Lens Artists Challenge #225: Wildlife Close to Home

This week, Anne leads the photo challenge with “Wildlife Close to Home”: “Stop. Look. Listen. Doing those three things will help you discover the abundance of wildlife you have nearby.” I stop, look, and listen a lot on my walks in the hood and even in my own backyard.  You might recall that my husband…

Life in Non Sequiturs and Another Bike Ride

Yes, indeed, last week we ventured out to our favorite place: St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. It was a beautiful day, and the moon again made an appearance. You might have to squint to see it in the below photo, but it's there. While out and about, we met an interesting guy who was hiking…

When the Going Gets Tough (redux) …

I go for a bike ride at the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. But, first, an update. Many thanks to everyone who offered kind, loving words to my last post. I'm doing well because of you. I'm doing well because the cold/heat therapy has really helped my arm/shoulder/neck (I guess the problem originates in my…

Thistle Me Lucky

Last Friday we went on another bike ride to the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. Practice makes near-perfect. I'm becoming more comfortable riding bikes which is a good thing since my knees and feet no longer want to walk the miles we used to at the Refuge. I rode bikes when I was growing up…

Nature, nuture, nature #natureismychurch #SMNWR #magic

Monday (March 29) we went for a bike ride at the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. As you all know, the Refuge is my favorite part of north Florida. It's a magical place full of birds, insects, flowers, trees, marshes, swamps, turtles, and alligators, to name a few of my favorite things. Without further ado…

-1 + 4 Weeks: Life with Raji and Cheating

Before I get to Raji and cheating, I feel I should explain the math in my post titles. Originally I had planned to make February 4 my termination date, my last day with my employer. But when I told my husband that I had a month of vacation time saved up, he suggested March 4…

2 + 4 Weeks: The Bike Ride That Almost Wasn’t #nature #bicycling #cats

As of this writing, I've been off work for a few days, getting a feel for life after the job. It's a good feeling. One day I spent several hours knitting and listening to an audio book (normally that's my bliss, but the novel--Last Rituals by Icelandic author Yrsa Sigurdardottir--was so full of cliches I…

6 + 4 Weeks: Holiday Relief and Bad Cats #Nature #corneredcats

Lesson learned: never try to pick up a scared and cornered cat. The flight or fight instinct kicks in and since there is no way to flee the human hand, he'll fight it. Best that the human just walk away.

15 Weeks and Counting #wfh #newchapter #nature

My husband and I used to walk the 12-mile loop, although for me anyway the last two miles were more hobbling than walking. These days neither of us can manage walking the 6-mile loop. Bad knees, bad back, less tolerance for heat and humidity. But we have bikes.

Before I Go Off into La-La Land #roseatespoonbill #natureismychurch

Although I perceive myself to be in good health, the number of chronic and acute aches and pains I've been experiencing lately really challenge that perception.