Lake Tomahawk wild-life (and not so wild-life)

 There were some Swallowtail butterflies enjoying the minerals in the gravel.

 A little boy pointed out the baby turtle on the stick.

 After seeing mamma Swift tweeting away, I knew there had to be a nest under the balcony. It's in a different place this year, but there were some little heads with white cheek-stripes peeking out.

 And oblivious to all those wild creatures, upstairs there was a senior exercise class going full swing!

When it was over the Spanish class started, and most of us have lunch while conjugating verbs and looking up the right ones. We supposedly are a conversation class, but we still are mostly just on vocabulary.  Each week we take home 2 words, and then form sentences using them, then share the sentences to see if anyone can understand them. It's a lot of fun!

Healing woods or healing waters

Many times I come to this sweet little stretch of Flat Creek, just inside the gateway to Montreat.  I can't do much hiking these days, so it's nice to park right near the road and walk immediately into the woods and see running clear water.

I wasn't sure how much longer this bridge would be standing!  I didn't hold onto railings for any measure of support.

The bare roots that had tripped me as I stepped off the bridge a year ago are now covered by nice gravel.

The drainage pipe is almost invisible though it's in the center of the view below. Just above on the other side of the creek is a memory garden with various markers and cremated remains in a stone wall. It is a quiet meditation place with stone seats for remembering lost loved ones.  It's invisible from this side of Flat Creek.

Yes, there are fairies who visited me...in the forms of bright pale blue butterflies.

Butterfly bush