He Watches the Earth and Animals

He was born in the twelfth century in Italy.  The son of a wealthy merchant in Assisi, he had a vision in his early 20s.  At that time he abandoned his money and all his worldly things and lived his life in poverty and service to others.  Born Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone, he later became known as Francis of Assisi.  He respected all plant and animal life, valued the worth of every person and was declared a Saint only a few years after his death.  His achievements are far too numerous to list here, but his life was an inspiring one which everyone should research and learn from.  St. Francis of Assisi is considered the patron saint of animals.

We left our (very heavy) statue of St. Francis behind when we moved back to North Carolina.  And for six years we have looked at various statutes but didn't find one that quite suited us.  Far too many were so cluttered with Disneyesque animals that one expected Snow White rather than St. Francis.

For several years we had only our Carruth Studio St. Francis mounted amongst the leaves of a vine circling one of our trees.

On a recent visit to the Biltmore Estate we happened to browse one of the gift shops.  There, among other statues and fountains we found "our" St. Francis.  The statue's simplicity was the main attraction.  So we bought him and brought him home.

Holding a single bird in his hands, he personifies our perceptions about this saint.

And so he stands in our yard reminding us to live more simply and love all animals.

What on earth are these two up to?

I suppose it's only fair that they sniff around the vines of our other St. Francis.

Tomorrow is our Election Day.  I usually prefer to vote on the day itself but this year I voted early.  There was a vote I needed to make and I didn't dare risk not making it to the polls.