Tina’s challenge is to include some of our favorite images of 2022. We can include images on any and all subjects that are personal favorites – BUT, they must have been created in 2022 AND must not have been previously published in response to a Lens-Artists Challenge!
Going through this years photos brought back many happy memories. The header image is from my favorite event of the year. The weekend of our grandson’s high school graduation in May was a wonderful, emotional, and happy family time. We are proud grandparents!
January started out with a fabulous Caribbean cruise. This photo reminds me of the tropical places we visited.
Beach on St. Kitts
In March we spent a fun weekend in Athens, Georgia for Henry’s college fraternity reunion. Spring flowers were blooming as we walked around old campus. There is a tradition at Georgia to ring the Chapel Bell all night when the Georgia Bulldogs win a football game. The bell has rung 13 times so far this season.
Chapel Bell, University of Georgia
We made several trips to our favorite place in middle Georgia this year. This white tail fawn was one of many young deer we saw.
White tail fawn
For the second year in a row I celebrated my birthday with lunch at Animal Kingdom Lodge at Disney World.
Giraffes at Animal Kingdom Lodge
In August we cruised through Alaska and the inside passage. Here are two of my favorite wildlife images from the trip.
The waves were huge as we waited and watched to see where Hurricane Ian was going to land.
Angry Sea , Tybee Island Pier
The December sunrises were gorgeous.
December Coastal Georgia Sunrise
Wishing you peace, joy and happiness this holiday season.
If I had a visitor from another country who wanted to see my home country in a week or a month, where would I take them? This is the challenge Tina has given us.
I live in the United States. Many visitors from other countries are surprised by how huge it is. It would take more than a lifetime to see it all.
Instead, I will take the time we have to see the many beautiful sites in my home state of Georgia. There are mountains, farmland, friendly small towns, the Okefenokee Swamp, historic cities, barrier islands, salt marsh, beaches, lakes, and the city of Atlanta.
I’m not sure we could even cover the entire state in one month but we could give it a good try. We’ll start our tour in coastal Georgia where I live. We would visit at least one of the three inhabited barrier islands that can be reached by road, go on a dolphin tour to look for Atlantic Bottlenose dolphins, walk on an uninhabited island that can only be reached by boat, and take a ferry ride to explore Sapelo Island or Cumberland Island National Seashore. We would catch blue crabs from the local waters and steam them for a delicious meal, snack on boiled peanuts, and feast on low country boil with shrimp fresh from the sea.
Dunes and pier on Tybee Island, GeorgiaSunrise at Driftwood Beach, Jekyll Island, GASt. Simons Lighthouse, GAAtlantic Bottlenose Dolphin near Tybee Island, GeorgiaWe often are the only people on one of the uninhabited barrier islandsNanny Goat Beach, Sapelo Island, GeorgiaFresh Georgia Blue Crabs straight from the creek to the pot.Boiled PeanutsLow Country BoilExploring coastal Georgia
We would visit historic Savannah and enjoy a family style lunch at Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room.
Mercer House, Savannah, GeorgiaWaving Girl Statue and Olympic Cauldron on River Street on the Savannah RiverHistoric stone steps leading to River StreetForsyth Park Fountain, SavannahMrs Wilkes Dining Room
We could take a ride to Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge to see nesting egrets, herons, and woodstorks in the spring. We could continue farther south for a boat ride through the Okefenoke National Wildlife Refuge.
Nesting Wood StorksCypress Trees in the Okefenokee Swamp, GeorgiaAlligator in the Okefenokee SwampGreat Egret with chicks, Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge
We would take a road trip on back country roads to north Georgia. We would stop to explore Athens, the home of the University of Georgia, go to the top of Brasstown Bald, and look for waterfalls. We would pass by fields of cotton, corn, and pecan orchards along the way.
University of Georgia Arch, AthensView from top of Brasstown Bald, the highest point in GeorgiaOne of the waterfalls of Tallulah Gorge
We would take another road trip to see the western part of the state and stop to explore Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain and President F. D. Roosevelt’s Little White House in Warm Springs. We would drive by peach orchards and watch the sunset at one of the many lakes in Georgia.
Callaway Gardens Azalea TrailFDR’s Little White House in Warm Springs, GAPeach County, GeorgiaGeorgia PeachesSunset over Lake Seminole at Eastbank Campground
There is so much more to see in Georgia. Sadly, I don’t have photos of some them. In Atlanta we could see the World of Coca-Cola, the Georgia Aquarium, Centennial Olympic Park, Stone Mountain, the President Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum and the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site. We could visit the Providence Canyon, also called the grand canyon of Georgia in Lumpkin and beautiful Rome in northwest Georgia, and too many more places to name.
I can’t end a post about Georgia without including the University of Georgia Bulldogs football team. Go Dawgs!
Georgia Football Barn Sign, Tennille, GA Dooley Field at Sandford Stadium
For this challenge our guest host Jude of Cornwall in Colours has asked us to show different textures we find in our world.
Old Brick Chimney covered with lichens, GeorgiaPeach Tree Bark, GeorgiaNorth Rim, Grand Canyon, ArizonaGiants Causeway, Northern IslandSunflowerResurrection ferns on oak tree with palm fronds in the background, Florida
In this challenge Anne asks us: ”From squirrels to birds, wildlife is around us. What non-domestic animals live in your neighborhood or nearby?”
The salt marsh, salt water creeks, rivers and the Atlantic Ocean attract an abundance of wildlife close to my home in coastal Georgia. Whether on the beach, in the waterways, in my neighborhood, or in my own back yard I am grateful to be able to see such a variety of wildlife.
Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin near Tybee Island, GeorgiaFlock of Terns, Tybee Island, Georgia
Wandering Dawgs 