Photos taken with iPhone 16 Pro.
Johnbo’s Cellpic Sunday:
https://photobyjohnbo.com/2026/03/15/cellpic-sunday-the-artist/
Cellpic Sunday: “Blue” 3/29/26
Tag: Nature
Shhh … Silent Sunday 3/22/26
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.
Five Friday Happy Bringers 3/20/26
My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.
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.
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.
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.)
One Word Wednesday 3/11/26
“Bloom!”
Our little window sill Christmas Cactus (also appropriately known as Easter Cactus) finally decided to TALK to us!
Monday Moaning or Monday Marveling? 2/23/26
Marveling this Monday at late winter’s sparse beauty here in South Georgia.
I truly believe that if we look for beauty, we will see it.
One-Word Wednesday 2/4/25
“Yes!”
I have this quirky (weird?) habit of noticing trees or bushes or sticks that are somehow divided into the shape of the letter Y.
Why the emphasis on Y, you ask?
Well, one time HR and I were hiking in the woods somewhere or other, and I was not feeling well. I might have been a tad frustrated at not feeling the way I wanted to feel.
I looked up from my self-pity and saw a bush that looked like a Y. Undoubtedly a very similar situation to Moses, the wilderness and the burning bush in the Old Testament.
For some reason, the Y bush made me think of the word “Yes.”
Which prompted me to think of what I wanted to be … Yes.
I wanted my health, my good health, to be “Yes!”
I can’t remember if I actually felt physically better after my Awakening in the Woods, but I do recall feeling better mentally. And maybe even laughing a bit at my childish wanting.
But the practice somehow stuck. And I see Y’s everywhere!
So …
Yes! … to good HEALTH.
Yes! … to daily opportunities to be KIND to others.
Yes! … to DEEP BREATHING and healthy lungs.
Yes! …
What would you like to say “Yes!” to today?
(P.S. I see Y’s in chicken bones too. Remember the pulley bone?)
Five Friday Happy Bringers 1/23/26
My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.
1. Robert MORE than enjoying his all-you-can-eat crab legs dinner at Tin Fin, a little seafood restaurant we discovered near where we are staying for a few weeks while our Savannah place is being renovated.
2. This old mailbox at our temporary country farmhouse.
See? Old can still be noteworthy and pretty, even with its age spots and creaky hinges.
3. Our amazing bodies, which are always trying to persuade us to appreciate them and to take care of them.
4. A Cute Coincidence …
But first a little background: HR and I agree on many things BUT NOT ABOUT COFFEE. He’s a Starbucks fellow while I love Dunkin Donuts. And here in Rincon GA, fairly close to the farmhouse, there is a Dunkin Donuts a few doors down from a Starbucks.
So here’s what we do when we go out for morning coffee: Pop in to Dunkin Donuts to get mine and then head to Starbucks for Robert’s — and to sit a spell with our iPads.
Oh, and here’s the Cute Coincidence: My barista at DD is named Winter, while Robert’s at Starbucks is Autumn.
5. Yesterday HR and I took a day trip across the Savannah River (yes, we’re still close to the river, an hour away from our home, which is two blocks from the river!) over to the Webb Wildlife Management Area in South Carolina.
And here’s a little recording of bird sounds at the Webb’s rookery. (LOTS of LOUD birdies but hidden from view in the thick brush.)
TIB (Truth in Blogging): I had to look up the definition of a “rookery.” I was getting it confused with a “bird blind.”
“A rookery is a crowded, communal nesting or breeding colony, most commonly referring to birds like herons, egrets, or rooks.”
May you hike into some joy this weekend.
Five Friday Happy Bringers 1/17/26
My weekly gratitude journal, of sorts.
1. Outdoor winter lunch at the farmhouse.
And it’s just warm enough to eat outside. It = weather as well as soup.
2. Reading/skimming through this beautifully delightful book about flowers.
And then going outside the farmhouse to practice …
Okay, maybe I won’t win any floral awards. But it was fun.
3. Being able to stay warm in the cold of winter. What a blessing!
4. This ceiling light at a local indoor—outdoor restaurant.
5. The neat coincidence of Grandson Gabriel re-entering his recent high school basketball game just as an advertisement for his parents’ medical company flashed on the screen behind him.
May you have some neat coincidences this weekend!
Tuesday Trees
Recently, Robert, and I were in Atlanta for their annual Pride Festival. One morning we ventured over to the always-magnificent Atlanta Botanical Garden.
In addition to over 10,000 pumpkins (!) on display (I’ll block about that a little later), there was a new exhibit, “Enchanted Trees” woven through the garden’s incredible natural landscape.
Here’s one:
Amazing Beauty!
NealEnJoy 