March 12 through July 6, 2021

Since I'm starting with March, my neck of the woods has changed a lot since the initial shots in this post.

My goal has been to post at least once a season so I can look back and remind myself of what my world looked like during each season.

In practice it's more like overlapping seasons.

Overlapping seasons makes a certain amount of sense because the NC piedmont where I live is one of those places where if you don't like the weather, stick around a day and it will change.

Weather changes are particularly welcome in the summer when many days are too hot for me.

The photographs so far are from March, 2021.

Starting with the next shot we're moving into April.

The American Robins are always entertaining on my deck.

I watch the birds as much as ever but don't seem to photograph them as much.

My monster azaleas continue to attempt to grow as tall as the trees.

Starting with the shot above, the next batch of shots is April 2021 at Shelley Lake.

The rabbit below was frozen while I was standing at my kitchen door.

Below is another batch of shots from Shelley Lake. These are later April.

You can tell by the picnic table in the lake that we had a wet April, 2021

The next few shots were taken on a different day at the end of April.

The next two shots are April 27, 2021 in my backyard where I've been growing a forest for quite a while now.

Moving into May I caught some lovely skies at Shelley Lake.

The shot below makes me think of the song with the line "old friends sat on their park bench like bookends." Thank you Simon and Garfunkel.

The next two shot are from the last day of May and I enjoyed the reflections.

The shot below made me think: the family that bikes together stays together.

Trying to create a path in my backyard uncovered signs from when I used to garden.

Lately Bill and I have been walking on the shady paths on the other side of the Shelly Lake dam and skipped the hotter walk around the lake.

I have been on a July walk but forgot my camera and didn't get my cell phone camera out fast enough to photograph a young buck with small velvety looking antlers but I recall what it looked like without a photograph. 

December 13, 2020 through March 4, 2021

 I am still working from home and grateful to be able to. 

I was happy to say goodbye to 2020 but disappointed in the total insanity which came with January of 2021. 

Many aspects of life are beginning to look up. 

I am finding it much less stressful to have an adult occupying 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

There is still a lot of craziness going around but I find it easier to take knowing that 7 million or so more people voted for the adult than those who voted for the Crazy Uncle.

I

I was born in 1957 and my good friend who I used to be married to was

 

born in 1949. We are both amazed that the current times are even crazier than they were we we grew up.

I haven't been taking as many photographs as I used to.

Part of the reason for that is I haven't been anywhere to speak of in a year.

We're beginning to have signs of spring but don't know what will be left

after the bitter cold nights coming up.

It's often like this in the spring and there's always some flowers that don't make it but others that do. I'm still not able to get my photographs in through flickr and it's 

not easy to get the text in when I upload photos via bloggers so not sure what this will look like. 

July 7 through December 12, 2020

I can hardly believe how long it has been since I blogged. It's been so long that my embed from flick isn't working. The photos below are on my flickr site and I put them in the same as always but they aren't showing up. I tried a lot of different things but I give up. I ended up inserting through blogger and not doing the embed.

I intended to post at least once per season so I could look back and easily remember seasonal changes.

It has been almost six months since my last post.

You can't see it but behind my laden pecan tree branches is a 3 person wooden swing.

We've had such a wet summer that the greens stayed almost as fresh as spring.

The shot above is my backyard. I've let it return to woods to the point I can't even make it up to my storage building.

The high stepping egret above cracks me up.

I haven't been anywhere to speak of over the past six months so these are mostly home and neighborhood lake and parks.

I voted on the very first day of in person voting.

It wasn't too bad but did make me think, over the river and through the woods to vote for sanity I go.

I was glad everyone was wearing a mask.

We've had a mask mandate since last spring and I was hoping no one was going to be there making a mask-less statement. 

Fall was very pretty this year and went on a long time.

We're well into winter now and mostly the trees are bare.

Weather is all over the place with one night having a hard freeze and the next rain.

My oak trees are always the last to change colors but they're worth the wait. Below are my oaks and above is my neighbor's maple.

The most excitement I've had recently is an attic full of squirrels. 

I am having a bunch of repairs done after they are trapped and removed.

Above are cedar waxwings. The waxwings come in the late fall and early winter and then move on.

The bittersweet berries have all fallen.

They are a big hit with the birds.

I think the blue jay below was talking to me.

I hope everyone stays safe, healthy and happy as we approach another new year. Man, I sure hope 2021 isn't like 2020 although I shouldn't complain. I am doing well myself.