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Georgia on my Heart

Forest bathing and mental health

The Lorax famously spoke for the trees, and I wanted to share some information from a fascinating book I’m reading entitled “Forest Bathing: The Japanese Art and Science of Shinrin-Yoku” by Dr. Qing Li.   For centuries people have found restfulness and a sense of oneness with the universe from being in nature.  Poems and songs have been written, and the entire foundation of some companies like REI is to encourage people to get outdoors and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine.   
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Barbllm in Hiking

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Scriptural Consideration

Still Standing, Even When Unsteady

Still Standing, Even When Unsteady   “These are the days of our years—seventy years, or eighty if one is especially strong; but their pride is trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass by, and away we fly.” (Psalm 90:10)   “But the one who has endured to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 24:13)   “Therefore we do not give up. Even if our outer person is wasting away, surely our inner person is being renewed from day to day. For though the tribulation is momentary and li
Georgia on my Heart

Gainesville (Georgia) Botanical Garden

Summer is the perfect time to get outside and enjoy the beauty of nature. Plan a short excursion to the Atlanta Botanical Garden in Gainesville, where thirty minutes allows you to enjoy some stunning plants as well as artwork by a local artist.   The botanical garden is a gift from Douglas and Ada Ivester. Douglas is the retired CEO of the Coca-Cola Company, whose headquarters is in Atlanta. The gardens feature several walking paths including one especially for children with “shrub tun
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Barbllm in botanical garden

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Glimpses of Wonder™

The Telling Story of Temperature — a Glimpse of Wonder entry™ —

The Telling Story of Temperature — a Glimpse of Wonder entry™ —   Temperature is not the weather, and it is not the number on a thermometer. Temperature is quieter than that. It describes motion—what is happening inside matter, moment by moment.   So let’s slow down for a moment and look at what temperature actually tells us.   Everything around us is made of tiny
Georgia on my Heart

Dukes Creek Falls

One of the easier hikes in White County, Georgia, is Dukes Creek Falls, which stands at the site where gold was first found in 1828. Dukes Creek is about 8 miles long and empties into the Chattahoochee river.    In case you have a bad knee like me, know that there are stairs at the top and bottom of the trail near the observation point. The trail itself is about 1.1 miles down and back up again, partially paved, and a lot of fun. Dogs are welcome as long as they’re leashed.  
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Barbllm in Waterfalls

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Glimpses of Wonder™

When Your Stomach Would Eat You Alive — a Glimpse of Wonder entry™ —

When Your Stomach Would Eat You Alive — a Glimpse of Wonder entry™ —   Inside your stomach is one of the harshest environments in your entire body. The stomach uses hydrochloric acid to break food down and to kill harmful germs. That acid is very strong. In laboratory tests, hydrochloric acid like the kind in your stomach can damage metal. So here’s a good question to start with: if the acid is that powerful, why doesn’t it burn a hole through you?
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dljbsp in Systems of Wonder

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Glimpses of Wonder™

Dark Wings, Bright Minds — a Glimpse of Wonder entry™ —

Dark Wings, Bright Minds — a Glimpse of Wonder entry™ —   They watch us more than we think.   Crows belong to a larger family of birds called corvids—a group that includes ravens, rooks, jackdaws, magpies, and jays. Different shapes, different voices, different landscapes, different roles in their habitats…yet all sharing a surprising level of intelligence. Ravens solve puzzles that stump primat
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dljbsp in Avian Design

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Glimpses of Wonder™

When Beauty First Opened Her Eyes — a Glimpse of Wonder entry™ —

When Beauty First Opened Her Eyes — a Glimpse of Wonder entry™ —   Jehovah surveyed the living world on the sixth day, and the inspired record says something simple and steady: “God saw everything he had made, and look! it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31)   Animals were good because they were complete. Plants were good because they fulfilled their role. Trees were good because they supported
Glimpses of Wonder™

When One Voice Speaks Many Languages — a Glimpse of Wonder entry™ —

When One Voice Speaks Many Languages — a Glimpse of Wonder entry™ — Riddle Some call me a language. Yet my voice isn’t spoken, and my sentences never change no matter who writes them down.   I travel across cultures wearing different scripts — marks, signs, symbols, syllables — but when someone reads me, I sound exactly the same.   I move thr
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dljbsp in Everyday Wonders

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Glimpses of Wonder™

The Penguins’ Open Path — a Glimpse of Wonder entry™ —

The Penguins’ Open Path — a Glimpse of Wonder entry™ —   When the beaches fell silent, the penguins began to hurry. Along the southern coast of Africa, the usual tide of tourists and boats had vanished. The noise, the footprints, the engines — gone. In their place, a stretch of sand lay open, smooth as a page waiting to be written on.   African penguins — the kind with a dark stripe across their chest like a buttoned v
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dljbsp in When the World Stopped

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Glimpses of Wonder™

What the Whales Remembered — a Glimpse of Wonder entry™ —

What the Whales Remembered — a Glimpse of Wonder entry™ —   There’s a sound most of us will never hear — a note so deep it hums through the bones of the sea. It’s the voice of the humpback whale, carrying across miles of open water. For generations, that language of moans and melodies has been muffled under the constant growl of ship engines. The ocean had become a crowded room where everyone was shouting.   The
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dljbsp in When the World Stopped

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Glimpses of Wonder™

The Wonder That Bends — a Glimpse of Wonder entry™ —

The Wonder That Bends — a Glimpse of Wonder entry™ —     Not everyone has seen it — the way the wind rolls across a field of wheat. But if you ever stand there long enough to watch, you’ll see something that doesn’t quite fit into words. The air doesn’t just move the grass; it shapes it. It pushes, tugs, pulls — and somehow, the whole field seems to breathe. You can almost feel the conversation between the earth and the sky.
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dljbsp in Plant Life

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Scriptural Consideration

Jehovah — God of Comfort — a Scriptural Consideration entry —

The worst thing you can do, when someone needs comfort, is nothing.   Most people mean well. They pause beside a grieving friend or an anxious brother, searching for words that heal but finding none. Silence stretches. They walk away wishing they’d said something helpful. Yet Jehovah never fails to act. He never stands idly by. He is the God “of all comfort.” (2 Corinthians 1:3, 4 NWT)   Comfort is not just something Jehovah gives; it is who He is. Just as “God is love” (1 Jo
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dljbsp in Comfort

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Scriptural Consideration

The God Without a Beginning — a Scriptural Consideration entry —

Before there was light, before there was matter, before there was even the first tick of what we call time — there was Someone. Not something. Not a force. Someone.   Jehovah simply was.   We talk about beginnings because everything we touch has one. A cry marks the start of a life. A dawn announces the day. Even stars, those ancient fires in the heavens, are born and will one day burn out. But when Moses lifted his eyes and spoke to God, he said, “From everlasting to ev
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dljbsp in Jehovah - Everlasting

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Glimpses of Wonder™

The Quiet Beach and the Sea Turtles — a Glimpse of Wonder entry™ —

When the world fell quiet in 2021, the beaches changed first. For the first time in decades, loggerhead turtles came ashore to nest without dodging crowds, chairs, or lights. The sound of waves replaced the shuffle of feet. Tracks led straight from water to dunes, uninterrupted.   According to marine biologists monitoring the coast of Florida, nesting success rose from about 40 percent to over 60 percent during that season of silence. Without beach traffic, the sand held its shape. Wit
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dljbsp in When the World Stopped

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Scriptural Consideration

Seek Counsel Humbly — a Scriptural Consideration entry —

Seek Counsel Humbly.html   The fire crackled in the courtyard, sparks lifting like frightened stars into the cold night. Peter edged closer to its warmth, trying to steady his breathing. Moments earlier, soldiers had led Jesus away — the One he had promised never to abandon. Yet now, surrounded by strangers and suspicion, his courage began to unravel. “You were with him,” a servant girl said, her voice sharp in the still air. The words pierced deeper than he expected. “I do not know th
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dljbsp in Counsel and Wisdom

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Scriptural Consideration

The Work Beneath the Ache — a Scriptural Consideration —

The Work Beneath the Ache.html   Sometimes strength looks like nothing more than breathing through another minute. Not charging forward. Not fixing what’s broken. Just staying — right there — when you could so easily drift away.   Jehovah told Asa, “Be strong and do not become discouraged, for your activity will be rewarded” (2 Chronicles 15:7). That wasn’t spoken to a man standing in victory. It was said to someone in the thick of exhaustion, when faith had become hea
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dljbsp in Faith & Endurance

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Glimpses of Wonder™

The Mountains That Reappeared — a Glimpse of Wonder entry™

The Mountains That Reappeared — a Glimpse of Wonder entry™ —   For thirty years, the people of Jalandhar could not see the Himalayas. They lived only 200 kilometers away, yet the peaks were nothing more than stories told by older generations. Then, in a quieter spring, the world paused. Engines stilled, factories softened, and for the first time in decades, the air cleared. When the haze lifted, those towering, snow-capped giants reappeared — ex
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dljbsp in When the World Stopped

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Glimpses of Wonder™

The Silence That Spoke — a Glimpse of Wonder entry™ —

The Silence That Spoke - a Glimpse of Wonder™ entry.mp3   During the global lockdown of 2020, San Francisco, a major bustling city, grew quiet in a way only a few could remember. Streets emptied. Trolleys sat still. The famous fog horns called into a silence that actually answered back, the echo not muted by traffic.   And across the bay, the Golden Gate Bridge — that red arch of motion and noise — suddenly sounded alive. Before, the constant hum of engines had swallowed eve
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dljbsp in When the World Stopped

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Glimpses of Wonder™

The Song You Can’t Hold — But That Holds You — a Glimpse of Wonder entry™ —

The Boston Pops were on TV, performing the piece that opens 2001: A Space Odyssey. That’s what I call it, because I don’t know how to pronounce its real name. I happened to be walking through the room as my dad was watching the performance, and when they announced what piece they would play, I stopped to hear it. This was not the first time I had heard it, so I stood about ten feet from the television set — this was before stereo TV. The brass crept in — ba… ba… baaaaa… — a pause, then ba, baaa…
Glimpses of Wonder™

The Smallest Tick of Time — a Glimpse of Wonder entry™ —

A lightning bug drifts low over the grass, its glow blinking on and off like a lantern guided by an unseen hand. It hovers for a moment, then dips and lands on a leaf. Another spark, then a slow float to a nearby blade of grass. Another blink, another drift, as though the whole meadow breathes with its rhythm. Glitter and float. Glitter and float.   In the distance, a storm gathers. The horizon flickers with lightning, far off at first, just a flash at the edge of the sky. The firefly
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dljbsp in Systems of Wonder

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Wonderful Little Lessons

Finding Contentment Amidst Unmet Desires

The Bible acknowledges the pain of unfulfilled longings. Many faithful ones have felt “yearning for a better place” (Hebrews 11:16, NWT). It can be difficult when our lives don’t match what we hoped for, especially when others seem to move forward while we feel stuck. Jehovah does not ask us to deny that pain — he keeps track of every tear (Psalm 56:8).   Contentment, however, is something that must be learned. The apostle Paul admitted: “I have learned to be content in whatever circum
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dljbsp in Blessings

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Glimpses of Wonder™

The Wonder of Simultaneity — a Glimpse of Wonder entry™ —

Two lightning bolts strike. To Albert Einstein, this was more than a storm; it was a thought experiment that cracked open our understanding of time. He imagined two bolts flashing at opposite ends of a railway. To a person standing on the platform, the bolts might flare at the same instant. But to someone speeding past on the train, one flash comes first, the other a beat later. Which is correct? Both. Einstein’s lesson was that simultaneity is relative. Two observers can watch the same world an
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dljbsp in Perspective

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