Box Turtles & Cold Days in Florida January 2026

 

 

 

 I saw an interesting post on Facebook about Box turtles in brumation in winter. I like these guys, don't you?

 

   

                                                        Photo via Facebook

 

     During brumation, my metabolism slows to a crawl, letting my body match winter temperatures and conserve energy when food disappears. This is an evolved survival strategy, not sleep. Move me and you erase a lifetime of navigation. Leave me, and spring will do the rest.                                         

 Quote from Facebook post

 

 Box turtle brumation is a natural winter cool-down where they burrow into soil or leaf litter, slowing their metabolism. This helps them to survive cold and scarce food by living off stored fat. This allows for minimal movement but requiring deep insulation to prevent freezing. It's a vital survival instinct, not a deep sleep. If you see a turtle in the wild in brumation, leave it alone.

 

 Now let's end with some sky photos from January in weird weather here at the condo complex this past week.  

 

 

                                    This post was shared on these fabulous link parties!

 

My New Spring Photos For My Roku TV Backdrops

 

                                                    Photo by Gary Bendig
 

No, this is a new post and not a replay from my old blog.  Surprise!  My Roku large screen TV has a backdrops function. If you're not familiar with that, it's a photo shown on the screen when the TV is on but you're not actively watching.  You know, these smart TVs will ask you if you're still watching when you're in the middle of a long movie. You haven't touched the remote or made a change.  If you don't reply, you can be bounced.  This happens to me on streaming TV, which I watch a lot. I run to the bathroom or kitchen and sometimes come back to a backdrop photo.  Oh, well.  

 

                                                 Photo by Gary Bendig on Unsplash                                                     My favorite backdrop year round! 

 

I take time each season to select new photos appropriate for the time. (You can tell I'm not overworked in my retirement.)  I went through holiday winter photos and then just winter photos.  I know that we're still in the midst of a cold winter. Boy, do I know.  It went to 28 degrees F last night. I'm sitting here in sweatpants, sweat shirt, fuzzy socks, plus a cover on my legs.  Yes, I'm fine and cozy. You couldn't blast me out of my place today.  There were light snow flurries on the Gulf coast of central Florida in the early hours of this morning!

  

 

 

                                   Photos via Facebook, creator unknown
 

 

 

                                                    Photo by Daniil Silantev on Unsplash

 

For fun, I need some spring inspiration. Enough of the beautiful snow scenes, elk photos, white owl close-ups, arctic fox in the snow portraits. I need pretty spring to get me through  the current winter weather.  I didn't move to Florida in the 1970s for snow. I choose spring photos from the selection offered by Roku. They tell you the name of each photographer. I did an online search for them, and every one of them has an account at Unsplash! That's where Roku got them for free, and you can too.  Therefore, I will credit photographer and you can find them on Unsplash.  The nice thing about Unsplash, like Pixabay and Pexels, it is free to join and is a community of creative people who like to photograph the world.

 

Here are my favorite choices as of today, Sunday, February 1st for the coming few months:

 

                                                                Photo by Andy He

 

 
 

 I must admit, flowering tree blossoms are my favorite photos for spring, especially cherry blossoms in  all that pink loveliness.

 

                                                    Photo by Crystal Kay
 

 

                                                        Photo by Mark Tegethoff

 

Let's not forget the beautiful spring flowers pushing up from the ground. 

 

                                                  Photo by Christiana Bohorquez

 

 

                                                Photo by Marivi Pazos

 

 

I just love the idea of folks around the world taking photos and sharing them with us.

 

 

                                                         Photo by Sam Carter

 

She has a sweet face, doesn't she (he?).

 

 

                                                            Photo by Pedro Sanz

 

 

                                                     Photo by Yusheng Deng

 

 

Lambs and other baby animals are cute.

 

 

                                             Photo by Erik Jan Leusink

 

 

                                             Photo by Svetozar Cenisev

 

 

 Isn't he cute with his rump in the air on the budding tree?

 

 

                                                            Photo by Peter Muscutt

 

The last photo of the day takes us back to green grass and trees with leaves.  This photo is the only one that isn't on Unsplash.  Peter Muscutt has an Unsplash account but the photo is not included in it.  I found it on his Pexel account, go figure. I hope you have a good week no matter the weather.  

Until we talk again, I'm your friend Carol, living on a lake in central Florida.

 

 

 

 

                                                                            This post was shared on these fabulous link parties!