Category: travel

Take Three of the 101 goals in 1001 days

Nov

2019

So in one of my many self reflection periods this past month, I realized that I hadn’t been looking at my 101 goal list and seeing how close I was to any of the goals (with the exception of my step goal). I also realized looking at the list, it was all jumbled together and that made it hard to see which goals could “feed” off of each other in terms of the daily/weekly/monthly goals that I should be setting to reach them.

Therefore, I took the time and rewrote my list—this time grouping things into different categories. I’m going to be hitting restart on the time, to where if I start on November 2, 2019—I should then be finishing up around July 29, 2022.

So below are my goals—but broken up into different categories (such as professional development/career, personal development, both personal/professional development, travel, health & fitness to name a few categories).

Professional development and career:

1. Transition into an industry position (tied to latest self reflections post); there will be several posts on this goal

2. Learn a programming language

3. Finish various e-courses that I’ve bought, but in particular:

4. Dream Job Hack

5. Medical Writers Organization

6. More interacting on Linkedin

7. Sharing articles from various biotech pages, and other science pages

8. Commenting on posts

9. Giving/Asking for recommendations

10. Creating monthly/weekly/daily calendars for above goals

11. Go to at least 1 scientific conference

12. Present at a scientific conference

13. Go to at least 2 professional networking events

14. Renew professional memberships

15. Move to a new (or maybe not new) city for job

Both Personal and Professional Development

16. Become fluent in Spanish

17. Become fluent in German (or maybe French)

18. Read at least 100 personal/professional development books

19. Finish the books on scientific writing

Personal development and hobbies

20. Paint and frame at least one original painting

21. More photography

22. 365-Day Challenge (aim for 365 different pictures)

23. Update photography pages on blog

24. Make my own jewelry

25. Learn to cross-stitch

26. Finish my latest afghan

27. Show case crafts on blog (possibly a weekly update?)

28. Start writing a book

29. Learn Photoshop

30. Write in journal daily (answer questions/prompts from journaling books and free thought)

31. Create my own coffee-table photography book

32. Learn basic sign language

Finances

33. Create monthly budgets

34. Credit card debts down and hopefully paid off monthly

35. Declutter the house (way of earning extra cash)

36. Savings account up another 20K (hopefully)

37. Talk with financial person about short-term investment possibilities

Travel

38. Visit at least 3 new countries

39. Visit at least one new national and/or state park

40. Visit at least one new national and/or state monument

41. Visit at least one new zoo

42. Visit at least one new aquarium

43. Fly out and/or land at 3 new (to me) airports

44. Visit at least one new city

45. Visit at least one new state

46. See the northern lights

47. Attend at least one blogging conference

48. Attend at least one author-reader conference

49. Attend Beachbody Coach Summit 2020

Fitness & Health

50. Get into the best shape of my life

51. Multivitamin and supplements daily

52. Manage at least 250 days of Beachbody workouts

53. Manage 5 push-ups on my toes

54. Manage 10 push-ups on my toes

55. Hold a two-minute forearm plank

56. Hold a 90 second plank

57. Meditate nightly

58. 30-day Zumba challenge

59. 60-80 oz of water a day

60. Stretch daily

61. Go one weekend a month with no social media (no scrolling through social media pages; may still post on the sites)

62. Get at least 14,014,000 steps (breaks down to 14K/day)

Blog and Social Media

63. Finish YouTube for bosses course

64. Finish YouTube course creation for bosses course

65. Finish blog to biz course

66. Launch a YouTube channel

67. Launch an online course

68. Get blog traffic to 500+ views a day

69. Rebrand myself (?)

70. Get Instagram followers to constant 800+

71. Get pintrest followers to constant 400+

72. Get twitter followers to constant 1000+

73. Publish at least two blog series

74. Editorial calendars (monthly/weekly/daily)

75. Blog

76. Instagram

77. Facebook pages

78. Get Fit with Jessi to 1000+ likes/follows

79. Get becomingJessi (or new name if I change) to 1000+ likes/follows

80. Various top 10 author lists

81. Various top 10 book series lists

Spirituality

82. Full/New Moon Goals

83. Create my own altar (wicca/pagan)

84. Weekly tarot/oracle card readings

Others

85. Keep at least 3 plants alive

86. Design a science based board game

87. Create and update a digital vision board

88. Re-pierce my ears

89. Reorganize my storage unit

Once I move:

90. Get a new sewing machine

91. Make a new quilt

92. Get fabric and foam and make new cushions for chairs

93. New couch & chair for living room

94. New dresser for bedroom

95. New mattress & box spring for bed

96. New TV & stand

TV shows to binge watch

97. Hawaii 5-0 (latest remake)

98. Grimm

99. The Librarians

100. Once Upon A Time

101. Blacklist

So that is my update and “organized” 101 goals in 1001 days. This time I’m trying to balance things out—personal and professional development, career and then just odds and ends. Hopefully with it being organized, I will be better at tracking how close I am to completing certain items and which items when completed will flow into another one being started.

jessimatts No Comments 101 GoalsCraftsfinancesFitness ChallengesFull Moon GoalsHealthLifestyle Challengesmoney saving challengesNew Moon Goalsno spend challengesPersonal DevelopmentPhotographyprofessional developmentspiritualitytarot cardstravelZoos/Aquariums lifeismorethanjustworklifelonglearningmoneysavingchallengesmoretimeforcraftspersonaldevelopmentprofessionaldevelopmentrebootbreakrebootingphotographychallengetimetoplansometravelsupdated101goals

Photography Challenge Day 153: Cooler areas for a hot summer day

Jul

2019

So today’s photographs are yet more throwback/flashback winners. I decided that since we’re in the middle of the ”dog days of summer” with triple digit heat with even higher heat indexes I wanted to share some photographs that reminded me of cooler temperatures.

So when thinking of cooler temperatures, what automatically comes to mind? Swimming, being out on the water, but also being underground in caves.

One of the formations in the main cavern at Carlsbad Caverns National Park

We went to Carlsbad Caverns last year as part of a quick whirlwind trip through New Mexico. While it was my first time there, I enjoyed it and would love to go back and explore more. There is a lot to see within the main cavern, and I would actually like to go on one of the guided tours within other caves that have entrances via the main cavern. The only reason why I didn’t do one to begin with–I didn’t know that it was going to be a five hour round trip tour.

Besides the caverns, there are numerous hiking trails that one can go on as well. I also enjoy hiking, but wasn’t dressed for it and again we hadn’t planned on doing any-though I’d like to hike a little bit of a trail just to see what type of wild flowers or animals are around. I know there are rattlesnakes, we’ve heard them–luckily we didn’t see them on the trip.

My other favorite place to escape the heat is going to a lake, and not just any lake. I prefer sandy bottom lakes, that you can actually see where you’re walking and if it’s a little rocky that’s fine–they’re at least smooth rocks that you’re walking on. So one destination that I have enjoyed going to over the years has been Lake Vermilion in northern Minnesota. This is a large fresh body lake that has actually become one of Minnesota’s latest state parks.

Sunset over Frazer Bay, Lake Vermilion St. Louis County Minnesota

Swimming, kayaking, bird watching, star gazing, and watching the sunsets are things that I have always enjoyed doing when going to Lake Vermilion. I remember kayaking out to an island and watching the bald eagles feed their young. This was the first place where I actually saw a bald eagle in the wild, and we use to see them sit atop of the large pine trees gazing out over the water before launching out to hunt for a meal (either for themselves or their young).

Going to the ocean is another way of getting away from the heat–though you do need to stay in the water, or have a really nice large beach umbrella to stay out of the sun. While I’ve been to the ocean several times (both Atlantic and Pacific, and the Gulf of Mexico as well)–I’ve only managed to capture a sunset picture from the Gulf of Mexico, when we went down to South Padre Island years ago.

Sunset over the bay, South Padre Island Texas

What I liked about this sunset picture was actually managing to capture the heron hunting as well. There weren’t any clouds in the sky that day, so there wasn’t any pinks and reds streaking across the sky that I would see when looking at a sunset over Lake Vermilion. It was different, but just as beautiful. Now that I’ve gone back through photographs of different locations–I would like to try to capture more sunsets over water (be it lakes, rivers, or oceans). It’s a nice way of saying it’s been a beautiful day, and tomorrow will be just as nice.

That will be a goal for my travels in 2020–capture at least one sunset picture from one new location. If I travel back to areas I’ve been before (say Boston), then try to go on a harbor cruise and get a picture of the sun setting over the harbor (I do have one of it setting over the river). Also I should try to get at least one new sunrise picture as well in my 2020 travels.

jessimatts No Comments National ParksnaturePhotographyState Parkstravel carlsbadcavernscavephotographycoolspacesgettingoutoftheheatnationalparksnaturephotographyphotographychallengestateparkssunsetoverlakessunsetoveroceanssunsetphotographytravelphotographytraveltimevacationspots

Photography Challenge Day 152 (a day late): Flash Back Friday edition

Jul

2019

So hopefully I’m all caught up on the photography challenge after today and it will be back to a daily posting. Last night the internet was acting up and my Friday post didn’t save as a draft. So we’re trying it again this morning.

So yesterday’s winner of the photography challenge is one of the anaconda snakes that live at the New England Aquarium.

I would recommend that you go to their Facebook page or their main page to learn more about these cool snakes (beyond the little that I’m going to be sharing here). One of the females (and I’m not sure if it was this one or one of the other two)—actually birth to a couple of baby anacondas, even though there are no males in the holding.

Green Anaconda at the New England Aquarium

So there are two main types of reproduction: sexual and asexual. Sexual reproduction, is reproduction with fertilization; whereas asexual reproduction is reproduction without fertilization. There are actually six to seven different types of asexual reproduction. Though when talking about more complex animals, if they asexually reproduce, it is usually through parthenogenesis.

Pathogenesis, is the process in which an unfertilized egg develops into an new individual. So, the female anaconda had several unfertilized eggs that developed into a couple of new little green anacondas.

According to the aquarium, the two young anacondas haven’t been put out in the display unit yet–it will interesting to see when they do, if one can capture pictures of them on the same day every year and see how they grow.

I find these snakes to be fascinating in terms of both their size and the fact that they thrive in water. While I’m not fond of snakes (living in the southern part of the US, there are quite a few that have nasty bites that can seriously hurt or kill a person), I do enjoy watching them from a distance—or when there is a solid piece of glass between us.

jessimatts No Comments naturePhotographyreptilestravelZoos/Aquariums anacondaBostonMAFlashBackFridaynaturephotographynewenglandaquariumphotographychallengereptilephotographysnakephotographytravelphotography

Photography Challenge Day 151 (A day late): Throwback Thursday to old headstones

Jul

2019

Well this post is a day late–while I had decided on the topic, I couldn’t quite decide on which exact pictures to share, so I decided I’d look through them again today and decided. So the pictures are all throwbacks to my trip to Boston last year.

Boston is one of my favorite places to visit—it has history, science, and numerous things to do; plus a semi-decent public transportation system. With it being one of the oldest cities on the east coast, one of my favorite things to do is walk the Freedom Trail (of course walking the whole thing depends largely on the weather for that day).

The Freedom Trail is a two and half mile path through the north end of Boston, that connects sixteen different historical sites and/or monuments. Most of the sites are free, though there are some that require an entrance fee (such as Paul Revere’s house, and one or two of the churches).

I find it fascinating and somewhat calming to walk through the old cemeteries and look at the different headstones that are still somewhat readable after a few hundred years. Some of the headstones you can’t read anything, but you still see some of the stone work that went into the headstones.

The artwork on the tombstone for John Hurd

Some more of the stonework that has survived centuries.

So when walking through Granary Burying Ground, you can see monuments to different historical figures such as:

I have other pictures of gravestones (from this graveyard and others) from when I lived in Boston (I would head to the north end almost every other weekend, and I did enjoy wandering through the cemetery and look at the headstones), that I’ll post within other topics as well over the next few weeks.

jessimatts No Comments Historical SitesHistoryPhotographytravel AmericanHistoryBostonMAfreedomtrailhistoricalfigureshistoricallandmarksoldgravestonesoldgraveyardsphotographychallengetravelphotography

Check-in on 101 goals

Jul

2019

So we’re officially a little over halfway through 2019, which means that there are 815 days left in this challenge (as today is July 5^th 2019). So I decided that I should probably do a check-in on the goals and see where I’m at with them. Updates are in bold.

The dates for my 101 goal challenges are:

So my original start and finish dates were:

Start Date: January 1 2018

Finish Date: September 28 2020

My new start and finish dates:

Start Date: January 1, 2019

Finish Date: September 28, 2021

Here are my 101 goals for the next 1001 days (random and non-grouped):

Transition into a biotech or biopharma company as a research scientist
Become fluent in Spanish
Become fluent in German
Learn to program (R and maybe python)
Visit at least three new countries (0/3)
Finish the various other e-course bundles that I bought (list out later)
Move to a new(ish) city for #1
Make it through at least 250 days of beachbody workouts (share on twitter?) (0/250) *Luckily it doesn’t have to be consecutive days (though I would like that)—I haven’t done a Beachbody workout in awhile (I also can’t remember how many I’d done before I hit my slump).
Paint & frame at least one original painting (0/1)
Finish the Dream Job Hack program
Finish the Youtube for bosses course
Finish the Youtube course creation for bosses course
Launch a youtube channel
Launch a online course
Get blog traffic to 500+ views/day
Publish 5-10 scientific blog posts (0/10)
Practice more photography (1-2 posts a week) I’ve managed to stick with the photography challenge so far, so at least on the blog there have been new pictures post on a semi-constant basis (at least for the past three-four months).
Get instagram followers to 800+
Showcase crafts on blog (afghans, artwork, jewelry)
Learn to make my own jewelry
Re-pierce my ears
Finish at least 200 personal/professional development books (and post reviews) (35/200) *So out of the 274 books I have on my book reading list for both personal and professional development (and this number is growing)—I’ve read 20 in 2018, and 15 so far in 2019—that means I only have another 238 books to read to finish the list (and that is only if I don’t add anymore books to the list).
Interact more on Linkedin (actually network with connections) (at least 4 a week) (0/140)
Reach at least 14,014,000 steps (0/14,014,000); though if I add in the steps from 2018—this could actually be closer to 20,000,000 steps (goal—19,124,000 by Sept 28 2021 (as of yesterday (07/04/19) 8,047,645/19,124,000).
Visit at least one new national (or state) park (0/1)
Visit at least one new national (or state) monument (0/1)
5 pushups on toes (0/5)
10 pushups on toes (0/10)
Fly/land at least 3 new airports
Visit one new city & state (US) (0/1; 0/1)
Go to one or more scientific conferences (0/1)
Go to a blogging conference (0/1)
See the Northern Lights
Present at a scientific conference (0/1)
Post free monthly challenges in facebook groups
Write (or start) a book
Complete a 365 day photography challenge (137/365) I started the challenge a little late this year, or more accurately it took me awhile to build momentum to continue posting a daily picture.
Learn to cross-stitch
Reach 400+ followers on pintrest
Reach 1000+ followers on twitter
Publish at least two blog series (0/2)
Mediate at least 5 minutes a day (0/1001) This one has been an off and on success—there have been at least one or two weeks when I didn’t feel like meditating nightly, and therefore I didn’t—but I’m slowly getting back into the routine.
No extra snacks at work (i.e. no hitting the coffee shop for cookies in the morning) This one is a work in progress, there are some days when I’m really good at not getting extra snacks at work, and there are other days when I cave and get chocolate.
Declutter the movies in the house
Create an editorial calendar for blog (0/33) Well I’m slowly starting to try creating editorial calendars, but have only been really good at posting certain topics (new/full moon goals & updates, monthly updates & photography challenge). This is something I still need to work on.
Credit card debt down to less than $500 a month (and getting paid off monthly in full) This is almost happening—I do have my debt at a level that I can pay off monthly, though some bills get a little higher than planned.
Monthly budget (plus list of monthly recurring charges on credit cards) (0/33) I’ve been doing this, though not listing the recurring charges on my credit cards.
~~Learn to give mani/pedi and give myself one a month (0/33)~~ This one is off the list—because I have yet to do it, and while I might in the future I don’t see me doing it quite yet.
Get a new sewing machine and make a new quilt for bed. This one is on hold until I move and then I’ll be buying a new sewing machine.
Make my new moon & full moon goals (0/66) I’ve been keeping up with this one. Though I may not hit all the goals for both the new moon & the full moon—I’m at least putting my intentions out there for the universe to hear.
Buy a new couch and chair for my living room. This one and #s 52-54 are dependent on success with #1 & #7
Buy a new dresser for my bedroom
Buy a new mattress & box-spring for my bed
Buy a new TV & stand for living room
Reorganize my storage unit
Buy fabric & foam and make new cushions for rocking chair
Create a posting schedule (editorial calendar) for facebook pages (0/66) I’m behind on this.
Generate at least three months of memes for facebook pages (0/3)
Create posting schedule (editorial calendar) for instagram (0/33) Behind on this.
Learn to use photoshop for memes & posts
Make a 30-day Zumba schedule & stick with it (0/30) Haven’t done this yet.
Visit one or more new zoos (0/1)
Visit one or more new aquariums (0/1)
Make a top 10 favorite author list (for different genera; romance, fantasy/sci-fi, mystery/thriller, non-fiction) for blog
Write and share at least two posts on linkedin every two months (0/32) Behind on this as well.
Ask for endorsements from 6 well known connections on linkedin (0/6) Behind on this well.
Endorse 3 to 5 people on linkedin every four months (0/40) Behind on this.
Renew professional memberships (0/6) Need to do this soon.
Get into the “best shape” of my life. This is one of the things I’m going to try to focus on more, and maybe should be moved higher in the list.
Finish reading books on scientific writing (review and post) (0/7)
Take a multivitamin & supplements daily (0/1001). There have been several days (going on to a week) that I’ve missed taking my multivitamin & supplements.
Design a logo for my blog/website
Finish 3 hidden object games without using hints, or the strategy guide
Go to a author-reader conference and meet authors
Write in journal daily (0/1001). There have been several weeks that I didn’t do this (mainly due to my current mood—even though I know when I’m feeling down or in a funk that is actually a good time to journal).
Complete my book of Sudoku puzzles (minus the ones crossed out)
Drink 70 oz of water a day (0/1001). There have been quite a few days when this hasn’t happened.
Color in two coloring books (0/2) (pictures on blog/instagram)
Knit another afghan (diamond pattern) This has been started, and hopefully will be finished this coming winter.
Watch all the episodes of Hawaii 5-0
Go to at least 2 professional networking events (0/2)
Update Linkedin profile (0/2)
Watch all the episodes of Grimm
Design a science based board game
Hold a two minute plank (on forearms)
Hold a 90 second plank (full)
Go at least one weekend a month without social media (0/33) This hasn’t happened yet, though with the way the world is going I might start doing it.
Create (and update) a vision board. I’ve created and updated a digital vision board, and will probably try to update it at least every two to three months.
Create my own altar (wiccan/pagan)
Learn basic sign language
Create job searching/networking editorial calendar (0/12)
Get an additional external hard drive to back up the laptop & external DVD drive for installing printer program on laptop
Create my own coffee table photography book
Touch base with friends that I haven’t talked to lately
Savings up another 20K (0/20K)
Get at least three plants and keep them alive (0/3)
Stretch daily (0/1001)
Watch all the episodes of The Librarians
Watch all the episodes of Once Upon A Time
Get Fit with Jessi to 1000+ likes
Get BecomingJessi to 1000+ likes

I’ve only removed one goal from the list—giving myself a mani/pedi monthly. I’ve never been the type to fuss with their nails (though I know with job searching, I do need to start taking better care of my nails, and this does include painting them every so often). I’ve realized that I have fallen behind on some of the daily goals (taking my multivitamins, drinking a certain amount of water a day, and writing in my journal every day)—but at least I do start back up, even if it tampers off, and then starts again.

I also know that there are goals that I haven’t started on, and others that require another goal to be accomplished before they are looked at. I know where I need to try to focus for the next few months (personal care—mental and physical health, and slowly figuring out my career objectives), and once these are on track, I think the others will follow suit.

jessimatts No Comments 101 GoalsBooksCraftsfinancesfitnessHealthjob searchingLifestyle Challengesmoney saving challengesno spend challengesPersonal Developmentprofessional developmentspiritualitytravel 101goalsupdateadultingsucksattimesbookstoreadfitnesshealthjobsearchingpersonaldevelopmentprofessionaldevelopmentselfcaretransitionplantomaketravelplanstomake

Photography Challenge Catch-up: Days 130 through 133

Jun

2019

Well today’s photography challenge post is hopefully going to play catch up and starting tomorrow I will be back to doing daily posts. The last few days I just couldn’t decide on a photograph to share, and if I could decide on a photograph—I ended up with writers block and couldn’t figure out what to say with the photograph.

Thursday’s photographs are a #throwback photograph series to my whirlwind trip to London two years ago. I tried to cram a week’s worth of sightseeing into a few days. I managed to see quite a bit, but would love to go back and take a little more time and visit a few more places. So the photograph is one of the many that I took while walking through the Tower of London, and then visiting the Tower Bridge.

One of the things that I decided not to do while visiting the Tower of London was going up (and down) the stairs in the White Tower. I had decided that with all the walking I’d been doing through the day—I didn’t need to climb 204 stairs. Though I think it would be neat to look out from the top of the White Tower.

Looking back through the photographs has me itching to plan another trip somewhere, though currently I’m not sure where. I have several ideas of places I would like to go, I will just have to try and narrow the list to one for travel and then maybe one or two for networking.

Friday’s photograph is a #fungalfriday photo. This picture is actually quite old—I took it a little over two years ago, but that has been how long since we’ve seen this type of mushroom around the area.

Oyster mushrooms growing on a dead tree.

This is an oyster mushroom—it’s one of the edible ones that grows on dead and dying trees. We use to have these popping up at least once to twice a year, but then the neighbor’s son moved into their place and sprayed herbicides along the creek bed and that spelled the end to our yearly collection of oyster mushrooms. I loved simmering them and then freezing them—we had quite a bit stored, but then used them in different meals.

I’d like to become better at identifying mushrooms in the wild, that way I know which ones are the edible ones and which ones are the ones that can kill you. Besides liking to eat mushrooms—I think they’re cool objects to photograph as well.

Saturday’s photograph winner is of two (of the many ducks) sitting on a log and grooming themselves. This is a log where if I manage to get up to the lake at dawn, I would usually see a great blue heron or an egret standing and waiting for their breakfast to swim pas them. Though lately since I’ve been getting up there after dawn, I’ve seen either the ducks or at times turtles sunning themselves on the log. I am going to have to try to start getting up earlier to manage to get up to the lake for some sunrise pictures.

Today’s winner of the photography challenge are the two pictures I managed to get of the sun as it was going in and out of the clouds this morning. It almost seemed like I was taking pictures of the moon moving in and out of the clouds—but we’re heading into a new moon phase—so it was the sun that looked so odd this morning.

Some dark moving clouds moving across the sun.

On the walk this morning, I noticed that there were numerous dark clouds rolling through the area—luckily no rain fell. But as the clouds rolled through, they managed to act as a natural blinder for the sun and gave the optical illusion of it pretending to be the moon.

With these pictures I’ve managed to catch up on the photography challenge. I’m going to try to take a new picture every day (either with the camera or my phone), that way something new will be posted (instead of picking a random photo out of my weekend work). Whether or not I manage to take a picture every day will depend mainly on the weather (temperature), and my mood—but hopefully the idea of a small walk will help spur the imagination and give me new photography ideas.

jessimatts No Comments bird watchingnaturePhotographytravel birdphotographybirdwatchingfungalfridayLondonEnglandmallardsneedtoplananothervacationoystermushroomsphotographychallengethrowbackthursdaytowerbridgetoweroflondontravelphotographyweirdweatherwildmushrooms

Photography Challenge day 129: Waterfall Wednesday Edition

Jun

2019

So today’s photography winner is a small waterfall that I spotted on a hike in Devil’s Den State Park in Arkansas.

We had gone to Devil’s Den State Park a couple of years ago for a mini vacation. I actually managed to hike probably a quarter of the paths within the park. This waterfall was spotted on the Devil’s Den trail, which also had a lot of neat rock formations as well.

I remember looking at the openings and wishing that I was a rock climber (and that it was allowed in this part of the park). I think it would have been cool to get closer to the openings and get some interior pictures.

It’s been recently shown that spending at least two hours a week outdoors and in nature is a good way of getting a good emotional reset. While I do spend time outdoors–it’s mainly on the weekend. I now realize that I need to find the time to get outdoors (and not just walking to the bus stop or sitting in the backyard at the end of the day) each day so that I can get back on an even keel in terms of how I deal with each day.

I would like to get back to Devil’s Den and hike the trails that I didn’t have time to hike the first time around (fossil flats, finish yellow rock–only did about a quarter of it before turning around, and hike part of a horse trail). I would also like to possibly camp out at Devil’s Den (we stayed in one of the cabins), though it would have to be at a time when all the insects were at an all time low (mosquitoes and ticks in particular).

jessimatts No Comments naturePhotographyState ParkstravelWaterfalls devilsdenstateparknaturephotographyoutdoorphotographyoutdoorsphotographychallengetravelphotographywaterfallphotographywaterfallwednesday

Photography Challenge Day 128: Reptile Tuesday

Jun

2019

I know, its suppose to be Turtle Tuesday–but I couldn’t decide on a turtle picture to share, so I decided I’d do a group post and make it reptile Tuesday instead.

In terms of age–reptiles are one of the oldest groups of animals on the planet. The taxa group Reptilia include all living reptiles (snakes, crocodiles, alligators, turtles, lizards, and tuatara), and their extinct relatives.

Alligator at the birding center, South Padre Island TX

I was lucky to get the picture of this alligator before it decided to retreat back below the waters. Crocodiles and alligators are actually more closely related to birds, then they are to other reptile groups.

Box turtle seen on walk at Devil’s Den State Park in Arkansas

There is one reptile that I haven’t seen that many of lately–turtles, and I’m not talking about water turtles–I’m talking about box turtles. I use to see these guys constantly and even helped one or two cross busy intersections (to make sure that they wouldn’t get hit by cars). I have only seen at most two over the past couple of years.

This guy was a large one that I spotted on an evening walk in Devil’s Den State Park in Arkansas a few years ago.

The only reptiles that I will admit to avoiding are the ones that can harm me–so mainly the poisonous snakes, and I don’t plan on getting really close to any alligator or crocodiles either.

I’m going to have to see if I’m able to spot any box turtles or lizards this summer–I’ve already spotted the water turtles, and water snakes so I’d like to see if I can spot other reptiles this summer in addition to these.

jessimatts No Comments natureNature PreservesPhotographyreptilesState Parkstravel alligatorphotographydevilsdenstateparknaturephotographyphotographychallengereptilephotographyreptiletuesdaySouthPadreIslandTXtravelphotographyturtlephotography

Photography Challenge Day 124: Flashback Friday and Summer Solstice

Jun

2019

So today marks the summer solstice for the northern hemisphere–it’s the longest day of the year (more or less), and the first day of summer. The only reason why it’s more or less the longest day is that some people may have had a slightly longer night last night, or they might have it tomorrow night. The summer solstice falls between June 20 & June 22 every year.

So what better way of celebrating the solstice than with a flashback Friday photograph to Stonehenge. I was thrilled when I managed to book a reservation to go out to Stonehenge on my brief trip to the United Kingdom a couple of years ago. I still want to get back and go to Greenwich and tour a little more around London.

Stonehenge is one of the places that pops into the minds of people (at least for me) when thinking about the summer solstice. I’ve always been in awe with the both the construction and layout of the stones. People were able to get huge stones moved inland, put them upright, and then able to put stones on top of those–and most are still upright a few thousand years later.

So now we’re going to have ten plus hours of sunlight for a few months (the days are going to start getting shorter), and that means hopefully more time outdoors (at least on the weekends). I love summer time (mainly because of the longer days, but I don’t like the humidity that goes with southern weather. One thing I’ve learned–the older I get the less I’m able to quickly adapt to high heat indexes. So where ever I move it will either need to be towards a cooler climate in the summer (which means really cold in the winter, and dark earlier), or just make sure that I have enough window fans to keep an apartment cool.

While I’ve had plans for doing some gardening this spring, those plans never came to be–so I’m going to have to make due with weeding out the other gardens and maybe plan for some fall plantings for early spring flowers.

On another note, I think that if I’m able to swing more than one large trip (a networking and then a vacation) soon it will be to Scotland for a few days, take a train down to London, then after a few days take a train to Paris (and maybe down to Madrid) and then fly home.

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Photography Challenge Day 123: Throwback Thursday Edition no. 2

Jun

2019

So today’s photographs are throwback photographs to prior vacations or weekend getaways, again.

When I was out in Boston, I managed to make it up to Maine once or twice to visit with distant family (third or fourth cousins)–once was over Thanksgiving, and then I managed to get up there more or less for a full weekend.

The beaches were more rocky around parts of Portland–actually had lunch on a refitted ship–that was an interesting experience. I enjoyed the brief times I made it up to Maine, and would love to go back and make it up to Acadia National Park around Bar Harbor for hiking and camping (just need to find someone else to go with).

Nautilus seen in bay on South Padre Island, TX

It’s been almost six years since we took a trip down to South Padre Island (with a brief stop in San Antonio).

One of the unique things that I liked was trying to take pictures of life under the water. I have had very few chances of using my digital camera underwater–mainly because I have yet to find a snorkel mask that will fit over my glasses comfortably. I know that I could get contact lens for swimming–but I rub my eyes way to often, and they’re a no go because of that.

The nautilus was actually in a group with some other hermit crabs and other aquatic life when we went to watch the sun set over the bay.

Nautilus and other shell dwelling creatures.

I’d like to get back to South Padre Island and try either kayaking in the bay or using my standup paddle board. That is another thing I’ve realized–I’d like to be close to some body of water (lake, river, pond) that I can maybe take my paddle board out on every so often.

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