Reflection – A mirror on the marsh at the Indiana Dunes National Park.
A gray heron was featured in “More Than a Mouthful.”
All photos are my own. ©Pepper Tron/Heavens Sunshine
No usage allowed in any form without my written consent.
Posted for Debbie’s One Word Sunday
Standing tall across the Trinity River in Dallas is the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge.
A covered bridge built in a different century was featured on “Bean Blossom Bridge.”
All photos are my own. ©Pepper Tron/Heavens Sunshine
No usage allowed in any form without my written consent.
Posted for Ragtag Daily Prompt: Bridge
Roaming around in the center of the flower, do you see it?
Another wildflower was featured in “Swaying in the Wind.”
All photos are my own. ©Pepper Tron/Heavens Sunshine
No usage allowed in any form without my written consent.
Posted for Terri’s Flower Hour
When exploring a new trail that I have not researched, I have no idea what lies ahead. For me, that is part of the excitement and adventure of hiking. Often, beauty is found in the most unexpected places.
On this day (March 26,2026), I headed out to a Green Oak Loop Trail in Brighton, Michigan. It sits behind a small shopping center that includes a Panera Bread, where I happened to be having lunch. While eating, I looked on my hiking app for trails close to my location. To my surprise, it showed a 2 mile loop trail less than a mile from where I was. Not expecting much, I thought to myself, “Well, I’m here. Why not give it a try?”
I am so glad I did! The looped trail went around a small lake with some other trails leading into the woods. Of course, I had to explore a few of those as well. It was delightfully quiet, with only bird song around me. (Okay, there was the occasional rumble of traffic from a street not too far away but it did not distract from the peacefulness.)
Another image along a trail in Brighton, Michigan was featured in “Abstract Reflections.”
All photos are my own. ©Pepper Tron/Heavens Sunshine
No usage allowed in any form without my written consent.
Posted for CFFC – View as We Walk or Hike
Spring has sprung in Texas! This blossom was glowing at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden.
Yellow flowers were featured in “Battling for Attention.”
All photos are my own. ©Pepper Tron/Heavens Sunshine
No usage allowed in any form without my written consent.
Posted for Spring Festival 2026: Week #4
Trees, dimly lit in the shadows of sunrise at the Indiana Dunes National Park.
Another sunrise peaking through trees was featured on “Tiers of Sunrise.”
All photos are my own. ©Pepper Tron/Heavens Sunshine
No usage allowed in any form without my written consent.
Posted for Weekly Wednesday Challenge – Dimly Lit
Wordless Wednesday – Take in the Quietness
The color version of this image was featured on “A Time and Place to Retrospect.”
All photos are my own. ©Pepper Tron/Heavens Sunshine
No usage allowed in any form without my written consent.
After waiting and waiting for warmth, I found spring this past week in Texas. As soon as we landed in Dallas, I was immediately basking in the warmth of sunshine.
My first full day there, I headed to the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. The gardens did not disappoint. There were spring blossoms everywhere I turned. To my surprise, I had missed the daffodils and tulips by a couple of weeks.
All three images were taken at the Dallas Arboretum on March 30, 2026. A different landscape captured in the same location back in 2023 was featured on “Placid Contemplation.“.
For this week’s Lens-Artists Challenge, Patti has challenged us to explore the foreground, middle, and background of our images.
All photos are my own. ©Pepper Tron/Heavens Sunshine
No usage allowed in any form without my written consent.
Welcome to One Step at a Time #4. Last week, I got to spend some time in Dallas, Texas. The three pics featuring green were captured along the trails at Cedar Hills State Park.
The night before I made it to Cedar Hill State Park, some spring thunderstorms went through the Dallas/FortWorth area. Because of the rain, this Penn Farm Trail was only one of two open on this morning. I enjoyed this trail so much that I can’t wait to get back to try the others as well.
The surprising thing to me about this state park is that it is on the edge of Dallas and yet it feels like you are in the middle of nowhere in the hills. It was quiet, peaceful, and a temperature of perfectly comfortable 70°F. A huge bonus was coming across a field of bluebonnets, the state flower of Texas.
Now it is your turn to share your images. To participate in the One Step At a Time Challenge, place a pingback or link on the comments below.
Wonderful participants from last week were:
Linda with – Ribbits and Rabbits
Donna with Leave Nothing But Footprints
Egidio with Layered Natured Photography
Sue is joining in for the first time
with Foggy Uncertainty of Life
All photos are my own. ©Pepper Tron/Heavens Sunshine
No usage allowed in any form without my written consent.
A gallery of other Texas images were featured on “Along the Texas Trails.”
Leaves crunching under my feet while walking over the bridge at Ott Biological Preserve. This trail is located in Battle Creek, Michigan and was visited in November of 2025.
Another bridge along a trail in Indiana was featured was featured on “Across a Crooked Path.”
All photos are my own. ©Pepper Tron/Heavens Sunshine
No usage allowed in any form without my written consent.
Posted for The Cosmic Photo Challenge: Over the Bridge
Layers of yellow glowing in the sunshine.
Other yellow blossoms were featured in “Budding Sunflowers“.
All photos are my own. ©Pepper Tron/Heavens Sunshine
No usage allowed in any form without my written consent.
Posted for One Word Sunday – Yellow
Preening togetherness, in the bedroom & the loft.
This pair of Great Blue Herons were grooming their feathers at the Lyon Oaks County Park Rookery in Michigan. Two other herons were featured on “Hey, That’s My Fish.”
All photos are my own. ©Pepper Tron/Heavens Sunshine
No usage allowed in any form without my written consent.
Posted for Six Word Saturday and Birds of the Week
Long pink petals in the garden.
Another macro shot of a flower was featured on “Pretty in Pink.“
All photos are my own. ©Pepper Tron/Heavens Sunshine
No usage allowed in any form without my written consent.
Posted for Terri’s Flower Hour
Step through the open door and into the darkness of the tunnels of Castillo San Cristobal. I was so sure that I had posted this door already. After searching for it, it seems I have left it out of my posts from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
This is the first door, leading to all the others as featured on “Deep into a Tunnel.”
All photos are my own. ©Pepper Tron/Heavens Sunshine
No usage allowed in any form without my written consent.
Posted for Dan’s Thursday Doors
Sprouts of Spring – I have been anticipating spring for weeks. Here it is April 1st and it is not feeling much warmer yet in the Midwest. As I was scrolling through some older photos, I realized that these two were captured in May of 2021. Thinking that spring has not been so much of a trickster after all in this part of the USA.
Other buds were featured on “Spring Buds Along the Trail.”
All photos are my own. ©Pepper Tron/Heavens Sunshine
No usage allowed in any form without my written consent.
Posted for Ragtag Daily Prompt – Trickster
For this week, I have two photos taken on the first day of spring.
The proof that spring is here is that the Great Blue Herons are back. They have been busy building up their nests again at the Lyon Oaks County Park rookery.
I was so thrilled with all the contributions from last week’s challenge. Each one had some images worth featuring.
Linda had some amazing bridge images that left me wanting to walk across it.
Donna shared images of one of her best hiking days EVER.
Terri joined in with some lovely flowers
Egidio caught up from last week by sharing two –
First some beautiful pollinators and second,
landscapes including Inca’s Death Steps
Can’t wait to see what you’ve got for this week!
All photos are my own. ©Pepper Tron/Heavens Sunshine
No usage allowed in any form without my written consent.
An African Gray Heron was also featured on a earlier post, “More Than a Mouthful.“
Macro Monday – A prickly upon prickly cactus at Matthaei Botanical Garden in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This is a lovely place to visit all year round. There is warmth in the conservatory in the winter and lovely blooming gardens along the outdoor trails on nicer days.
A contrasting image was featured on “As Light as a Feather.”
All photos are my own. ©Pepper Tron/Heavens Sunshine
No usage allowed in any form without my written consent.
I have recently realized that there is a sense of carefree calmness that results from hiking on familiar trails. After hiking in NW Indiana for years, I knew where to go depending on weather conditions. Some were treacherous on muddy or icy conditions. Other trails were beautiful on foggy days. For instance, Coffee Creek Watershed Preserve (pictured below) was one of my favorite spots on foggy mornings.
For the past year and a half since moving to Michigan, I have enjoyed discovering new places to explore. At times over the winter, I found myself being overly cautious of conditions on the trails. Being unfamiliar with the trails had a lot to do with that. Now that the weather is slowly getting nicer, I am feeling more adventurous once again. I am getting back to getting more familiar and carefree calmness on the Michigan trails.
Another foggy morning was featured on “A Dreamy Morning.”
All photos are my own. ©Pepper Tron/Heavens Sunshine
No usage allowed in any form without my written consent.
Posted for Ragtag Daily Prompt – Carefree and One Step at a Time #2
Silent Sunday – Pointed Edges of a Leaf
Another autumn scene was featured on “Fallen Leaf.”
All photos are my own. ©Pepper Tron/Heavens Sunshine
No usage allowed in any form without my written consent.
Posted for One Word Sunday – Pointed
A bashful peek from behind her dad’s shoulder.
I am not one to photograph people often, but I do enjoy doing it occasionally. A person enjoying the beauty of Maui was featured on “The Photographer.”
All photos are my own. ©Pepper Tron/Heavens Sunshine
No usage allowed in any form without my written consent.
Posted for Ragtag Daily Prompt: Bashful
Heaven’s Sunshine – Capturing the beauty of God’s creation through the lens of a camera.