Growing Greggs - A Love Story

Monday, January 13, 2025

Nooks and Crannies

Some glimpses of things that have caught my eye while on a couple of different walks recently.

A view of the upper trees and sky from the ground. The sky is a bright blue and the leaves on most of the trees have fallen with the exception of one or two trees here and there where the leaves are a bright yellow.

Maxi with an actual smile on his face. We are in the woods behind the house by the creek. He has just gotten done exploring and playing with Miles. He is standing on a bunch of fallen leaves. He has just dropped a stick that he was playing tug-of-war with Miles. Max is looking off to the side.

A happy boy.

These next two pics are of different wooded scenes from the spot near the house. This picture was taken of my left view from the rock I was sitting on when I took it. The creek is flowing to the left with large rocks strewn in and around it. There is a hill in the background on the other side of the creek with all of its trees bare. There is flatter ground in the forefront of the picture with a bed of yellow and brown leaves on the ground and countless leafless trees.

The creek behind (beside?) our house. I am sitting by the creek where a large number of rocks have gathered (been placed?) together creating a bubbling sound as the water passes through this part of the creek.

Max and Miles wading belly deep in the second pond at Forney Creek. Each of them seem like they are having fun "creeping" through the water. Miles is following behind Maxi.

Maxi walking through the same pond as the previous picture. He is walking through a weedy/tall grassy area of the pond.

Miles, fully charged, rushing out of the water up the small embankment that leads back to the trail. This pic catches him mid-leap.

A nook at the bottom of a tree. There are a collection of brown leaves that have gathered in front of the nook. The nook likes like it may be the home of a small critter.

Another nook in another tree. This trunk looks like it may be two or three individual trees that have since grown together forming one massive trunk. There is a oval shaped hole in the middle of the trunk about shin to knee high . It is deep and most likely goes deeper into the trunk.

Yet another nook in a tree trunk. This trunk is yet another massive one. This nook is larger than the last couple of ones and sits in the base of the tree. The tree appears to have some kind of white moss or mold covering most of its base.

Some kind of black centipede with bright yellow legs sitting on top of a pile of brown leaves.

The bright green leaf of a plant growing on the forest floor. The plant is making his home beside a fallen tree trunk that has been left on the forest floor to rot away. Because it is late fall, there is almost no greenery around which makes this leaf stick out. It is about the size of the palm of a hand and is shaped like a sideways heart.

A view of the bright red leaves of several trees in front of me. The view shows the tops of the trees. These seem to be the only trees that still have bright leaves on them. They look brilliant against the gray sky.

A lone baby tree in front of me that still has a ton of leaves on it. The leaves caught my eye against the gray sky and leafless trees surrounding it. The leaves are a bright red at the base and then turn orange, finally transitioning into yellow tips. The tri-colored leaves are so pretty.

A view of a bunch of naked trees and tree limbs with one limb in the center of the picture that has a single bright red leaf on it.

A tree limb with a single brownish yellow leaf and several drops of water from a recent rain are hanging from the branch too.

Friday, January 3, 2025

2024 Book List

2024's list is a little bit shorter than it has been in previous years, something I plan on remedying in 2025. I don't think that I read a single book that I didn't like, although to be sure, there were some that I absolutely loved and others that I just liked. (I think my absolute favorite was by Barbara Kingsolver - who in my opinion - is an amazing fiction writer.)

What I read in 2024:

January:

Roots by Alex Haley

Queen by Alex Haley

February:

New York Burning by Jill Lepore

Master Slave Husband Wife by Ilyon Woo

March:

Africatown by Nick Tabor

On Chapel Sands by Laura Cumming

April:

The Edge of the Plain by James Crawford

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

We Refuse to Forget by Caleb Gayle

Mafia Life by Federico Varese

May:

A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard

Unspeakable by Jessica Willis Fischer

Becoming Free Indeed by Jinger Duggar Vuolo

The Woman In Me by Britney Spears

Surviving to Drive by Guenther Steiner

Painfully Rich by John Pearson

June:

Underboss: Sammy Gravano’s Life in the Mafia by Peter Maas

Appalachia Reckoning: A Region Responds to Hillbilly Elegy by various authors

July:

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

White Trash by Nancy Isenberg

A Father’s Betrayal by Gabriella Gillespie

Sold by Zane Muhsen

A Promise To Nadia by Zana Muhsen

Opium Nation by Fariba Nawa

Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat

August:

Captive in Iran by Maryam Rostampour and Marziyeh Amirizadeh

Honeymoon in Tehran by Azadeh Moaveni

September:

The Last Stand by Nathaniel Philbrick

Three Cups of Tea by David Oliver Relin

October:

Wise Women by Joyce Tenneson

Desperados by Elaine Shannon

Three Cups of Deceit by Jon Krakauer

November:

Strong Passions by Barbara Weisberg

December:

The Witches by Stacy Schiff

The Apache Wars by Paul Hutton

Sonny Boy by Al Pacino

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