Today I accepted the Winter Walk-Off 2016 Challenge from fellow blogger Les Parks and his A Tidewater Gardener blog. I decided to head to one of my favorite places in the neighborhood, Turtle Lake located in the Carolanne Farms Neighborhood Park in Virginia Beach. This area is part of the Elizabeth River Nature and Canoe Trail on the Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth River.

I start my late winter journey with a crocus along the way.

Enter the park where Challedon Drive and Gainsbourgh Road meet.

One of the lake's namesake turtles catching some late afternoon sun.

A pair of mallards swam over to greet me.

The Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth River at low tide.

Marsh grass along the shore.

A gum ball caught on its way to the ground and now serving as a cobweb anchor.

My rainbow plastic Slinky illuminated with an LED Litepanel.

The "Fire Power" nandina is bright red with a quick dusting of morning snow.

Day 45 - Celebrating ‪Valentines Day‬ with Brown Estate 2010 Rosemary's Block Zinfandel.

Dancer Elbert Watson interprets Martin Luther King, Jr's "I have a dream at a Slover Library African-American History Month program.

"A rose is a rose is a rose" even without color.

I had the opportunity to see Edward Burtynsky's exhibition "Water" and hear him talk about creating the work now on display at the The Chrysler Museum of Art. The large prints are a must see and the experience simply ca not be duplicated in a book or on a screen. This image is "Greenhouses, Almira Peninsula, Spain 2010". Seeing this amazing image was a humbling experience for this photographer.

Romero & Juliette dropped by Slover Library today for a LOVE selfie.

Come experience the ‪LOVE‬ that is Slover, named 1 of 5 libraries in the U.S. worth traveling for. The Virginia Tourism "LOVE" letters come to spend a week at Slover Library.

Chinese New Year‬ welcomes the year of the Monkey at Slover Library where Curious George‬ rules the 2nd floor.

Looking Up from the Sargeant Memorial Reading Room The Slover Library in Norfolk Virginia.

This is your SIM card on water. Any questions?

Started the day with sleet and freezing rain but now the blue sky reigns supreme.

Who remembers this? It's an unopened 1972-73 vintage bottle of Boone's Farm Wild Mountain wine. Marked $1.25 and recommended to be served "very cold". Most likely originally purchased from the Arrowhead Farm Fresh store in Virginia Beach by someone of legal age for someone not yet of legal age. I'm naming no names.