Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me, I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!” So the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?” And he said, “No.” (Numbers 22:28-30 NKJ)
Several of you got the mystery picture right last week and more of you were very close. You knew it was some kind of critter. Only a few actually named the donkey. Ola, Deborah a
nd Rhonda. I may have missed somebody else, but those did get the
donkey right on the nose. (Pun intended.) Horses and cows were other guesses and a turkey goozle. I had to look up goozle. Then there were those many legged spiders on my camera lens. Thanks for giving me a laugh, Gin. I have taken pictures of spiders now and again, but not one with a thousand legs. I might run from that!
Since the mystery picture was a donkey nose, I started thinking about donkeys in the Bible. We always see Mary on a donkey riding to Bethlehem, but I didn’t see that actually written in Luke. Of course, Jesus did ride the donkey into Jerusalem before his crucifixion. That donkey was one blessed animal.
But then there is one of the most unusual stories in the Old Testament about Balaam and his donkey. I’ve quoted the donkey’s talking up top. Balaam must have been really angry to still think about killing his donkey when she was talking to him. That’s sort of like a quote I saw the other day from a comedian and I don’t remember who or where I saw it but he said he always thought about the saying “if these walls could talk” and wondered what could be more amazing than walls talking. Then, there is that story in the Bible where the walls did sort of talk when writing appeared on them. The Bible is full of miracles and unusual wonder stories. But you have to wonder why Balaam wasn’t totally amazed by his donkey talking to him instead of still thinking of punishing the animal. At least, he did listen to the donkey and change his attitude. Plus, it helped that the Lord then let him see the angel the donkey had already seen.
Okay, the picture up top is the last mystery photo for this round of mystery pictures. I’ll be drawing three winners on Sunday. The winners will get their choice of one of my books and a grab bag book by a different author. The contest is open to those 18 and over no matter where you live. Whether you win a book or not, I do hope you’ve all had fun playing. We’ll do another mystery photo contest again in a few months when my next Hidden Springs mystery, Murder Comes by Mail, is ready to release. Who knows? We may try some other giveaway even before that. And it’s surely about time for a newsletter contest too.
Now, get ready and guess. I’m expecting some imaginative guesses for this one. Or you may all know exactly what it is. Thanks so much for reading and for playing my guessing game. Oh, and remember. One donkey once talked, so be good to the donkeys you know.
Comments 54
My first thought was feathers and when I looked closer, I could see human faces on some of them. You are good, Miss Ann!
Author
Feathers has come in on several of the guesses, Melanie, but you’re the first to see human faces. Kathleen saw a whale. I am definitely going to have to take a better look at that picture and see what I would guess. LOL.
I think it might be milk weed pod opened up.
Author
Milkweed has been a popular guess, Deborah. Sunday we’ll find out if it’s a right guess. Thanks for playing my game. You all have made it fun.
I sure hope you didn’t do a spider close-up for this one. I’m stumped.
Author
Those spider guesses keep coming in and I can see this one looking more like a spider than the last one, Amy. We shall see. Stumping you is what I was trying to do. LOL. Thanks for playing my mystery game.
Feathers of a bird or mallard duck.
Author
Feathers is a great guess, Karen. That’s what Lisa guess too. And a mallard duck has the right colors. So who knows? Maybe you’re right or maybe you’re not. You’ll have to come back Sunday for the rest of the picture. Thanks for joining in with my fun with the mystery pictures.
Ann, sorry I missed guessing on the last picture.
I think this one is either an enlarged area of a pinecone or some type of mushroom and moss growing on a tree.
Thanks for the fun mystery challenges!
Good luck to everyone and God’s blessings!
Author
Sorry you missed on that one too, Robbie. You might have gotten it right. Some of the guessers did. You got some good guesses on this one. I’m glad you came by and playing my mystery picture game. I think I got some of you thinking. Check back Sunday to see if anybody was right.
looks like feathers on a bird……maybe?
Author
Feathers is a good guess, Lisa. Not saying it’s right, but I agree that it looks like feathers.
Look like a bundle of greenery of some sort but then I see mop string in the background.Ann you’re getting good at this !
Author
All those right guesses on the first two challenged me, Evelyn, so I pulled out the hard ones. A mop string, eh? Interesting.
Could be what Balaam saw of the Angel after the Lord let him see what his donkey saw.
Author
That’s a better thought than roadkill for sure, but it’s not something I think I could get a picture of, Rhonda, but I’ve enjoyed your fun guesses.
Wow! My very first reaction was roadkill that had been left for an indeterminate time, but I doubt you would take a picture of anything like that, Ann. After some study on various segments of the picture, I think it is a potted plant, possibly an African violet, that either was over-watered or under-watered, and is starting to die. I see a green stem at the bottom left and some leaves at the upper right that are still healthy. I think the part in the bottom third of the picture that looks like a seed pod is a wilted flower. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. 🙂
Author
You and Rhonda both guessing roadkill, Edward. How funny. You are right that I’m not taking pictures of roadkill no matter how much I want to stump you guys. It is true that I do often kill African violets. One of mine is looking pretty sickly right now. So I might have taken a picture of it. Maybe. Thanks for playing my mystery guessing game, Edward. It’s been fun seeing your guesses.
Looks like the body of the donkey after being hit, mixture of hair and sweat.
Author
Eww, Rhonda. I can pretty much promise you that I’ll never post a mystery picture of road kill. Donkeys’ noses and I considered using the donkey’s ears. But I guess you see what you see in the picture. LOL.
This looks like lambs ear plant in the winter to me, but the hubby says it is a plant pod like milkweed. You picked a great one again!
Author
Fun that you let your husband take a guess too, Nyla. Lambs ear plant and milkweed, hmm. We shall see.
Looks like some kind of plant with the wind blowing real hard and a rag of some sort stuck to it .also looks like a mushroom hanging on for dear life ,and a dead leaf in the fore ground. I’m seeing several things in this picture and all of them not right I’m sure . lol
Author
You’ve certainly come up with several options, Faye. It’s a good picture that can get you seeing different things. Great to perk up the imagination. Who knows? You might even be right. Or not. 🙂
milkweed pod is my final answer, but… before that, at first glance it looked like a whale and top right, two little eyes and a nose; my only quandary is that milkweed doesn’t have green silky strings
I will have to think about this today 😀 Kathleen ~ Lane Hill House
Author
A whale? Interesting, Kathleen. I’m going to have to take another look at that picture. 🙂 Thanks for coming over and playing my mystery game.
mushroom
I am stumped by the green silky parts ~ plant pod? Hmm… where do you walk?
Kathleen ~ Lane Hill House
Evergreen
Kathleen ~ Lane Hill House
Author
It’s green anyway, Kathleen. This picture stumped a lot of people. I’m sure I wouldn’t have figured it out if I hadn’t see the whole picture. One person has gotten close. We’ll see which one tomorrow. Thanks for playing my mystery photo game. I hope you’ve had fun. I did.
African violet leaves.
Author
The color is right, Lucy, and that’s a good guess. Not sure it’s right, but we’ll see on Sunday. Thanks for playing my guessing game.
my wild guess is fish….but that’s my guess and I’m sticking to it…
Author
Nice guess, Virginia. Fish. And I like a person who is willing to stick to her guns. I’ll post the rest of the picture Sunday and you can see if you’re right!
I’ve been guessing on the website. And realized I should guess on your blog. I may be totally wrong on this one, but to me it looks like an opened milkweed seed pod.
Author
That’s okay, Patricia. Being family you can’t win anyway, but it’s fun to have you come and guess. You were the only one to get the cedar tree right. Tarasa and Gary figured it out too, but she didn’t post it here. Milkweed seems to be a popular guess. Sunday I’ll post the rest of the picture.
Looks like part of a seed pod….just a wild guess…..another stumper 😳
Author
Thanks for dropping by with a wild guess, Marji. After those first two easy ones, I told you it was going to be NO MORE MR. NICE GUY. LOL. Maybe I should have picked an easier one for this last one, but it was such a neat picture. Glad you played my mystery photo game. Hope you had fun.
Looks like there is a stem so I might guess some sort of wildflower/plant thingy! You are creative that’s for sure!
Author
Great close look, Linda. And your plant thingy is a guess that could cover a lot of ground. 🙂 You can see if you covered any of the right ground when I post the rest of the picture on Sunday. I did pull a hard one out of the hat for the last picture. Thanks for playing. I hope you had fun with my mystery photo game.
Parts of a mushroom maybe?
Author
I like your guess, Connie. Shows good thinking. Doesn’t necessarily show right thinking, but good thinking. 🙂 Thanks for playing my guessing game. I’ll reveal the rest of the picture Sunday and announce the winners of the books. I hope you’ve had fun with my mystery pictures.
Bird feathers??
Author
It does sort of look like bird feathers, doesn’t it, Nancy? Could be, but could not be. Great guess either way.