Tag: Lens-Artists

Turkeys, Thanksgiving, and Giving Thanks

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This Thursday we celebrate Thanksgiving in the United States. Turkey is traditionally the main course served for the Thanksgiving meal so this week, turkey is on my mind.

During our RV travels we encountered a few wild turkeys.

Wild Turkey in a campground in Texas
Wild turkey in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
Wild turkeys roaming around a campground in Georgia

THEN

Last year at this time I was frantically getting everything ready to host a family Thanksgiving. Months before the holiday I thought about how it had been a long time since my brothers and I celebrated a holiday together. I also thought about how life is too short to put things off so I called and invited them to our house for Thanksgiving. I’m so glad I did.

Thanksgiving with my brothers was extra special last year. We laughed a lot, reminisced, and sat up talking late into the night. Our son and one of our granddaughters was here part of the time to add to the fun.

NOW

This year will be quite different. We will have a small quiet Thanksgiving at home. I will be preparing a Thanksgiving feast, just on a smaller scale this year. In fact, I just got back from what I hope is my final trip to the grocery store. Let the cooking begin!

GIVING THANKS

I wake up every day thankful for the gift of today. There is so much I have to be thankful for – my health, my family, my friends, the beauty of nature, a visit with my grandchildren. This year I am extremely grateful that my family is healthy, well, and able to work. I’m thankful for everyone in the medical field for their tireless work. I am also thankful for the researchers and developers of a vaccine for the virus and for all of the volunteers who are participating in the testing of the vaccine.

This post was inspired by Lisa’s Bird Weekly Challenge #24: Hunted or consumed by Humans and Amy’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #124: Now and Then

Lens-Artists #123: Found in the Neighborhood

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I don’t find trees showing off their fall colors in my neighborhood. Instead, I find evidence of fall when the marsh grass starts changing from green to brown.

My neighborhood is surrounded by salt water creeks and salt marsh. It’s a small, friendly neighborhood where most of the neighbors know each other and look out for each other. When we are driving down the road we wave at each other as we go by. When we are in our front yard, neighbors out for a walk stop to chat.

When the muhly grass turns pink, fall is here in coastal Georgia

I found more signs of fall a few weeks ago when the muhly grass in my yard displayed it’s brilliant pink.

Snowy Egret in the neighborhood

I find many birds in the neighborhood all year long. This week I found this Snowy Egret on our dock.

Many thanks to Ann-Christine hosting this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challeng e #123: Found in the Neighborhood

Lens-Artists #122: The Sun will Come out Tomorrow

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No matter what happens today or what happened yesterday, the only thing we can know for sure about tomorrow is that the sun will rise.

Coastal Georgia Sunrise
Morning Sky at sunrise
Sunlight bursting through the trees at sunrise
Sunrise at Driftwood Beach, Jekyll Island, GA

Many thanks to Ana for guest hosting this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: The Sun will Come out Tomorrow

Lens-Artists #121: Focus on the Subject

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For this photo challenge Patti has invited us show an image that uses one or more of the following: leading lines, patterns, color, contrast, selective focus, freezing the action, doorways or arches, or the eyes of humans or animals to draw our attention to the subject. I chose images that use three of these techniques.

Freezing the Action

The image at the top of the page shows the water droplets frozen in a closeup of the Forsyth Park Fountain in Savannah, Georgia. The photos above shows a pit crew at the Daytona 500 frozen in action and college football players frozen at the beginning of a play.

Selective Focus

Zooming in on the butterflies blurs the background of these images.

Using Arches to frame the shot

On the left, the arched doorway at the Tybee Island Lighthouse frames the stairs leading to the top of the lighthouse. On the right, the Forsyth Park Fountain in Savannah is framed by the arch of Live Oak trees.

Many thanks to Tina for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #121:Focus on the Subject.

Lens-Artists #120: What A Treat

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For this photo challenge Tina says “We’d love for you you to share something that was a treat for you”. This challenge reminded me of a fun day with friends before the pandemic shut down the world.

I sampled almost all of the flavors

A few days before the national emergency was declared, our group of nine Active Older Adults from our local YMCA boarded a small bus for the 30 minute ride to Byrd’s Famous Cookies Bakery and Flagship Store. We began our adventure in the store where we sampled cookies and of course bought some to take home.

I’ll take a jar of each
What a Treat – Byrd Cookies
The smell of the baking cookies was heavenly

After a short presentation about the history of the company and more cookie tasting we took a tour of the bakery. No photography was allowed in the production area but I was able to get this shot through window of the doors to the room. Seeing so many cookies at once was a cookie lover’s dream come true!

As soon as the door to the production room was opened the smell of fresh baked cookies filled the air. Just imagine the aroma in your kitchen when you are baking cookies and multiply it by about 1000. I wish I could transmit that heavenly scent through the internet to you. Our guide walked us through the entire process from dough to hot cookies coming out of the oven. We were then rewarded with warm, fresh baked cookies right off the production line.

We wrapped up our day with lunch at Bow Tie Barbeque before boarding the bus back home.

Byrd’s Famous Cookies Since 1924

The cookies have been made in Savannah since 1924 when there was only one flavor – their famous Scotch Oatmeal cookies. Today their flavors include Key Lime Coolers, Chocolate Chip, Salted Caramel, and Georgia Peach plus many others. There are several Byrd’s stores around Savannah and the cookies are distributed to stores all around the country.

Laughing with friends, eating cookies, and going out to lunch – what a treat!

If you would like to learn more about Byrd’s Famous Cookies or would like to order some of these mouth watering treats, visit Byrd Cookie Company.

Many thanks to Tina for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #120: What a Treat.