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Anne on a field trip (one on the right)

Nature in Augusta, Georgia

I have loved nature all of my life. I grew up in Fla. but moved to Augusta, Ga. 40 years ago. Augusta is rich in natural areas because it sits along the Savannah River, being built here to provide power for mills. The areas SE of the city along the river still contain remnants of the river swamps. A levee was built along the river for flood control & ditches drained water from the city into the swampy area known as Phinizy Swamp.
Today much of that area remains and provides a haven for wildlife. I am one of the 2 field trip leaders for the Augusta- Aiken Audubon Society so many Sat. mornings I am leading a group looking at birds, mammals, wildflowers & insects(esp. butterflies). Some of the natural areas where we go include Merry Brick Ponds where we explore ponds created when clay was mined to make bricks, the Levee, Phinizy Swamp Nature Park, and Silver Bluff Audubon Sanctuary in SC on the other side of the Savannah River.

Update: As of April 2008, I am still very involved in birding in the Augusta area. On Sat. April 26th I took part in the Ga. Women's Birding Bust where teams of women see how many birds they can see in a 24 hour period. There were 5 of us including the friend shown with me in the picture. We only recorded 96 species which was less than the 104 we found last year but we did see some interesting birds such as Caspian Terns in Merry Ponds and nesting osprey in Phinizy Swamp. This next weekend I will participate as co-leader in our new Eagle Eyes Birding Kids Club state competition. The Club was formed a little over a year ago and teaches young birders how to bird. Ga. sponsors a state wide Youth Birding Competition to encourage young birders. Our club will have 2 teams in the competition, a middle school team and high school team. 9 kids are competing. They must find and identify the birds by themselves. Our role is to verify they are correct in their identification. A banquet follows the competition at Charlie Elliot Wildlife Center near Atlanta.

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Tulips and Pansies in a downtown Macon park.

Gardening is Another of My Passions

Actually gardening goes along with my love of nature. I have a small suburban lot where I garden. I also enjoy visiting gardens in other places in Georgia and nearby North and South Carolina to see what is planted to get ideas for my own yard. In Feb. I visited the Georgia Botanical Garden in Athens and the Atlanta Botanical Garden. In March a friend and I went to Macon to see the blooming Cherry Trees there and are going to Biltmore House in Asheville, NC for their Festival of Flowers in late April. Photos from those trips will soon be on Virtual Tourist. It's fun to visit far away places but we can't do that very often so visiting nearby places and enjoying what they have to offer is enjoyable. In June of 2007 a friend and I traveled to Michigan to go to the Tulip Festival. That was wonderful. We also went to the Philadelphia Flower Show in the spring of 2007 so gardens is one of the motivating forces for my travel.

Update:In 2008 I continued to travel to see gardens. In mid April I visited Magnolia Gardens, Middle Gardens, and Drayton Hall near Charleston, S.C. so look for these new additions to my travel pages coming soon.

I have always enjoyed travel. Since my husband and I were both teachers, when school was out for the summer, we loaded up our small travel trailer and headed out for 2 months exploring one or two states in the United States. Eventually we visited all of the continental United States. Our two boys really enjoyed traveling this way and it gave us an excellent way to experience nature which was our passion. The one state I have not visited yet is Alaska.
After the boys left home, we expanded our travels to foreign countries. This is such an interesting and beautiful world and it is such fun to explore it.
VT is also an interesting way to explore the world through the computer. Where else can you recieve birthday wishes from so many different places. In the last 2 years I have been wished birthday greetings by people from Mexico, New York, Calif, Georgia, Pakistan, Sydney, Bangkok, the UK & Ljubljana. People on VT are so friendly and helpful.

In 2008 I took 2 major trips. The first was in June 2008 when I went to England and Scotland again on a tour with 2 of the girls in my Sunday School class. This was my 4th time to England and 2nd to Scotland but was their first time to either country. We had a wonderful time. Look for that trip on my trip pages. Then in Oct. I took a trip to Cape Breton Island, Canada, with my usual travel companion who lives in Atlanta. We had a wonderful, but rather cold, time. We went to see the leaves when they had changed but did not realize how cold it is this time of year up there. Look for that trip on my trip pages as well. My friend and I also visited Charleston, SC, twice this year to see the old homes and plantations in this beautiful southern city. There's nothing quite like Charleston.
At the current time, I am preparing to sing in my church's Singing Christmas Tree. We begin learning the music in August and the tree is presented at Abilene Bapt. Church in 4 performances Dec. 12, 13, and twice on Sunday Dec. 14th.