Category: Bloganuary

Lindsay Pettus Greenway

The Lindsay Pettus Greenway:
Environment Education Exhibit

The Lindsay Pettus Greenway located in Lancaster, South Carolina is a fairly new greenway having opened to the public not quite two years ago on November 21, 2020. The Greenway is honored to be a segment of the Carolina Thread Trail. The Thread Trail is a developing network of regional greenways, trails, and blueways reaching millions of people in 15 counties across North and South Carolina. The Thread Trail is committed to preserving natural areas and is designed to be a place for exploring nature, culture, science, and history.

The Lindsay Pettus Greenway

The Greenway was established to enable residents a safe space to enjoy being outdoors. It was envisioned as a place for accessibility to public art. It has a tunnel underpass with an exquisite “Nature’s Delight “ mural. I was not able to see the mural on my visit this time, but plan on seeing it on my next visit.

Comporium Communications Trail Access

Currently the Lindsay Pettus Greenway has three trail access points. Comporium Communications Trail Access is located at 459 Colonial Drive. Parking is available across the road to the entrance in the Lancaster High School football visitors lot. This is the trail access point that I used on my visit Saturday with my grandson.

My grandson, Coleman, at the entrance to the Comporium Communications Trail Access.
Lindsay Pettus Greenway
Walk Run Ride
Directions to the various areas along the trail.

The Founder’s Federal Credit Union Trail Access is located at 610 E. Meeting Street. Parking is available behind the Barr Street Learning Center. This access has a tree canopy, covered bike rack, and a family friendly rest area.

There are also Neighborhood and Downtown Access Points which make connection to local businesses, schools, and downtown. These access points, however, do not contain public parking. This access points are:

  • Survey Street – Legacy Brick Plaza is featured
  • Almetta Street
  • Clinton Avenue
  • Independence Park
  • Colonial Avenue and Roddey Drive

Phase One of the Greenway is fully open to the public with additional phases in progress. This first phase is 2 miles in length. It mostly consists of pavement and boardwalk. It has 0.3 miles of natural path that you can walk. The path is 10 feet wide and is easily accessible to everyone of all abilities.

My grandson overlooking the creek.

Greenway’s are excellent areas, located in local communities, to get outdoors and safely go for a walk, jog, or bicycle ride. The only motorized vehicles allowed are motorized wheelchairs. They are areas to explore nature and learn about the environment without needing to travel a great distance. They encourage physical fitness by providing accessible paths to enjoy.

I encourage everyone to get outdoors and enjoy nature. Visit a Greenway near you soon. God Bless. Stay Safe. Enjoy Life.

If you find yourself near Lancaster, South Carolina feel free to come visit, walk, run, or ride on the Lindsay Pettus Greenway. You’ll enjoy the views and get a fantastic physical workout at the same time.

Daily Prompt: Would you rather go camping or to the beach? Why? Part Two

What do you think would be major problems or hindrances of visiting the beach? As you might assume the pictures above are a clue. Overcrowding at the beach can be a problem. It might be difficult to find just the right spot for you to set your belongings down and stretch out.

The disadvantages of visiting the beach include:

  • Lots of visitors... Visitors to the beach can be good for tourism, however, if you go to relax and enjoy the peace and tranquility you might want to go during off peak seasons. Otherwise, lots of people on the beach is too many.
  • Weather… the weather is not always sunshiny and beautiful. Hurricanes often occur near or on the beaches.
  • Staying in the water or playing in the sand can be unhealthy. Bacteria linger and could cause infection and viruses.
  • Garbage is dumped by people every year. Cigarette buds, bottles, food wrappers, and all sorts of other trash that people tend to leave behind instead of carrying it out.
  • Something we probably don’t think about is the human waste in the sand and water. Bacteria lies in wait in these environments.
  • Having to get up super early to travel to the beach, find adequate parking, the traffic driving there, and trouble locating the right spot to enjoy yourself. For me, it would be a three-hour drive just to spend a few hours at the beach.
  • Sunburn and the need to use sunscreen. The sunburns hurt and are damaging to the skin.
  • The sand. Sand can be annoying. It gets into everything. It sticks to you when you walk back from the water. Nobody likes being sprayed with sand when someone shakes their towels or blankets out.

There could be other disadvantages of going to the beach for a visit, but I think this list is enough to make us think about them. Each of us has to weigh the pros versus the cons and decide for ourselves which is better for us.

God bless. Have fun. Consider your options and take precautions if you decide to visit the beach. Please feel free to like, comment and follow. I appreciate y’all.

Jellyfish

Now that we’ve discussed the advantages and disadvantages of going to the beach. My next installment, part three, will begin with discovering the advantages of going camping. Hope you come back for more of our discussion of going camping or going to the beach.

Warming Up: Outside Play

The weather is warming up and spring is approaching. Are you enjoying spring like weather? Or perhaps where you’re at you’re still in the midst of crazy winter weather. No matter which I hope you’re able to enjoy some quality outdoor time.

Time to slide
Trying to take canopy off
Weeeeee……more sliding
Swinging from the bar
That was fun 🤩. I’m gonna do it again.
Collage of yesterday’s outside playtime.

Outside watching my grandson enjoy playing is a wonderful thing. I love ❤️ to see him enjoying himself. The smile 😊 on his face, his energetic enthusiasm, lifts my spirit.

God bless. Be energetic. Be full of life. Have fun.

Please feel free to like, comment, and follow. I appreciate y’all.

Deer 🦌 Grazing: Today’s visitors.

Deer come a traversing through the yard almost every day here. We enjoy watching them, at least my grandson does. He can sense whenever they’re in the yard and runs up to the sliding glass door yelling Dee, Dee. He doesn’t quite day deer 🦌 yet but he tries.

Time for lunch
I see you
I heard you
You looking at me
Let’s get out of here
Today’s deer visitors

Hope you enjoyed today’s deer 🦌 sittings.

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Daily Prompt: Would you rather go camping or to the beach? Why? Part One

North Top Sail Beach

There are advantages and disadvantages for both; going to the beach and going camping. First, I will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of visiting the beach. Next, I will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of going camping. And finally, I will discuss which I prefer and why.

What are the advantages of spending time visiting the beach? Beach is an area of sand or small stones near the ocean or another area of water such as a lake. Going to the beach, for me means a three-hour drive. It is nice to visit a beach occasionally, but I do not like the long drive to get there. What are some things you might see at a beach? Seashells are common things to see, and some people like to collect them. You can also use seashells to decorate various items such as picture frames. You might possibly see jellyfish, starfish, seaweed and or fish.

Now to list the benefits of visiting the beach in reverse order.

  • 10. Breathing in ocean air if good for your lungs. There’s been as study that has discovered sea air appears to clear out the lungs. It is possible that the salt particles kill off microorganisms within the lungs.
  • 09. Sunlight reduces depression. Exposure to sunlight is believed to improve the brain’s release of serotonin, which helps enhances your mood and makes you feel calmer and more focused.
  • 08. The Beach helps you sleep better. It is believed the beach has a relaxing affect and allows you to release stress and sleep better.
  • 07. It takes away from screen time. Most likely when you’re walking along the beach shore, you are not scanning your emails and text messages. Too much screen time is unhealthy. Being near the water improves your mood and encourages you to experience life with all of your senses.
  • 06. The smell of the air is soothing. The smell of the ocean has a soothing calming effect on our brains.
  • 05. Walking on sand is a great workout. Since you have to work harder to move through the sand, it is a better workout than walking on cement or pavement.
  • 04. Grounding helps you absorb energy of the Earth. It is basically, walking barefoot in nature, it is noted to help improve chronic pain and reduce fatigue.
  • 03. It increases creativity. The beach makes you feel happier and increases your creativity by increasing innovation and insight.
  • 02. The sea water can reduce symptoms of arthritis. Fewer symptoms are due to the effects of the salt water which dehydrates inflamed cells in our bodies. This can also be accomplished by taking a salt bath, soaking in saltwater reducing swelling and pain. I use Epsom salts to soak in a relaxing tub for the same reasons.
  • 01. You get the benefits of Vitamin D. The natural source of Vitamin D is sunlight. Spending time at the beach, unless it is a cloudy day, you are bound to soak in the Vitamin D. It helps boost your immune system and is important for bones. It also assists in fighting some diseases and aids in weight loss. Whenever you spend lots of time in the sun be sure to apply SPF, suntan lotion to protect your skin.

Today I listed the benefits for you of visiting the beach. Tomorrow I will list for you some of the disadvantages of visiting the beach in Part Two: Would you rather go camping or to the beach. Beaches are beautiful but there are also hindrances and things you might dislike about going to the beach. Stay tuned for more on the subject.

God Bless. Have a Sunny day, at least on the inside. Feel free to like, comment, and follow. Remember You are wonderful and are appreciated.

Secrets and Lies: Are they Good or Bad?

Do you think it is good to keep secrets? Are there times when keeping secrets from someone could be wrong or even dangerous? A secret is something that is kept or meant to be kept unknown or unseen by others. Do or did you tell your parents everything? Are there things that you do not tell your friends? By keeping secrets are you hoping to keep a little bit of yourself private?

Perhaps you are in a fairly new relationship, and you want to enjoy the newness of it for a while all by yourself. Maybe you know something about somebody and you’re dying to share it, but you don’t want the word to be spread around to everyone. Conceivably, those types of secrets might be tolerable for the short term.

A secret becomes a bad thing anytime that someone is or could be in danger of being hurt. Why does it hurt to keep secrets? Secrecy has an impact on our well-being, our health and our relationships. Keeping secrets may increase anxiety, depression, and bring on unnecessary stress. A secret will linger in the back of your mind, you will think about it so much so that you might lose sleep over it.

One should not keep secrets in a relationship. Hiding a secret may harm a relationship. The more you try to keep a secret or the relationship a secret the greater the possibility of your lying about it. A habit of lying can manifest as heart burn, panic attacks, and possibly insomnia. The continual habit of lying to keep something secret brings about increased anxiety and guilt. Therefore, keeping secrets are bad and harmful to you and perhaps to others as well. Also, when you keep secrets in a relationship you undermine the trust the other person has in you. It is best to be open and honest. Avoid the temptation of telling lies to keep something hidden, secret.

Power of Positivity

A lie is an untrue statement with the intent to deceive. It creates a false or misleading impression about a person, thing or situation. For example. In a book I just recently finished reading entitled, “Their Secret Courtship” by Emma Miller one of the main characters enters into a friendship with someone she believes her family would disapprove of, so she doesn’t completely tell the truth about seeing him. Instead, she lies and tells them she is going to visit and help his sister. In doing so she is deceiving them about her budding relationship. The more she tries to keep the relationship a secret, the more she worries about what her mother would think causing her to stress over the situation. In this instance, her keeping secrets and telling lies is definitely unacceptable.

Lying

In some instances, keeping a secret could be considered good. One example would be when we cast our vote in an election. Our vote is kept secret, so others do not know how we voted. When someone plans a surprise birthday party (or any other surprise celebration), we keep the plans a secret from the person being honored. These types of secrets are considered harmless and are alright.

Before you decide to keep a secret, you must be honest with yourself. Ask what and why you want to hide something? Will keeping the secret be harmful to yourself or another person? If the secret could hurt someone then it is better not to keep it secret.

Therefore, secrets might be good depending on the circumstances surrounding it. Telling lies to keep something hidden or secret is never good.

God Bless. Stay healthy. Build trust, not lies and secrets. Thank you for listening. Please feel free to like, comment, and follow. I appreciate y’all.

ADVICE: What would your advice be to your teenage self?

Never Look Down on Anybody…..

If you could go back in time, would you? Would you go back and give yourself some advice? Would giving yourself advice change the outcome of how you live is right now? Yes, we have all made mistakes in our lives, but I believe we have all learned from them. I, at least, hope I have. Going back in time and giving advice to oneself could be a dangerous thing. Why? If we took our own advice, did things differently, our mistakes would not necessarily be the same. We would still make mistakes no doubt about that, but the lessons we learned would be different and the transitions we’ve gone through in life would not be the same. Therefore, we would be in an alternate universe so to speak. Plainly speaking, we would not be where we are today. At this point in time, if we listened to our own advice and made changes to how we lived. Then again, only God knows what the outcome would be.

ADVICE

Giving advice would mean that we were giving ourselves guidance, opinions, or recommendations regarding our future actions and conduct. Would that be a good or bad? Giving advice to yourself after everything you’ve lived and experienced might hinder yourself from taking the time to look inward and listen to yourself. To learn on your own, at that particular time period, who you are and what you want out of life. Advice should only be given if it is sought after. Even though we have learned that we probably should have done some things differently when we were teenagers, we might not have listened to the advice we gave ourselves if we went back in time to give it.

Now we are at an impasse. Do we give ourselves advice? What would be the best advice to give ourselves? There is not just one specific piece of advice I would give myself, but several suggestions would be made. The following is a list of some of the suggestions I would advise myself.

  • Never Give Up….You are stronger than you think…You can do anything.
  • Never try to be someone else…you are perfect exactly as you are.
  • Stay true to your faith…. Live your life for God
  • Take time to know yourself…Learn who you are.
  • Worry less…live in the present
  • Don’t make assumptions…. they’re usually wrong
  • Be courageous…. Step out of your Comfort Zone
  • Trust yourself… Have faith in your abilities
  • Smile… Laugh… Be kind… your life will be different by doing so
  • Always be the best person you can be.
  • Do not judge… you never know what someone has been through

The list could go on forever, but I won’t. Always choose your words wisely, they can never be undone. You can beat the odds. Know what you are meant to do and don’t let anyone, or anything prevent you from doing what you know in your heart you are meant to do.

God bless. Be the best you can be. Stay true to yourself. Keep the faith. Please feel free to like, comment, and follow. I appreciate y’all.