lived there in 1986-87.  It is an amazing place.  There are numerous islands and much of the mainland is blocked from access due to a large glacier behind cities like Juneau.  There are conifer trees nearly everywhere and it is very beautiful.  It rains a lot so it is a rain-forest, but not a tropical one.  The islands that are near the mainland are also covered in beautiful trees. 

The bald eagles are very common there.  Bald eagles are fish eagles.  In Southeast Alaska, like near Juneau, the bald eagles eat mostly fish.  They also are scavengers.  Most birds of prey will eat a free meal when they see one already dead.  The bald eagle that live inland are more likely to eat rodents and other small prey. 

Bald eagles are powerful birds and one wildlife officer found a collar of a cat in an eagle nest.  That is not PROOF that the eagle killed and ate the cat.   Maybe the cat was roadkill.  But a cat's weight is not too much for a bald eagle to carry.  A bald eagle can weigh up to 14 lbs or a mass of 6.35 kg.  A bald eagle can have a wingspan of 7.5 feet or 2.29 meters.   That is wider than most people are tall. 

When we went on a cruise excursion near Juneau we saw bald eagles fishing and fighting over the fish.  The cluster of bald eagles in the middle are showing how some eagles will try to steal a fish from an eagle that caught a fish. 

I got the idea for the drawing from a bedspread that belongs to my brother in law.  The tree on the left side is actually the side of his bed and the floor.  But it looked so much like a tree that maybe had been struck by lightning or died years before...that I decided to draw in in my picture. 

Bald Eagle from blanket

Final note:  As birders ourselves, it is amazing to see any bird of prey.  They have a look totally different from other birds.  There is something regal about birds of prey or raptors.  Remember, the word raptor referred to birds first.  It was only later that it began to be used to describe smaller killer Theropod dinosaurs like Velociraptor and Utahraptor.  But it is very easy to see why these smaller dinos got to share the name of raptor.  Both avian raptors...or hawks, eagles, falcons etc...and small Theropod dinosaurs had killer claws and feathers.  If you look at some of them like Microraptor and you see that some dino raptors also could fly!

Velociraptor in Gobi Desert

Utahraptor Family

Microraptor flying through the Forest

Ankylosaurus vs T. rex

Ankylosaurus vs T. rex

The above drawing shows an Ankylosaurus magniventris in battle with a Tyrannosaurus rex.  When threatened an Ankylosaur could use it's armored tail to defend itself.  Ankylosaurus magniventris in particular had a heavy club of a tail to wield for that defense. The Pterosaur is the well known Pteranodon.  An Ankylosaurus might have run if there was anywhere to go, but most likely it would stand its ground and hunker down low to the ground.  The only way a T. rex could win is if it flipped the Ankylosaurus over.  However, that club could crack a leg or ankle bone and that kind of injury could completely disable a T.rex. 

Ankylosaurus was one of the last of the large dinosaurs.  It was a non-avian dinosaur . . .it was not a bird.  It was one of if not the most armored animal in the history of life.  It was a quadruped that had a think shell-like armor.  Its armor was similar to modern crocodiles and alligators.  It was so thick and tough that even the mighty T. rex could not bite through it.  That is very significant because a Tyrannosaurus rex had the most powerful bite of any animal EVER! 

Ankylosaurus weighed between 4 and 8 tons.  It had a length between 20 and 26 feet or between 6 and 8 meters.  The complete scientific name of Ankylosaurus is Ankylosaurus magniventris.   Ankylosaurus means fused lizard....   and magniventris means great belly.  The last vertebrae of an Ankylosaurus tail were fused, making the club sort of like a medieval mace.  Maybe that is where they got the name fused lizard from. 

Medieval Mace weapon

Ankylosaurus Tail Club

There are several similar types of heavily armored dinosaurs that look quite a lot like Ankylosaurus and they are all called Ankylosurs or Ankylosauroids.  But Ankylosaurus maginventris is the largest of this type of dinosaur.  We think that only some of the Ankylosaur family had clubbed tails but all had some version of the dermal armor.  This type of armor is extremely thickened skin and it is VERY dense.  As I mentioned before, crocodilians have this type of armor.  Among this family of armored dinosaurs, Ankylosaurus magniventris was the largest.  

In one of natures tricks of convergent evolution, the horned toad or horny toad is a LIZARD...not a toad...that LOOKS a lot like a very small Ankyloaur.   Although commonly called the Horny Toad it is in fact a type of lizard and it is more correctly called the Horned Lizard.   But when I was catching them while growing up in the Utah, Nevada, and Arizona deserts...we just called them Horny Toads.  I ALWAYS thought they looked more like a dinosaur than any other currently living animal. 

Horny Toad

One final note.   I saw a documentary on Ankylosaurus and it noted the very tiny brain.  A T. rex or any of the small raptors were gifted compared to the Ankylosaurs.  In the documentary they said that Ankylosaurus was as dumb as a fence post.  Yet it had such great armor it did not need great brains to be very successful in its environment.