On a recent spring morning walk here in Savannah, my eye kept going to doors that were not the main door to a house or dwelling.
Like this one, which sort of looks like a garage door, but on closer inspection (i.e. spying through the cracks), I saw that this rooster door led to a small courtyard.
Can you see how the door opens to the left of #5?
A bit farther down the alley where I was walking, I came upon this vine-topped garage door.
And I love chancing upon iron gates, which are often doors leading to beauty.
Jasmine is sprouting up all over Savannah. Look at the morning light spilling through the black iron!
And looking through another gate, spring charm exploded.
I hope you walk through some doors into beauty on this Thursday.
1. For some reason this hole in an old piece of wood at the top of a wire fence at a local farm made me smile a bit and think.
Sometimes it’s what’s NOT there that somehow wields its way to the center of attention.
2. Sticking to that line of thinking, one morning this week. I woke up, looked at our breakfast table and saw that Robert had cleaned up a bit a little flower arrangement that was moving past its prime.
It made me smile again, perhaps with a melancholic edge, appreciating the beauty that was, and in a way, still is.
That little morning moment also made me think of Frost’s oh-so-truthful poem, “Nothing Gold Can Stay.”
Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay.
Note to self: Enjoy it all while I still can.
3. Accidental photographs that somehow express a surprising hint of beauty.
1. The beautiful Cherokee Rose that HR and I found along one of the hiking trails at Skidaway Island State Park near Savannah.
2. This Lovely Yellow at the Savannah Botanical Gardens.
I love my iNaturalist app, which helps me to quickly verify plants I see along life’s way.
3. My only complaint about all this springtime beauty would have to be the heavy overlay of pollen upon Savannah. So I am thankful for my Allegra, Flonase, and redi-melt Claritin.
4. My nose—even when it glows with springtime allergies.
5. Non-humans.
We all need a bit of Escape from People now and again.
Make you escape to a fun and healthy spring weekend ahead.
Early Sunday morning walk through daughter Amy’s neighborhood when Coastal sees him.
Shhh.
We got closer, but Dee stood his ground.
We decided to chat.
Dee started: “Whose neighborhood is this through which you walk?”
He caught me off guard. “Well, the homeowners, I suppose? The neighborhood association?”
“And who are the ‘homeowners’? Who are the members of the ‘neighborhood association’?”
I saw where he was going with his questioning, but I didn’t know where to go next with answering.
So I simply said, “I’m sorry” and walked away.
Dee continued to stare, not moving an inch.
He just followed my departure with his eyes.
My Silent Sunday ended up not being so silent after all.
When I got back to Amy’s and Scott’s house, where Robert and I are dog- and housesitting for a few days, HR was still asleep, so I made my coffee and walked out onto their balcony-porch overlooking Savannah’s Moon River.
Such Sunday morning peace.
And then the dolphins, the fish, the alligators, the pelicans, the common sea gulls and the wading birds began to talk, to question.
1. Discovering, on our recent stay at Magnolia Springs State Park in Millen GA, an aquatic plant that I have never encountered before: Bladderworts.
And they are carnivorous!
“Bladderwort (Utricularia) is a genus of carnivorous plants, mostly aquatic, that use tiny, bladder-like traps to capture small prey like mosquito larvae, zooplankton, and other microorganisms, supplementing their nutrient intake in nutrient-poor waters. These free-floating plants have finely divided leaves and produce small, snapdragon-like flowers, often yellow, that rise above the water.” animalogic
2. Speaking of discoveries, yesterday on a walk here on Skidaway Island near Savannah, where Robert and I are house- and dog sitting for daughter Amy, we came upon our first alligator of the season.
Wait! Look closer.
HR’s photo
Alligators are very common in the Savannah area, often seen sunning along the rivers, lagoons and marshes.
You simply learn early on (and teach your children) to give the gators their space. And to NEVER walk your dog along the water’s edge.
HR taking a picture of me taking a picture of the gator. 
We did not venture any farther along that path!
3. Giving heartfelt thanks to Mother Nature for her incredible abundance and remarkable diversity. May we resolve to take better care of Her.
4. Robert’s Buttermilk Fried Catfish breakfast the other morning.
Oh my Goodness.
5. Making it through (early this morning) the third and final part of my lower back procedure trying to help with my crazy back pain. Radiofrequency ablation. My orthopedic guy said it will take 5 to 7 days to see if the procedure was successful.
It better be. Each of the three parts had a $395 co-pay! (Healthcare in the United States.)
Make you take Great Care of your Health this weekend.
(P.S. I’m in and out of sleep, so this blog post may not make much sense.)
NealEnJoy 