Nature – Wandering Dawgs

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #412 – Places shaped by Water

September 10, 2026Posted in Georgia, Nature, PhotographyTagged Lens-Artists, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, Okefenokee State Park, Okefenokee Swamp, Photo Challenge, Places Shaped by Water, UNESCO World Heritage Site58 Comments

John is our host this week. His challenge: “Share up to six waterscapes—images where water shapes the scene. Choose your favorite places, your favorite photos, or a single location that inspires you. Natural or man‑made, peaceful or wild—if water helps tell the story, it’s fair game”

When I first read John’s challenge I thought it would easy. Oceans, rivers, creeks, lakes, swamps, bayous, and salt marshes are a few of my favorite places shaped by water. However, for this challenge I decided to focus on a place near and dear to my heart, the Okefenokee Swamp in my home state of Georgia. The Okefenokee Swamp is first site in the United States to be added as a World Heritage Site in over 30 years and is the only site in Georgia to receive the designation.

The Okefenokee Swamp is North America’s largest blackwater wetland and one of Georgia’s Seven Natural Wonders. It was designated as a National Wildlife Refuge in 1937 and on July 25, 2026, the Okefenokee Swamp was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You can read more about the Okefenokee at Okefenokee World Heritage Site.

One of our favorite state park campgrounds was once named Stephen C. Foster State Park located in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Fargo, Georgia. The state of Georgia renamed the park Okefenokee State Park on September 1, 2026. We camped there many times during the years. Our favorite thing to do was to take a boat ride into the swamp. Sometimes we went on a Ranger led boat tour, sometimes we rented a canoe to paddle through the swamp, and sometimes we rented a small motor boat. As we rode through the swamp through Spanish Moss Covered Cypress trees we always saw plenty of wildlife including alligators and birds.

Here are a few of my favorite images of the Okefenokee.

Alligator in the lily pads, Okefenokee Swamp

Last week Sofia’s fun challenge of What is it? had us guessing what was depicted in a photo. You had some really great photos that made me think “I have no idea”. Thank you to everyone who joined the challenge.

Many thanks to our host John for this week’s fun challenge. If you would like to join the challenge please be sure to tag your post with Lens-Artists and include a link back to his post Lens-Artists #412: Places shaped by water.

Be sure to check back on Saturday, September 12 at noon eastern time when I will be your host for the challenge.

You can keep up with all of our challenges by subscribing to the Lens-Artists team members websites: Tina, Patti, Ann-Christine, John, Sofia, Anne, Egidio, Ritva, Beth.

For information on how to join the Lens-Artists challenge please click here.

Every Day is a Gift

Terri’s Flower Hour #46: Can you guess these flowers starting with P, Q and R?

September 1, 2026September 1, 2026Posted in Flowers, Nature, Photography, WildflowersTagged Floral ABC's, Flowers, Photo Challenge, The Flower Hour, wildflowers39 Comments

Are you ready for another photo quiz today? Let’s have some fun with Terri’s Floral ABC’s theme of flowers featuring PQR. I don’t have a Q flower for you so I have included two that start with P and one that starts with R. Can you identify them? You can check your answers at the end of this post.

Sharing with Terri’s Flower Hour #46

P1: Phlox, P2: Sweet Pea, R: Rhododendron

Every Day is a Gift

Terri’s Flower Hour #40: Can you guess these flowers starting with G, H and I?

July 21, 2026Posted in Flowers, Nature, Photography, WildflowersTagged Floral ABC's, Flowers, Photo Challenge, The Flower Hour, wildflowers38 Comments

Let’s have some fun with Terri’s Floral ABC’s theme of flowers featuring GHI. Can you guess guess the flowers in these three photos? You can check your answers at the end of this post.

Sharing with Terri’s Flower Hour #40

Also shared with Dan’s Crayola Box Color Challenge Purple

G: Gardenia, E: H: Hibiscus, I: Wild Iris

Please Note: I will be taking care of some medical issues this week and may not be able to respond to your comments right away. Please be assured I appreciate all of your visits and all of your comments.

Every Day is a Gift

Terri’s Flower Hour #39 – Orange Blooms

July 14, 2026Posted in Flowers, Nature, PhotographyTagged Flowers, Orange Blooms, Orange Flowers, Photo Challenge, The Flower Hour29 Comments

Orange Flowers for Terri’s Flower Hour.

Sharing with Terri’s Flower Hour #39

Every Day is a Gift

Birthday Celebration, Boats, Alligators, and Two Rivers

July 11, 2026Posted in Celebration, Georgia, Nature, Road TripTagged Alligators, Altamaha River, birthday, boats, Coastal Georgia, Darien, Darien River, Georgia on my mind, Live Oak, Shrimp boats48 Comments

I have reached the age where I don’t have to travel to an exciting destination or have a big party to celebrate my birthday. Last year we enjoyed our anniversary celebration in Darien so much I wanted to return this year for my birthday.

We traveled south on U.S. Hwy 17 to our destination on the Darien River in Darien, Georgia. Our first stop was Mudcat Charlie’s at the Two Way Fish Camp on the Altamaha River in Brunswick. After some delicious wild Georgia shrimp for lunch we walked around the dock and looked down on an 11 1/2 foot alligator in the muddy water.

Boats at Two Way Fish Camp on the Altamaha River

Savannah is the oldest city in Georgia but did you know that Darien is Georgia’s 2nd oldest city?

Welcome to Darien, Georgia, Georgi’s second oldest city

For the next day and a half I swam in the pool, enjoyed the view of the Darien River from our deck at the hotel, watched young alligators swimming in the river, enjoyed seeing the huge Live Oaks draped with Spanish Moss as I wandered around the hotel, and ate some more delicious meals.