July 7 through November 12, 2021

This is going to be a ridiculously long post.

I haven't been photographing the birds as much but can't resist the brown thrasher above and the great blue heron below.

The crepe myrtles this summer were particularly stunning.

We had so much rain that even the summer heat didn't impact the greens and wildflowers. 

I can't resist the light playing on the tree foliage. 

The swallowtail butterfly below was feasting on wildflowers as I walked on the greenway trail. 

To me, the shot below looks more like spring than summer which is an example of how much difference it makes when there's a lot of rain to counteract extreme heat.

I met friends at Topsail Beach, NC at the end of August.

It was my first trip since Covid-19 hit and is only about 2 1/2 hours drive from my house so not very adventurous. 

The weather cooperated for the most part. 

There were showers but not during the part of the day that I wanted to be outside.

I love the drama of storms, as long as I'm not on a boat.

I was on a boat for the next sequence of shots but it was timed perfectly.

I love the sun setting through clouds. 

The dark cloud on the left below looks like a dog to me.

I think I see a dragon below.

I am getting confused. I may have duplicate shots but don't feel like figuring it out. 

I keep going up and down in the preview but lose my train of thought.

Back home on the greenway trail in September the trees continued to look like spring.

I'm not good at identifying snakes but this didn't look like one I wanted to get too close to. 

I love wildflowers. 

I spotted the dragonfly on asphalt at least I think it's a dragonfly.

I love clouds and the puffy ones with blue peaking through are among my favorites. 

This is getting repetitious but the shot below shows what an unusual summer it was. 

Heading into fall the greens were still fresh.

The wildflowers are lovely.

The sky never ceases to amaze me.

The bench on the dam below is one I've probably shot a thousand times, empty as well as in use. 

My brother died a little over a year after an eight year battle with cancer. 

He and his family have lived in Mill Valley, CA since before his oldest son was born in 1997. 

It wasn't possible to have a funeral because of Covid-19. 

My brother wanted a big party post Covid-19 which is what my sister in law did. 

Although bittersweet it was also fun and a great way to remember my brother. 

I was glad that so many of us could gather and remember Dan the way he would have wanted with fun and humor in spite of the sadness that he wasn't there. 

Back home for a long fall.

The leaves have been changing slowly.

We still have a lot of fall color in the NC piedmont where I live.

It has been beautiful and pleasant with fairly mild temperatures.

It will be considerably colder over the next few days. 

One thing about where I live the weather changes back and forth and back again.

We have 4 distinct seasons but they aren't a straight path.

The temperatures can change 40 degrees or more within 24 hours although we haven't had that kind of range recently.

The trees below at the Wallgreen's parking lot always dazzle me this time of the year.

The next two shots are from my driveway.

I guess that's it for the next 3 or 4 months unless I get inspired. 

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.