To me, spring doesn’t begin on a specific date on the calendar. For me, it is spring in Coastal Georgia when the azaleas and Dogwoods are blooming, when there is new growth in the garden, and when the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations begin in Savannah and Tybee Island.
Spring AzaleasSpring Dogwood BloomsForsyth Park Fountain turned green for St. Patrick’s Day, Savannah
To me, spring also means working in the garden beds and watching birds at the bird feeder.
Male Painted Bunting at the Feeder
Sometimes we like to travel in the spring. The next images show some of my favorite spring blooms from our travels.
Eastern Redbud, North CarolinaTexas Bluebonnets and Indian PaintbrushPink Dogwood blossoms, GeorgiaSpring Wildflower, VirginiaSpring wildflower in middle GeorgiaCactus flowers, Arizona
Mother Nature’s colorful wildflowers add beauty to our world.
Texas BluebonnetsBluebells in AlaskaFireweed in AlaskaSpring wildflowers in VirginiaSpring Wildflower in VirginiaBlanketflower in TexasSummer wildflower in Georgia
Travel has taught me that there is beauty everywhere you go if you just take the time to look around. When we were traveling by RV, we always had several major destinations for each trip. At first we just drove between destinations without taking much time to enjoy the places in between.
The more trips we took, the more we enjoyed the out of way places that are often overlooked by travelers. Lake Bistineau State Park, Louisiana was one of those places.
Cypress Trees in Lake Bistineau State Park
I’ve learned that traveling opens up opportunities to try new things, even things that terrify me. Our hike to Delicate Arch at Arches National Park is a perfect example of this. I’m scared of heights and almost didn’t make the hike when I read I would have to walk along a narrow ledge with a shear drop off. With Henry’s help and encouragement, I made it. The payoff was this fantastic view.
Delicate Arch in Arches National Park, Utah
I learned that asking a local is the best way to find out about the area, the history, and the out of the way places to visit that don’t show up in tour guides. One year we spent about two months wandering around Texas when the bluebonnets were blooming. A ranger I met in one of the state parks gave us directions to a scenic drive on a dirt road that we would have never discovered if we hadn’t asked.
Texas Bluebonnets
“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home.” -James Michener
Travel has taught me I can learn more about a lot about a place by having conversations with people who live there. At the beautiful Russian Orthodox Church in Ninilchik, Alaska we met two women who manage the gift shop and maintain all the graves. They grew up in Ninilchik together and lived with relatives in Anchorage to attend high school because at the time there was no high school in Ninilchik (there is one today). They graduated together in 1950.
Gift Shop for the Russian Orthadox Church in Ninilchik, Alaska
Travel has taught me to try the local foods. We have enjoyed barbecue beef brisket in Texas, pasties in Michigan, Indian Tacos in South Dakota and Arizona, New Mexico cuisine, local seafood in Florida, Washington and Oregon, pork tenderloin sandwiches in Missouri, Dungeness Crab straight off the boat in Alaska, and so many other delicious things we can’t get at home.
Dungeness Crab, Haines, Alaska
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”― Mark Twain
Mark Twain’s quote describes exactly why Henry and I chose to go on our cruise in January. I’ve learned that every day is a gift. None of us know what tomorrow will bring. A single phone call, doctor’s visit, or an unexpected event can change your life in an instant.
St. Kitts
“Life is either a great adventure or nothing: – Helen Keller
A few weeks ago we spent a few days in middle Georgia where I enjoyed wandering around the fields of an old dairy farm. As I walked around I saw spring flowers and new growth all around me.
It was easy to spot this brightly colored thistle growing in the middle of a field.
Wandering Dawgs 