Every Day is a Gift!
I searched through my archives for birds with black feathers and came up with birds I saw in Alaska, Texas, Colorado, and close to home in Georgia. The photo above is a Hooded Merganser at Inks Lake in Texas.
Thank you Lisa. for this Bird Weekly Challenge #21: Birds with Black Feathers
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.
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.
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.
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.
I have to admit I spend a lot of time in my backyard watching and photographing the birds. Here are a few of my favorites.
We also are lucky to see wading birds in the salt marsh behind our house. I’ll often run grab my camera to capture them when they land on one of the docks.
Thank you Lisa. for this Bird Weekly challenge. Her original post is Bird Weekly Challenge #20: In your Yard or Garden
For this challenge Ann-Christine has asked us “where or what is our hideaway”. Her description of hideaway says “A Hideaway, is a place to which a person can retreat for safety, privacy, relaxation, to seek seclusion or refuge.”
When I am at home I can hideaway for a few moments by getting out in nature or by reading a book. But for me, a true hideaway is a wilderness area far away from civilization, somewhere with no robo calls, internet, or other interruptions.
Three of my favorite destinations immediately came to mind – the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in south Georgia, Denali National Park in Alaska, and Everglades National Park in Florida. Although these are three unique protected wilderness areas, what they have in common is that they are miles away from civilization and the wildlife is free to roam.
Of these three areas, the closest to my home is the Okefenokee Swamp. When we get to the end of the 17 mile road from the main highway and arrive at Stephen C. Foster State Park I feel like I am in another world. This image and the one at the top were both taken in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge near Fargo, Georgia.
To the lover of wilderness, Alaska is one of the most wonderful countries in the world.
John Muir
There are no other Everglades in the world. They are, they have always been, one of the unique regions of the earth; remote, never wholly known. Nothing anywhere else is like them.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas
Thanks to Ann-Christine for this week’s Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #119: Hideaway.
A is for Anhinga.
From the Audubon Field Guide: “A long-necked, long-tailed swimmer of southeastern swamps. Often seen perched on a snag above the water, with its wings half-spread to dry. Can vary its buoyancy in water, sometimes swimming with only head and neck above water (earning it the nickname of “Snakebird”). Often solitary when feeding, it roosts in groups and nests in colonies. Looks rather like a cormorant when perched, but not in flight, when the long tail may be spread wide as the Anhinga soars high on outstretched wings. Anhingas are silent at most times, but around nesting colonies they make various croaking and clicking sounds.”
Thank you Lisa. for this Bird Weekly challenge. Her original post is Bird Weekly Challenge #18: Birds that begin with the letter “A“
Wandering Dawgs 