Blogs of everyday activates and adventures.
Earlier Lighthouses
Eagle Harbor Light House Lake Superior
Saint Simmons Island Georgia
Ontonagon Light House Lake Superior
Copper Harbor Light House. This one you can not get to up close, but you can see it with a long lens from across the bay here.
And Tybee Island Georgia
Plus the one I posted yesterday in Florida
Have a Great Weekend.
Earlier Lighthouses
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Light House Number Six, we went for a drive down to the St Marks National Wildlife Refuge area. Where we found Light House number 6, to add to my list.
This one was right on the water’s edge. So the best shot would be out in the water looking back. But, that wasn’t going to happen, unless it was low tide.
Tomorrow I will show the other 5 that I have photograph. There has actually been a couple more, but some of them one just can’t get to. They are in some pretty remote places or you could only see them by boat.
Light House Number Six
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Sights From the Dock – Every morning I would walk down to the docks at this lake to check things out.
One morning this air boat was going back and forth way across the lake. From the photos he was spraying something from a hose it looks like. Not sure what he was doing. That air boat was sure loud.
There actually was not a lot of birds around here besides all those turkey vultures I mentioned earlier.
This little guy was fluttering around the low branches over the water.
One Egret was always spotted doing some fishing every morning. Just the one.
Sights From the Dock
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
As day fades into night and night melts into day, the clouds tell a story of transformation. Golden sunsets paint the sky in rich hues, while soft blue sunrises bring a fresh promise of hope.
These serene, photogenic moments are reminders of the beauty that surrounds us—beauty only found when we step outside and immerse ourselves in the world’s natural wonders, right before our eyes.
As Day Fades into Night
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Standing on the Edge
Imagine standing at the edge of a long, weathered dock, stretching out toward a still, calm lake. The water is smooth as glass. It reflects the pale, ethereal fog rolling across its surface. The fog obscures the view of the far shore. It feels as though the dock leads directly into the unknown.
It seems to extend into a misty abyss where the world disappears into the distance. Each step forward seems uncertain, as though the wooden planks beneath your feet might vanish into the haze.
But then, as you walk toward the end of the dock, the faint glow of sunrise begins to emerge through the fog. Soft, golden light breaks through the mist, casting a warm, steady glow across the scene. The dock ahead, covered in a delicate carpet of autumn leaves, feels inviting, grounded, offering a sense of safety amidst the uncertainty.
In that moment, the fog no longer seems frightening. Instead, it becomes a gentle reminder of the journey ahead, with each step feeling like a step closer to peace, to hope, and to the embrace of something greater.
The light at the end of the dock feels like the presence of the Lord, guiding you forward, giving you the strength to take that first step into the unknown, assured that you are walking into His comforting, unwavering safety.
Standing on the Edge
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Mirror Image – Amazing views this past week here at this lake just south of Tallahassee. The fog has been quite something to see on the lake.
I would wander down to the lake before the first light of dawn, standing on the dock in silence, awaiting the moment when the sun would gently pierce the mist.
In those quiet hours, the water lies as still as a forgotten dream, its surface so serene it feels as if it might hold the secrets of another realm.
It is in this ethereal light that the world seems to pause, and the lake becomes a portal—one could almost step onto its surface, walking effortlessly into the horizon, vanishing into a world beyond the edges of time.
Have a great weekend.
Mirror Image
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Interesting Reflections – I had a lovely morning walk to this beautiful little lake, where I was greeted by some fascinating cloud reflections on the water. As the sun began to rise, it slowly illuminated the sky, adding to the magic of the moment.
The cloud reflections were just the beginning of some truly beautiful mornings at the lake.
As the temperatures finally started to cool, foggy mornings became a regular sight. It turns out that fog rising from a calm autumn lake creates even more stunning reflections.
The image below captures this beauty— as the fog drifts across the water, it creates the illusion of another world unfolding on the horizon, with shapes and patterns reminiscent of a kaleidoscope.
The trees have mostly turned brown, but the lush grasses and lily pads are still clinging to their deep green hues, adding a touch of elegance to the otherwise gloomy lake view.
Interesting Reflections
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Turtles – I don’t take photos of turtles to often. Most of the time I just don’t see them or they are to far away and plop into the water the minute I move.
This one decided to just keep an eye on my from afar. So I was able to get a couple shots in.
This one below almost looks like the turtle is on top of an alligator or some kind of strange beast in the water. 🙂
Turtles
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Florida Panhandle – there are lots of great campgrounds along the panhandle of Florida. I found this little campground next to a nice lake just south of Tallahassee.
It only had about a dozen spots, this photo below shows our quiet little nook in the campground.
A great lake for fishing as the boats came and went most every day. The fisherman said they catch mostly bass here and speckled perch.
The first morning walk down to the lake, I saw the largest group of turkey vultures I have ever seen.
They were all in the trees in the distance and as the sun was rising they all took off at once and headed north.
One morning this colorful boat was cruising across the lake and the sun was shinning on it just perfect. We started to leave and these folks pulled up to the dock, so we went up to the gentleman as he got out of the boat and showed him the photo.
Asked him if he would like a copy so we text it to right on the spot. He really liked the shot.
Florida Panhandle
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Tybee Island Lighthouse – I have photographed this light house before. There are just so many different ways to photograph it. It is in such a pretty location with lots of beach grass and sand piles.
I like this angle with the old building in front of it.
Now this is a different kind of shot. We were walking back to the parking lot and noticed two Grackles perched on this truck right in front of the light house. Well, they are such a colorful bird in the sunlight, it made for a fun photo.
Then I had to replace the truck with a branch, that was a lot of red. They were sitting all over this persons truck. 🙂
Tybee Island Lighthouse
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Atlantic – We had a photo shoot to do at Tybee Island this year while we were in the neighborhood. Off the North Atlantic Ocean.
Wonderful beaches and container ships coming and going along the coast line.
I took this one while in the Jeep as we were moving. The rainbow popped up right by it. I don’t think that is really the pot of gold though. 🙂
Atlantic
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Looking Up – Yes, even our pets can look like they have a double chin when taking their photos looking up at them. She is all fluff on this one.
Cats
Looking Up
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Our Last Stop we walked down a short path that opened up to a beautiful waterway. With one egret standing in the water. I love the blues and greens surrounding the bird.
The moon was visible during the day on this trip so I had to take a photo of it as well. This is straight out of the camera using a 6oo mm lens.
This is all for this nature preserve.
We crossed the bridge back over to Georgia.
The shipping yard looked empty when we looked down river. No container ships at all in the water.
I will leave you with a couple of photos of Ships I have photographed in different places. Have a great weekend.
Our Last Stop
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Road Through the Preserve – At every turn there is something to see. From the beautiful moss covered trees to birds perched on logs drying their feathers.
Take the time to find out if there are any nature preserves in your area. Makes for a fun drive if nothing else.
Road Through the Preserve
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Next to the Nature Park, it is next to the Savannah river, right off from the North Atlantic Ocean. So as one looks towards the left anywhere from within in the park. You will see the Georgia Ports Authority Shipping Container Yards.
Literally yards and yards of shipping containers. But, one will see places like this all along the coast. I forgot about them as we drove deeper into the preserve and started seeing birds.
I saw this very interesting lone tree along one of the waterways. I had to edit it a bit, by cutting out the shipping containers in the background.
Original photo below this one.
Next to the Nature Park
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Gus the Alligator – There was a giant alligator named Gus who lived in the murky swamp, notorious for his immense size. He was enormous. When he slid into the water, a wave formed. It could knock over a tree. Most people thought Gus was slow because he spent most of his time floating in the swamp. He looked like a floating log, with eyes barely visible above the surface.
One day, a curious human wandered along the edge of the swamp, casually walking by with a sandwich in hand. Gus watched from the water, thinking, Ah, a snack walks by. Perfect. I’ll just stay here and wait…
But as the human strolled closer, Gus got an idea. He was tired of people thinking he was slow. They always see me in the water, Gus thought. They never see me on land.
With a sudden burst of speed, Gus shot out of the water like a torpedo, launching himself onto the shore with a thud that shook the trees. The human turned just in time to see a 20-foot alligator charging at him, jaws wide open.
The human, completely startled, froze. Gus, with his massive legs now moving surprisingly fast on land, was in full sprint mode, his tail swinging like a wrecking ball. He zoomed past the human in a blur, kicking up mud and leaves as he raced by, and disappeared into the trees.
The human blinked, looking around. “Wait, what just happened?”
From the bushes, Gus’s voice echoed, “Don’t ever underestimate an alligator with a good sprint workout, buddy. I’m faster than your Wi-Fi connection!”
Gus the Alligator
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Georgia – We made it to Georgia. Some road construction along the way really shows how much clay they have in this part of the country. Amazing how the world is made up of so many soil types and landscapes that go with them.
I heard a comic talking about the earth, something like this below.
Okay, folks, let’s take a moment to appreciate just how hilariously absurd our lives are! Here we are, trudging through our daily grind—stuck in traffic, scrolling through cat memes, and obsessing over whether we should order pizza or sushi for dinner. Meanwhile, we’re standing on a giant spinning rock, hurtling through the cosmos at a dizzying 67,000 miles per hour!
Seriously, 67,000 miles per hour! That’s faster than your last attempt to get out of a family dinner! And we’re doing all this while orbiting a massive ball of fire that’s about 93 million miles away. I mean, come on, talk about a cosmic game of dodgeball!
Georgia
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Free Overnight Parking – I keep certain places marked on my maps so I can find them easy if I ever need to. This is one of those spots.
A casino in Alabama with free parking for RVs. It is well lit and security cameras everywhere. A good place to stop when you need to take a break.
We got there just before sunset and as you can see, the hotel part of the casino is all glass. I looked out our window and the building was lit up like a giant outdoor movie screen. So I had to go out and snap a couple of photos.
Than the moon was rising over the building, I only used the camera on the phone, so this is the best it could do.
We had a good nights sleep and hit the road the next morning.
Have a great weekend.
Free Overnight Parking
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Some Fall Colors , We left a little earlier than usual this year. So we did not get to see much for fall colors. As we travel south, it seems like things are just turning brown. It is very dry through out the mid west.
Some Fall Colors
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
The winding path through the woods is shrouded in an enchanting mystery, where sunlight dances through the leaves, casting playful shadows on the forest floor.
As you follow the path, the air thickens with the scent of pine and earth, and the world outside fades away.
The Winding Path
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
November in Mississippi – The word “Mississippi” comes from the Ojibwe (Chippewa) word “misi-ziibi,” which means “great river.” It reflects the significance of the Mississippi River to the Native American tribes in the region. The name was adopted by French explorers in the 17th century and has remained ever since
The photos capture the serene backwaters of a campground we visited, accessible by a winding trail. The grass here is as vibrantly green as it appears in the images.
November in Mississippi
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Daydreaming, “Clouds are the sky’s way of daydreaming, floating softly on the breeze, whispering secrets to the sun.”
Daydreaming
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Just a Little Hiccup – Meaning as one travels the highways, one can meet up with debris falling from other vehicles. Things that can hit your vehicles windows and possibly creating chips in the glass.
We have had a few chips in the big RV window over the years. Chips that can be easily fixed by trained technicians.
But, not this one. I am not sure what hit us, but it was big and loud. I know I jumped when the window cracked. It was a big truck of some kind that went past us and then BAM. A nice fish eye in the window of the RV.
Come to find out, not many people like to replace RV windows these days. Especially when traveling. We were not able to find someone to fix the glass until we get down to Georgia. We hoped the glass wouldn’t crack more as we traveled on all the bumpy roads before then.
Husband did some research. He found out that putting super glue over the area on the outside might help keep it from getting worse. So he did that.
We made it to Georgia with no further damage.
Thanks to the internet, we found a team of guys that have their own business and all they do is replace windshields on RV and Semi Trucks.
Great guys and they did a fantastic job. It was a hard job, they said this glass weighed over 200 lbs. So they needed 3 to set the window in place. It takes about a week to cure and they did it right on site where we were camping.
So I put the cat in the bathroom and sat outside with the dogs and watched them do their thing. I will be keeping their phone number just in case.
Have a Great Weekend
Just a Little Hiccup
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Leaving Iowa for the Winter – I do love being in Iowa, the farm land, family and the wonderful people we always meet in Iowa. I am proud to call it my home state, where I grew up and went to high school.
Have a wonderful day. 🙂
Leaving Iowa
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Bridge Across the Cedar River – One of my favorite spots to visit in a small town in Iowa. This is a walking bridge for people to cross the river. Makes for a great landscape photo.
Bridge Across the Cedar River
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Her Regal Look – My Chloee. In her defense I had to show you how beautiful she can look when she wants to sit for a portrait.
She has such beautiful eyes, masked by the dark fur giving her a bit of mystery to her face.
Oh, and another cat video of her playing with her favorite thing, red light. LINK HERE ALSO
She is 10 years old now and such a good dog.
Plus, after she has played for a bit, she actually looks like she is smiling when waiting for a ball to be thrown one more time.
Video below of Chloee and Kit Kit or click HERE
Have a great weekend.
Her Regal Look
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Cat vs Dog – I have taken lots of pet photos over the years. Including my own pets. My dog Chloee has a thing about the camera, usually when I point it at her she turns around. Or she gets close trying to sniff the camera.
Which I think makes for fun photos, close up of a dogs nose.
But, cats can be just as funny at times. I took this photo below with a wide angle lens on a phone camera. It made her ear closest to the camera look cartoonist big.
Kit Kit enjoying the outdoors video below or click HERE
So then I took some photo up close to the cats fur. Quite the different colors when you look real close.
I am guessing it is the oils in the fur and the light shinning on it.
After pestering my cat with taking her photo over and over. She then gives me this look telling me that is enough. 🙂
Oh but it is never enough for me. 🙂 there will be more.
Glowing Eyes Cat Digital Art by Sandra J’s Photography
Cat vs Dog
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Kit Kit the Cat – when I don’t have a lot of things to photograph, my cat gets her picture taken a lot. I mean a lot. Mainly because she has so much more patience than the dogs. She will sit perfectly still, which makes for much better photos.
When the temperature starts to drop. I find her sitting like this. She wraps her tail around her little paws trying to keep them warm.
A cats tail seems to have a mind of its own and is quite flexible compared to a dogs.
Kit Kit and Red Light Game Video below or click HERE
I have more videos of her on my You Tube Channel, you can click HERE TO SEE MORE OF THOSE.
Kit Kit the Cat
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
Life often teaches us in the most unexpected ways, and sometimes, it takes the simplest moments to reveal profound truths. Recently, I experienced a beautiful metaphor for resilience and grace. I want to share this lesson from a little seed I planted and then forgot.
A few months ago, I planted a few sunflower seeds. I nurtured it for a while, watering and tending to it with hope and excitement. But as time went on, I grew disheartened. The seed showed no signs of life, and eventually, my attention waned. I stopped watering it, convinced that it had failed. I gave up on it completely.
Imagine my surprise when I returned to the garden weeks later. There, midst the weeds and the remnants of my neglect, stood a stunning flower, vibrant and full of life. The colors were brilliant, and its presence was nothing short of miraculous. How could something I had abandoned flourish in my absence?
In that moment, I couldn’t help but reflect on how similar this is to our own lives and faith journeys. We often plant seeds of hope, love, and dreams. However, we sometimes see them wither due to doubt. Despair or the daily grind can also cause them to wither.
We find ourselves overwhelmed, wondering if anything we’ve nurtured will ever bloom. Just like my neglected seed, we feel like our efforts have gone unnoticed, forgotten in the chaos of life.
This experience with the flower taught me a powerful truth. Even when we give up, God is still at work. There are times we feel our prayers are unanswered. We believe our efforts are fruitless. But, like that seed, growth often occurs beneath the surface. It remains unseen and unfelt.
God’s timing is perfect, and His plans are often beyond our comprehension. My flower emerged when I least expected it. Similarly, we find that our moments of struggle and doubt can lead to unexpected beauty. Sometimes, what seems like an end is merely a pause, allowing God to work in ways we can’t imagine.
Autumn Sunflowers
Sandra J’s Into the Light Adventures
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
By Sandra J
