It’s late March in Arkansas and that means yard work and spring cleaning, blooming wildflowers, singing birds, and quite literally tons of pollen in the air!
Kay and I did a bit of weeding and shrub trimming on Friday, and now we’re waiting on warmer soil temperatures before planting flowers for hummingbirds and butterflies. And when the wind would blow huge clouds of pollen would blow off the pine trees. We wised up a few days ago and each of us began taking an Allegra everyday to lessen the impacts of the pollen on our allergies
We also worked a bit in the crawl space which we use for storage. That occupied an entire Saturday morning. It is packed full of Christmas decorations, gardening equipment; sporting goods; fishing rods, reels and tackle; now unneeded RV accessories; and loads of empty cardboard boxes. Two large waste bags were filled with useless stuff for garbage haul-off, and other items were identified and sorted for sale on Facebook marketplace or as donations for the large Women of Faith garage sale in early May. We hardly made a dent!
I ventured out to nearby Middle Fork Barrens Natural Area on Sunday, March 30, in search of white Trout Lilies. No such luck. However, other wildflowers were blooming, adding a bit of color to the mostly prairie floor.
Kay and I continue playing pickleball (her more than me) and golf when weather allows. Though our lives are not boring, there are no new adventures to report.
Good news; bad news. The good news is that wildflowers have begun blooming, but the bad news is that high winds have prevented most flower photography these first few days of spring. Nevertheless, with a high shutter speed, a few of the blooms have been photographed. Also, a few “new to us this season” birds have shown up at the feeders.
Grandson Ridge ran several races in a multi-school track meet on Monday, March 17, 2025. He placed first in all but one, and second in that one. Not only is he a great athlete, but he’s a great kid, too.
On the first day of Spring, Thursday, March 20, 2025, feeders in the back yard attracted enough birds to generate several photos. An American Goldfinch came in close enough for a portrait.
And then, a Purple Finch, the first I’ve photographed, landed in a nearby birch tree before coming in to feed. The immature female Finch didn’t hang around long though, and only came that one time.
More American Goldfinches visited the feeders, landing in the nearby birch tree. The tree seems to be a popular hangout for birds!
And finally, a Tufted Titmouse landed in the birch tree.
Wildflowers were the order of the day on Friday, March 21, 2025, despite heavy winds. The photographic quest for the day was a white Trout Lily spotted at Middle Fork Barrens Natural Area by good friend Dan. I walked the usual circuit twice trying to find one in bloom, but no luck because of cool temperatures. However, several other wildflower began blooming as the morning progressed towards noon.
And most surprising—and best of all—a Black Swallowtail butterfly flitted by and landed in the grass about 10 yards away. I began photographing it, approaching nearer and nearer with each burst of shots. The butterfly photographs made the almost two-mile walk worth it.
From Middle Fork Barrens Natural Area, I drove to Cedar Creek Trail in search of the more numerous yellow Trout Lily. Several other wildflower species presented blooms as noon arrived.
And finally, near the trail’s parking area, a few Trout Lilies began appearing, though sparsely, on the forest floor.
Mid-February started off with cool temperatures and after only a couple of days, rain began, turning to sleet and snow. And, temperatures plunged to single digits. For four days, temperatures never exceeded freezing.
With us spending more time at home in Hot Springs Village, we are going to try and play more cards (Hand and Foot) and games. But for Hand and Foot particularly, we don’t have any of the accessories such as shuffler, “book of cards” holder, and deck tray. So, it was off to the shop to make the latter two. However, as a consequence of the brutally cold weather, only the first couple days of the reporting period (Sunday and Monday) were fit to do anything woodworking in the unheated shop. Nevertheless, 1x4x8’s were glued together, decorative edges cut, slots made, and supports attached. Sanding and application of several coats of polyurethane finished the process.
Hand and Foot accessory
Tuesday morning, February 18, 2025, I braved the dropping temperatures and the beginning of frozen precipitation to “shoot” some birds.
American Goldfinches, Carolina Chickadees, and Tufted Titmice were frequent visitors to the seed feeders, and permitted a few photos to be made.
American GoldfinchCarollina ChickadeeTufted Titmouse
A lot of reading was done on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday during the day, and YouTube videos and a French detective series, Balthazar, were viewed in the evening. A gradual warmup began on Friday, February 21, 2025, with many of the roads and streets free enough of ice to be usable.
These are some of the photos taken on Sunday, February 23, 2025. American Goldfinches hoarded the feeders, but a Northern Cardinal and Carolina Chickadee slipped in for a seed or two.
Northern CardinalCarolina Chickadee
On Tuesday, February 25, 2025, the “regulars” returned with lots of American Goldfinches, a few Carolina Chickadees, and a Tufted Titmouse using the feeders.
Wednesday, February 26, 2025, was a warm day, and though few birds came in to the feeders, many hung out in the trees, necessitating a steady tripod to reach out and “touch” them with the camera/lens. A Brown-headed Nuthatch stole the show, but played coy with the camera and made taking its portrait quite difficult.
PERSONAL NOTE: Now that we don’t have near as many exciting adventures to relive in the blog, I have decided to change it up a bit and focus more on photos and unique activities. We will still capture our travel, and perhaps craft projects, but no more verbiage about our boring everyday life.
Kay and I have been RVing pretty much since we got together—25 years. Now that the RV is gone, and there is not one in the future, what will we do next? First and foremost, we’ll stay home in Hot Springs Village more, enjoying our house and lakefront lot. We will continue to play golf and pickleball. And Kay will likely fill up her social calendar while I’ll ramp up photography experiences. If my back will tolerate it, I would like to do some yard work and gardening, particularly for pollinators. And time will be made for even a bit of woodworking now that the absence of a third car frees up a portion of the garage. Maybe, even car/tent camp. And, we will continue to travel—just not for extended times, likely three weeks or less at a time.We still have several places to go on our life list: Switzerland, Ireland, New Zealand, more of the Pacific Northwest, northern Arizona and southern Utah, and maybe even Africa. Whereas financial aspects used to be the limiting factor, now it is health and wellness, or lack thereof, so we’ll see.
Now, for this reporting period. Because of lots of rain, conditions in the Village have been wet so no pickleball and no golf. We’ve both done a bit of cooking and baking, and I have made a couple of things in the “shop”. Our shoes—golf shoes, outdoor shoes, gardening shoes, swimming shoes, etc.— were seemingly everywhere in the garage. So, a shoe bench seemed like a good idea. And, we had a cushion left over from “our” first house (actually Kay’s house). Made with a “trout and fly fishing” fabric that I wanted to use. Consequently, that set the dimensions of length, width, and height. Cheap lumber was used, i.e. #2 pine; it was of very poor quality, but “good enough”. So, after a bunch of sawdust, measurement errors, and wrong screws, the bench was finished. It’s not something to be proud of, but is serves it’s purpose quite well pattern.
And then, a coat and cap rack was necessary to hold all the umbrellas, rain jackets, work coats, and caps and hats. If it’s length were the same as the bench’s, the two would look quite matched. A couple of rare pieces of clear 1 x 4 x 8 pine had been purchased previously from Lowe’s and one was used for the coat and cap rack. It was a simple design and build: cut to length, edges routed with a decorative pattern, sanded, a finish applied, and the coat and cap hooks installed.
I did manage to snap a few photos of birds the last couple of weeks, though they are the same species that have been hanging around all winter.
We keep moving our departure date forward, finally opting for Sunday, January 26. The weather in central Florida, i.e. The Villages, has not been real conducive to outdoor activities. The Villages of Florida offer just about any activity one might be interested in pursuing. The grounds are wonderfully landscaped and kept immaculate. It is definitely a golfing community and the well-groomed courses were extensively used, though we were almost always able to get a tee time even if was late in the afternoon. It is difficult to complain about life in The Villages, except it is crowded, traffic is horrible, and the weather, for the most part, was cold, wet, and windy. Kay and I were just a bit overwhelmed by it all. While the people were not unfriendly, there was little social interaction except for cards, golf, and dinner with the Starr’s and early on the Graham’s. Our neighborhood or “village” was socially sterile. But, we were temporary renters, and not owners. We, therefore, have no regrets in leaving early, except we will miss socializing with the Starr’s.
We keep moving our departure date forward, finally opting for Sunday, January 26. The weather in central Florida, i.e. The Villages, has not been real conducive to outdoor activities.
We played a lot of golf, albeit on “executive” courses or “pitch and putt” courses. On Saturday, January 18, we played the Bogart executive course with the Starrs. Photos were taken by Kay and me.
And then on Tuesday, we played the Richmond Pitch and Putt course. It was windy and cool. We returned to play the Richmond Pitch and Putt course on Thursday, and again it was windy and cool, but not as bad as on Tuesday. Photos were taken by both Kay and me.
We played our last round of golf at The Villages with the Starrs on Saturday, January 25, playing the Mickylee Pitch and Putt course. Afterwards we ate at Cody’s, but it wasn’t quite as good as the previous times we ate there, and it was crowded as was the entire Sumter Landing area, such that it was difficult to find a parking place.
Also on Saturday, January 25, we packed up our toys and clothing, and pre-positioned the bags near the garage door for loading on Sunday.
As per schedule, we packed the car, fulfilled the requirements for leaving the AirBnB (regarding dishes, towels, bed linens, trash, etc.) and departed The Villages at 8:10 AM on Sunday, January 26. We were both ready to go home. The day’s drive took us north through Gainesville, then west through Tallahassee, and much of Florida’s panhandle, north northwest through Montgomery and Birmingham, Alabama, and finally northwest in the rain and semidarkness to Tupelo, Mississippi, where we overnighted. The hotel, rated 4.5/5.0 was not great nor even good. It was clean and basic, and had a cleaning odor that prohibited me from sleeping much, though Kay slept fine.
After the unrestful night, we departed at approximately 7:30 AM on Monday morning driving through Memphis and then westward to home, stopping for groceries. The leg from Memphis to home seemingly took forever as we were stopped on I-40 for about 45 minutes because of an accident. Regardless, we arrived home about 1:00 PM, and exhaled a long sigh of relief. We unpacked, began filling the hot tub, filled the bird feeders, set up the computer for photo editing, and enjoyed being in our house. Did I say we really like where we live!
Tuesday, January 28, was spent unpacking and stowing clothes and getting things organized in the house and garage; Kay did a bit of grocery shopping and picked up “held” mail. Of course, we both reconnected with friends.
And then on Wednesday, January 29, I got a haircut for what little hair I have left, and we both played the new pickleball ladder at Diamante. It’s so good to be home.
Both Thursday and Friday were quiet, and we continued enjoying being back in our house, though I did manage to photograph an American Goldfinch.
We are still trying to adjust to the cool weather and life in The Villages of Florida. Fortunately, we have been able to play Hand-and-Foot cards and golf with the Starr’s which make it a bit less difficult.
On Sunday, January 12, we drove to the Lake Panasoffkee WMA west of The Villages with lots of optimism, photographing a Pied-billed Grebe aloe the way, only to find that the WMA was open for hunting on THAT day and we were strongly discouraged from walking any of the trails—another wasted trip!
After again researching eBird, I drove to Hogeye Preserve in The Villages on Monday to walk the 2.8-mile Hogeye Preserve Pathway. This proved to be a decent walk even though it bordered a golf course much of its length, and yielded several good photo ops.
Pine WarblerGreat EgretTurkey VultureWilson’s SnipeLimkinBlack-bellied Whistling ducksEastern PhoebeAmerican Kestrel
Kay and I ventured out to walk the short Fenney Springs Nature Trail on Tuesday. Despite it’s short length, I was able to take a few photos.
Wilson’s SnipeEastern PhoebeSnowy EgretGreat Blue Heron
After the photo walk, we decided to try one of The Villages’ Pitch and Putt golf courses. With holes ranging from 40-110 yards in length, these courses focus on shots around the greens. With holes ranging from 40-110 yards in length, this course is shorter than championship courses which are 300-400 yards in length, and is a focused on shots around the greens. We played Marsh View Pitch and Putt Golf Course and it was loads of fun.
I suppose it’s been obvious from the previous post that “pickleball” has not been mentioned. I played twice and enjoyed both times; however, it’s not the same as the great group at Diamante. It was competitive enough, and the players were friendly (even though the first “old” lady I played with instructed me on how to play the game). But, it just wasn’t the same and there were no warm fuzzy feelings.
Also, it’s been difficult to find birds, etc. for photo ops, though I’ve worked really hard and walked a bunch of trails towards that end. And, it’s been cold here by Texas and Arizona winter standards, with afternoon winds making it feel even colder. (Note to self: Could it be that I’m homesick? Who knows, but it is the first winter I’ve ever felt like this. Maybe that’s a good thing.) Anyway.
Kay had a cut and color on Wednesday, January 8, and was not too shocked that the price was almost double what it was in Hot Springs Village—it’s expensive in this part of Florida.
After tons of research in eBird, we took a day trip on Friday,, January 10, trying to find somewhere to find something to photograph. We ended up at Emeralda Marsh, east of The Villages. The Emeralda Marsh Conservation Area (EMCA) is a 7,089-acre conservation area administered by the St. Johns River Water Management District, In December 1974, it was designated a National Natural Landmark Our objective was to explore via the EMCA wildlife drive. When we got there, the gate was locked as the drive is only open seasonally. Nevertheless, we opted to walk the drive, and immediately upon starting, Kay spotted a Zebra Heliconia butterfly.
Zebra Heliconia butterfly
As the drive continued, it became obvious that there weren’t many birds, but there were several blooming marsh plants.
And then, a few birds were flitting about among the adjacent trees. An American Robin, Palm Warbler, and Gray Gnatcatcher were photographed.
American RobinPalm WarblerGray Gnatcatcher
And a Gulf Fritillary was nectaring on a far away shrub.
Gulf Fritillary
We met another person on the trail that mentioned more robins further along the drive, and that he had seen a mama black bear and two cubs. We were not so fortunate. We asked him about places to observe birds, and indicated that there was another area of the Marsh just north of us that offered shorebirds. Kay and I drove to that area and were immediately rewarded with birds. We immediately saw a Red-shouldered Hawk and an Osprey, the latter with a fish in its talons.
Red-shouldered HawkOsprey
And then we saw Anhingas, Glossy Ibises, and Snowy Egrets. There were also several other bird species but they were too far to photograph.
AnhingaGlossy IbisSnowy Egret
From Emeralda Marsh, we drove to the Fred Funk Butterfly Garden(s) at the Lady Lake Seventh-Day Adventist Church, and were a bit surprised to see several nectaring Monarchs.
Monarch
Also, a small Cassius Blue butterfly (?) stopped long enough for a photograph.
After being overwhelmed last night (New Year’s Eve) with the crowds and traffic, we enjoyed a quiet day in The Villages celebrating New Year’s Day. Clothes were hung or put away, toiletries were located where they could easily be found, and computer equipment set up for processing photo images. We enjoyed hog jowl, black-eyed peas, and cabbage for dinner, and watched TV. A lot of time was spent setting up the TVs to reflect our various subscriptions. Regrettably, we have had no luck in turning closed captioning on the various specialty subscriptions; with my hearing loss, closed captioning is a must! I believe this is the evening that we had our first Hand and Foot card game, women vs. men. It wasn’t even close; ‘nuf said. Way to go men.
Black-eyed peas, hog jowl, and cabbage
The next few days were spent trying to get our bearings, learning all the processes used to “survive” at The Villages, and doing a bit of shopping. Kay suffered sticker shock when checking out at the groceries; groceries are expensive.
We played nine holes of golf at Bogart Golf Course on Thursday, January 2—Bogart is one of the executive courses near us—and had a lot of fun. The executive courses are better than what we were led to believe, but they are really crowded.
We joined Gary, Jolene, Ron, and Bev Friday evening for dinner at the Americanos restaurant at Spanish Springs, one of the large town squares in The Villages, after which we listed to a “just okay”t band.
Music at Spanish Square
We left Spanish Square and moved to Sumter Landing town square where the music was a bit better.
Music at Sumpter Landing
Saturday afternoon late, almost 5:00 PM, we played the Bogart Executive Golf Course, together with another couple. Kay and I called it quits after seven holes because of darkness.
On Sunday, January 5, we ventured to the largest of The Villages’ nature preserves—Sharon Rose Wiechens Preserve—but it was closed because of flooding. I had been counting on it for photography—very disappointing. Desperately trying to find some photo subjects, we drove to the small Chitty Chatty Preserve, also in The Villages, and managed to take a few photos.
The Air BNB owner came by the rental and helped with the garage door openers and see how we were doing. In the preceding days, Kay and I had had some serious discussions about our future in The Villages, and we both quickly and firmly agreed that it wasn’t our type of place—too crowded, too much traffic, absence of an abundance of photo opportunities, a lack of neighborhood social activities, and a very expensive place to spend the winter. We agreed that we would ask the owner if we could revise the lease agreement to change the duration to one month instead of three. Fortunately for us, she agreed, and we executed the new rental agreement while she visited. Consequently, we will be returning to Hot Springs Village before the end of the month of January.
Monday was a shopping day for Kay and Jolene, while I remained back in the rental to process photos. We both made calls and/or sent messages letting family know that our plans had changed.
Tuesday, January 7, (not sure of date) Jolene, with Gary’s assistance, prepared a chicken noodle soup and apple bread dinner for Ron,, Bev, Kay and me, after which we had another robust game of Hand and Foot, women vs. men. It was close, but the women edged out a win.
The last couple of weeks have been mostly all about Christmas; actually though Christmas pretty much ended for us on December 22, when we celebrated with most of our immediate family and a holiday meal. More about that later.
The first few days of this “reporting” period involved luncheons and pickleball for Kay while I managed to take a few photos and play a bit of golf and pickleball.
On Thursday, December 19, birds were far and few between, and only a few of the regulars showed up at the feeders: a Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren, and Red-bellied Woodpecker.
And then on Friday, December 20, only a Carolina Chickadee and American Goldfinch fed during photo time on the deck.
American Goldfinch
Karyn and her family came down over on Saturday afternoon, and attended church with us on Sunday morning. Ron his family joined the activities after their church. We enjoyed a really nice holiday meal, after which gifts were exchanged. For Kay and me, it was pretty low key, and we really enjoyed the mostly stress-free environment. After the kiddos left, a time of picking up present wrapping waste and then relaxation was enjoyed.
“De-constructing” Christmas decorations followed on Monday and Tuesday. A holiday tradition, Candles and Communion, occurred at church on Tuesday, December 24, after which another holiday tradition, a spaghetti meal at Jim and Jackie’s was enjoyed by Jim, Jackie, Jackie’s sister and BIL, Pam, and Kay and me. It’s nice to have “new” holiday traditions, particularly after divorces from our original families, when all traditions collapse—just sayin’.
A cocktail party honoring the Starr’s was on Friday afternoon at the Janice and Harlan’s; Janice really knows how to host a party, and we enjoyed the hors ‘doeuvres, drinks, and most of all visiting with friends.
Following the party we began seriously packing for our winter stay in Florida.
Departing from home on Sunday, December 29, we stopped in Cordova, Tennessee, for a brief Christmas visit with Jenny and her kids.
Leaving for the winter
The kids are growing so much and its interesting to watch how much they mature between visits. Jenny is doing well and is immensely enjoying her job at the YMCA headquarters. We are so pleased that all our our kids are good parents.
SuttonSutton and JennyLinc and KaySutton and DDBeautiful Harper
Decatur, Alabama, was the first overnight stop on the way to Florida, and an infection had Kay down and out, and very uncomfortable. Consequently, we spent 3 1/2 hours in the ER. It was packed, with most of those present coughing and hacking, likely with the flu. We donned facemarks for personal protection.
After the long wait, and then treatment in the ER, we drove back to the hotel for overnighting.
Our stop in Decatur, Alabama, was chosen because of its proximity to Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). After a very short drive on Monday morning, the sound of Sandhill Cranes greeted us upon entrance to the NWR. The cranes were seemingly everywhere.
Wheeler NWR and Sandhill Cranes
Even though the NWR Visitors’ Center didn’t open until 9 o’clock AM, people had already begun to arrive and were walking to their favorite observation sites. After eating the breakfast sandwiches in the parking lot, Kay and I walked to the two-story photo observatory, and began to photograph the birds immediately.
We then walked to several other observation sites, amazed at the number of cranes (between 17,000 and 19,000).
And then it was off to the Florida panhandle where we overnighted at Panama City Beach, the location chosen mainly to enjoy a dinner of fresh Gulf seafood. Dinner was at a highly recommended “hangout” that was only so so.
On Tuesday morning, we drove east and south to The Villages of Florida, the US’s largest 55+ community. After a brief orientation, we found the rental house, and “moved” in. We then joined the Starrs and Grahams for a really good dinner and then music at the Sumter Landing Town Square. People were everywhere! Being old fogies, Kay and I didn’t last too long and returned to the rental house to see 2024 out and 2025 in.
Even though the holiday season is in full swing, it has been relatively quiet here on the home front these first couple of weeks in December, at least for me. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons holiday depression has not reared its ugly head for the first time in perhaps 40 years! Kay, of course, has been busy with parties, etc, including hosting The Book Club for the month of December.
As we continue to spend winters away from home, medical and dental appointments abound this time of year. We both had dental appointments, Kay had visits with two doctors. I FINALLY got my hearing aids working (actually they were replaced) after several months, and I got a new prescription for contacts in both eyes±—close up in the left, distance in the right—and I can wear them at night for up to two weeks.
We both p played pickleball a couple of times, and ventured out on the golf course as well. Surprisingly, the courses remain in good condition.
As for projects, I put the finishing touches on the rolling workbench, trimming it out and adding a shelf.
Only a few birds were flying the last few days, and they were regulars at the feeders. I did manage to shoot a few photos on December 2, 4, 8, 9, and 15.
While Kay was out and about on Monday, December 2, a Brown-headed Nuthatch, a Carolina Chickadee, and an American Goldfinch visited our “sanctuary”.
Collection of trails and greenway quotes, terms, acronyms, tools as well as trail publications and presentations and 100s of photos from my bicycle and hiking adventures. .
This journal was begun several years ago, and reflects an accurate record of each day fished. Please enjoy it, and remember that fish are too valuable to be caught just once, and the places they live are too valuable to be mistreated.
Dunngone's Photos and Blog 