Our guest host Egidio of Through Brazilian Eyes asks us what activities we enjoy that allow us to recharge our batteries.
A change of scenery and being in nature always helps me to recharge my batteries.
We recently returned from a short getaway to middle Georgia where I enjoyed morning walks in the woods and watching white tail deer in an open field. The cool nighttime temperature was a welcome change from our sweltering summer.
Morning clouds
A morning walk in the woods
We call it the land of fallen trees because of all the downed trees in the woods.
The National Park Service was established on August 25, 1916 by President Woodrow Wilson to manage our nation’s national parks. Today there are 63 national parks and many more national monuments, national historic sites, and other national areas managed by the National Park Service.
In 1872 Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming became our first National Park. The header image above is of Lower Yellowstone Falls.
New River National Park in West Virginia is our newest national park. We visited there when it was known as New River National River.
New River Gorge Bridge, New River National Park, West Virginia
During our years of wandering we have visited many of these wonderful national areas. In 2016 I posted about the National Park Service’s 100th anniversary. Since then we have visited national areas in two of the United States Territories in the Caribbean.
USVI National Park, St. John, United States Virgin IslandsSan Juan National Historic Site, Castillo San Crostobal
The U.S. National Parks offer many opportunities to get out and explore natural areas, see wildlife, visit historic sites and monuments, go paddling, go hiking, go camping, and much more. Find a park near you at National Park Service and get out and explore!
Patti has challenged us to focus on telling a story with our images.
My story is the life cycle of a Monarch butterfly. I haven’t been able to capture Monarch’s in my garden this year so these images are all from my archives.
Female Monarchs lay their eggs on MilkweedCaterpillars emerge from the hatched eggs and eat the leaves of a milkweed plant. Milkweed is all they eat.The Monarch Caterpillar crawls to a place to form a chrysalis.The caterpillar changes into a butterfly while inside the chrysalis.A new adult Monarch emerges from the chrysalis
For this challenge Donna asks the question “What’s Bugging You?” Insects rarely want to cooperate when I am trying to take their photo. I spent some time in my garden following bees around this week but none of of them wanted their picture taken. Here are a few favorite bug images from my archives.
Giant Swallowtail Caterpillar
Unknown moth caterpillar in Dominica
Swallowtails on Thistle in the Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia
I can’t let April go by without mentioning that April is the Month of the Military Child. Military children are also sometimes called Brats. I am proud to be a United States Air Force Brat.
Trip to the Country
After what seems like a long, cold winter we took a short road trip to the country in early April. We couldn’t go by the Georgia Football Barn Sign on Georgia Highway 15 in Tennile with stopping to snap a few photos. The trees were just beginning to display their green leaves. We spotted a few deer and wild turkeys but I wasn’t able to capture a photo.
Flowers
I was happy to see that these plants survived the freeze we had around Christmas.
Backyard Birds
Painted Buntings and other birds started appearing at my backyard bird feeder and in the surrounding salt marsh. The hummingbirds are also here but so far I haven’t been able to get a photo of them.
Books
Our Book Club book for April was “The Blessing of the Celtic Curse”, the first in the Saints of Savannah series. The author, Leigh Ebberwein was our guest at our April meeting. We all loved the book and enjoyed hearing her stories about writing the book.
I also enjoyed reading “Remarkable Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt, “My Sisters Grave” by Robert Dugoni and “Still Life” by Louise Penney.
Wandering Dawgs 