March 16 through May 24, 2020

The world keeps getting weirder and weirder. The photo above is the new me.



On a positive note we've had a particularly beautiful spring.



I think it's helped that the temperatures have stayed relatively cool for a North Carolina Piedmont spring.



I'm lucky to live somewhere that it's possible to get outside and walk.



We've had a lot of rain but in between rainy days there have been days where I've been able to get outside.



I'm curious about what the photographer below was shooting.



When I shot the great blue heron I didn't even see the turtles.



Once I downloaded the shot above I was able to crop it so the turtles are visible on the right.



I love surprises in photographs.



We always have a lot of rabbits in my neighborhood but this year they seem to be even more abundant than usual.



It's been cool hearing and seeing places where wildlife are able to roam the streets without the car traffic that's usually out.



I've noticed a lot more traffic lately even though my state is still in the very early stages of opening up.



It annoys me when I see less people wearing masks in publilc.



Durham, NC has a city ordinance requiring masks in public but Raleigh, NC where I live only has it as a recommendation. 



Although I live in Raleigh and normally work in Durham, I'm working from home for the time being but still glad to see Durham being sensible. 



The flag above caught my eye on a neighborhood walk.



I think the heron below may be a juvenile.



I'm running out of anything I feel like saying.



The craziness in the world is hard for me to avoid.



I went through a long time of actively avoiding the news but that's been hard to stick to this year.



Bill spotted the goldfinch below when we were walking.



I would have missed it otherwise.

January 31 through March 15, 2020

I'm working from home today and decided to take a break and write a post. First thanks again to Lissa Writes for the badges, I'm using another as my header. 



I put off working from home because I've gotten used to commuting and have a new car I enjoy driving.



I also tend to work much longer hours from home and like leaving work at the office and home for home.



As more cases of coronavirus have cropped up in my area I decided the thing to do is work from home and not work too long hours.



Since I started work even earlier than I usually get to the office and I know if something comes up this afternoon after I usually leave, I'll take care of it; I decided the thing to do is take a break in the middle of the day.



Since I started working in my P. J.'s at 6:30, this is actually later than mid day.



I'm not overly worried about getting coronavirus but since the majority of NC cases are in Raleigh where I live, there's the added reason of not wanted to take it to the office in Durham where I work.



It does help that from what I heard, people are generally symptomatic before they're contagious.



I'll probably go to the office at least once this week but will be careful.



We've had continual weird weather. In early February it was warm and early flowers jumped the gun.



Then we had snow followed by low temperatures and many trees with spring flowers dropped their blooms.



It was a pretty sugar frosting snow but due to drop in temperatures we ended up with a fair amount of ice.



The daffodils were hit hard and a lot didn't recover.



Even so the yellow was pretty through the snow.



Nice to see wildflowers cropping up.



Male cardinals are very striking in the grass.



The great blue heron move to protected areas during breeding season.



It's been nice to see the trees that didn't jump the spring gun begin to flower.



Below is a narcissus stand that fared well although close-ups show them bowed down.



The shots in this post are sequential beginning with oldest and ending with newer ones.



American Robins crack me up.



Buttercups take me back to my childhood and making jewelry with them.



The mallard pair blend into the reflection.



I'll stop with the Canada geese. 

December 8, 2019 through January 30, 2020

The shots are going backwards within the time period of the last month of 2019 and the first month of 2020. 



We had a string of warm, spring days and some of the trees flowered and so far haven't lost them in spite of some cold nights with temperatures 10-15 below freezing.



The owl above was in my pecan tree and was the first owl I've spotted anywhere. 



I wish the limb hadn't been across the owl but for documentary purposes I was happy to get the shot.



I like the way the people provided color to the Shelly Lake shot above.



I know I've said this many times but this has been the weirdest weather that I can recall.



The temperature in my office has added to the weirdness. It's been boiling hot on my floor at work.



I think the juxtaposition of the heron, cormorants and gulls ends up looking like a teacher with small children.

 

The weird thing at work is most of the floors have been cold but my floor has stayed very hot.



I have to peel down to short sleeves and sandals and then put a sweater on for the elevator and other floors. 



The only thing that helps is running fans constantly and opening windows.



The waste of open windows in the winter so you don't burn up inside is nuts.



There are a lot of theories about what the problem is but no solutions so far.



I guess I'll stop here.