Welcome to General Chat - GAW Community Area
This General Chat area started off as a place for people to talk about things that are off topic, however it has quickly evolved into a community and has become an integral part of the GAW experience for many of us.
Based on its evolving needs and plenty of user feedback, we are trying to bring some order and institute some rules. Please make sure you read these rules and participate in the spirit of this community.
Rules for General Chat
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Be respectful to each other. This is of utmost importance, and comments may be removed if deemed not respectful.
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Avoid long drawn out arguments. This should be a place to relax, not to waste your time needlessly.
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Personal anecdotes, puzzles, cute pics/clips - everything welcome
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Please do not spam at the top level. If you have a lot to post each day, try and post them all together in one top level comment
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Try keep things light. If you are bringing in deep stuff, try not to go overboard.
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Things that are clearly on-topic for this board should be posted as a separate post and not here (except if you are new and still getting the feel of this place)
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If you find people violating these rules, deport them rather than start a argument here.
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Feel free to give feedback as these rules are expected to keep evoloving
In short, imagine this thread to be a local community hall where we all gather and chat daily. Please be respectful to others in the same way
I hate crowds also...even before covid...very much a fan of solitude and peace and quiet...then lots of family and crazy for a bit...then back to solitude and peace and quiet...
We are in the midst of a flowering spring...the Irises are now blooming...the tulips, daffodils, azalea bushes and dogwood trees have all bloomed and are gone. We always have a problem in the South in the spring with green pine tree pollen that coats everything and creates many allergies...that is not fun to deal with...but it is almost over...
Spring gives us the hope of renewal and growth...it is a beautiful time of the year...it is the season of seeing how God makes all things new..I truly love the spring...I so need the promises that God gives us in His beautiful nature....God is so good to bless us with such beauty...
I never liked crowds myself, either. I figure, by the time I get to the top of the mountain, I'll have earned that hermit/sage cave! 😄
I'm in a different ag zone. My daffodils just bloomed and my pear and fountain cherry are blossoming! So beautiful! Darn chipmunks ate all my tulips, day lillies and irises! But I do have daffodils in another bed in which they were never planted. 🐿
But chipmunks are SO cute...you must forgive them...they know not what they do...
saddest day was seeing a hawk take off with a chipmunk sunning on a rock...☹️
Oh, they are cute, no doubt! My mother used to call them 'grinnies'. Not sure where that came from, might originally have been Pennsylvania Dutch, and just spread colloquially to the surrounding areas.
As part of landscaping, we have a big rock outside the DR window. They love sitting on top of it, and the dog loves watching them.
Seeing what the hawk did, that must have been unsettling. I watch bird cams and I've seen plenty of prey delivered to nests. One brought back a cat for the babies. That was rough and I didn't watch much of it. :(
When our other dog was a puppy, I had a golden eagle swoop down to almost knee-height and try to take him. Boy did I chase that bird away!
Nature is nature, beautiful but harsh, sometimes!
Wow...yeah one time a hawk scooped up a frog from the pond...all I could see was the legs dangling....nature can be very harsh sometimes...especially the poor cat...my four are totally indoor for their own safety...we have a few strays around and when I stop seeing them I often wonder whether they were hit by a car, the coyotes got to them or if the hawks found them. The thing I noticed is that squirrels are overabundent...but no one seems to like the squirrels...I always wondered about this....
We actually made some squirrel jerky that turned out pretty good...I guess that means that we are predators also...but if everything goes south at least we will know we can eat squirrels...I guess that is a mixed blessing because they are also a lot of fun to watch traversing the very high trees or chasing each other up and down the very tall trees...it is such a lot of fun to watch all the beautiful animals God has created...
God gave us seasons, each one is wonderful in its own way: