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Berry Bliss
The Baltimore Orioles showed me that some mulberries were ripe on May 11. I’m enjoying spring in Virginia! I was annoyed that the birds were knocking so many on the ground until I found TWO box turtles under the tree. The wildlife didn’t leave me many ripe berries for the first week, but once it got…
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Power Hour (and Garden)
I am loving spring in Virginia! It has been 4 years since I have been here in April. Those of you who read my recent blog post (some went to spam), know that this is the end of a big fundraising period for the local libraries. I hope you will consider donating $10 or $20…
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Generosity
Giving brings me joy and I hope this post inspires you as well. The annual Great Community Give is cool initiative celebrating local non-profit organizations. It has a fun “game” vibe where your monetary donation enters your organization into multiple drawings. Your charity may get up to $4000 in donated prize money in addition to…
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Wonder
I have always been fascinated by the natural world. Far from becoming jaded as I get older, nature is even more compelling. We returned from a month of traveling, and I realized most of my photos are wildlife. We had a family gathering in Florida, with lots of board games and chatting, plus attending a…
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Light
I woke up at 4 this morning, realizing it would be cold and dark for hours. I stayed awake in my warm bed feeling despair over the darkness and hatred bubbling up in pockets of my country. I should be doing something to encourage love and compassion and healing and peace, but I feel powerless.…
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Healthy Food
The photos below are from snowy spring in Alaska (mostly March 2023). I am happy we had our adventures living there half of each year 2022-2025, and equally happy to have different challenges now. C is going to miss spending the summer Alaska. One of our joint goals in retirement is to eat healthier. Hopefully this…
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Slow Start
Mornings are better in retirement. I like a slow start so much that I try to avoid scheduling anything before 11 am. While I usually get up between 7 and 8, there’s no pressure to do so. Sometimes I set an alarm, but if I don’t want to get up, I just shut it off. …
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Flow
One of my minor goals this year is to achieve a psychological “flow state” most days. I consider myself successful if I accomplish that state of timeless immersion while birding or cleaning or gardening or tax planning…. My approach, which might be ridiculous, is to have 5 to 10 tasks on my calendar for the…
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Greenhouse from Costco
We have been home just over a month and spent a chunk of that time building a Yardistry 8′ x 10′ greenhouse from Costco. We have lots of rocks on our property so used them before adding the landscape stone that we purchased. We chose to install the greenhouse on a flat area near an…
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Illinois: Barns and Windmills
Today we visited friends and family in Iowa and Illinois, only progressing about 200 miles towards home. Today’s photos theme is “Old Barns and New Windmills”. The barns were here when I grew up in the area. The windmills arrived after I left, and they make my heart soar. I’m not looking forward to getting…
Me & C
Roaming: Shenandoah River to the Alaska Range
Me & C 