Alphabet Hunt Challenge ~ Letter S

This is my entry in the Alphabet Hunt Challenge by @barbara-orenya. You can read more about the Alphabet Hunt and how to join in HERE!

Here are my six (or so) photos representing the letter S ...

1. Sun Conure
This is a photo of, Jimmy, our Sun Conure. He is named after the singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. Sun Conures can live up to twenty-five years and Jimmy has been a member of our family for about ten years now. Sun Conures are pretty loud for their size and they aren't as well at talking as most other parrots. Jimmy can say a few words or short phrases though. They are much better at mimicking sounds than words. For instance, if you are laughing then Jimmy may start laughing along with you and if you sneeze then he will start sneezing as well. When he does sneeze then we will say "Bless you"! I think he has learned to expect the "Bless you" too as he will continue to sneeze till he gets some Blessings from us. Silly bird!

2. Squirrel
I photographed this cute little squirrel from my window. There is a black walnut tree across the street and when the walnuts fall from it they sometimes roll towards the edge of our driveway which is where this cute little squirrel was snacking on them. I like squirrels but I don't like black walnuts so I'm happy the squirrel was eating the black walnuts and not burying them in our yard which they do happen to do occasionally. I'm also happy that I looked out the window when I did and was able to snap a few photos of him or her.

3. Snake
I found this snake on one of my visits to the Gunpowder Falls State Park in Baltimore County, Maryland. Luckily, I'm not too afraid of certain snakes and I knew right away that it was just a common Garter Snake and that it was not poisonous. It was a fairly good size though and probably the biggest that I've ever seen so I didn't get too close to it. They will tend to want to move away from a human rather than strike out. It did have a pretty color and I appreciated seeing it and photographing it. I have a couple of siblings that do love snakes and had some as pets years ago. I prefer to admire them in nature and from afar though!

4. Snow
Snow is one of the words that I knew right away would be one of my six selections! My collage of photos were taken early Spring and the Maple tree in my backyard already had buds on it when we got a late snowfall. You can see the red buds on the Maple tree towards the front and the tree in back of the Maple is a Corkscrew Willow tree. I think some light snow on a tree is just beautiful!

5. Sand Sculptures
This collage features a trio of sand sculptures. I photographed them during a visit to Ocean City, Maryland. All of these sand sculptures are religious in nature and I loved seeing them while I was there. A real work of art but there were a couple of spots that were damaged and the one most notable is the lions face in the lower right hand corner photo. I mean the sculptures are done with the sand and it can get a bit windy at the ocean or maybe a seagull thought it could board the Ark along with the other animals and got a little too close to the lions face. 🤔

6. Smile
Lol..I saw this yellow ball off a trail while at the Gunpowder Falls State Park! At first I only saw that it was an old yellow ball but when I went for a closer look and turned it over a bit I saw that it had a big smiley face on it. I couldn't help but smile also when I saw it and I thought it would make a great photo to end my post with! Sometimes a smile can be contagious and maybe we could all use a few more smiles to brighten our days like this smiley yellow ball that, even though it was a little old, dirty and deflated, still managed to make me smile. 🙂

See you next week for another edition of #alphabethunt! 🙂
Thank you @barbara-orenya for #alphabethunt!!