iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

So happy for an injection of hope and energy from one of my sheroes last weekend! The fight in NC to overcome the negative impacts of gerrymandering, regressive legislation, and pandering to the wealthy is challenging, and I join with others who are working for change. @staceyabrams.com

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

I just took action with @CovenantForOurFuture: A Multi-Faith Call for a Just and Prosperous Future for All. Take action here: actionnetwork.org/forms/a-mult...

actionnetwork.org

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

I never tire of sunsets at the beach.

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

The magic of an evening primrose opening.

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Inspiring visit last Friday to the pollinator garden, mostly created in parking lot islands, at Chatham Mills in Pittsboro, NC. A decades-long labor of love for extension agent Debbie Roos!

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

I have trouble getting them from the small point to the larger point.

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Southern Blue Flag Iris (Iris virginica) blooming in our garden pond now. This makes me so happy.

Purple and white flower with striping of the two colors. There are three oval petals on the top and a 4th tongue-shaped petal extending downward on the bottom of the blossom. There is a short streak of yellow in the middle of the tongue-shaped petal. Long thin green leaves are around the blossom and a tree canopy is reflected in water behind the flower.

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Thank you for reposting this and other stories about the war in Ukraine. So horrible.

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

Joel, Beau, & I went troll-hunting at Dix Park, Raleigh, NC this afternoon. An entertaining outing, even if we got rather wet in the 15% chance of light rain. At home, 2 miles away, our driveway was bone dry. We all recommend visiting the trolls there if you have a chance!

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

Now you have me worried. I just planted swamp milkweed a month or so ago, and I am hoping for monarch caterpillars as well. But mine may be too small to feed anything right now.

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Haven’t managed to look at our wild ginger at the right time to see the flowers in decades, so I was excited to see these today.

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

My partridge berry (Mitchella repens) is blooming for the first time! #NCnativeplants

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

These are the Jack-in-the-pulpits that were emerging as shoots in a photo I posted about 2 weeks ago.

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

Yes, , I called first thing this morning. Feeling tense.

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

After a week away, there was a lot of leafing and some flowering to catch up on in our home garden (Piedmont NC area). Mostly delightful, but the oak seedlings were overwhelming. I’ve already been pulling them for a month, because we have no room for more big oaks in our smallish suburban yard. ???

Small branch of a serviceberry (Almelanchier) sapling that subdivides into two twigs. There are young elliptical green leaves on both twigs and an unopened bud at the tip of the upper one. Brown leaves are visible on the ground in the unfocused background, as well as an unpainted tall wooden fence with vertical boards. There’s also a partial view of the roofline of a house in the background of the upper right corner.

A clump of low-growing Coreopsis auriculata, sometimes called “Mouse-eared Coreopsis,” which captures the shape of the many dark green leaves. There are a number of yellow flowers visible on the plant in varied stages of opening. The flowers have 8 yellow rays with serrated outer edges, surrounding a yellow center. The clump is growing amidst brown oak leaves.

Multiple red and yellow trumpet-shaped blossoms about 1.5” long with the trumpet opening pointing to the ground and spurs on the blossom pointing upwards. The leaves are light green, with each compound leaf having 3 leaflets with serrated edges. The ground is covered with a mix of twigs, brown leaves, and wood chips.

A border between a slate sidewalk with irregular sizes and shapes of slate blocks and the outside wall of a house with gray vertical board and batten siding. There are three shrubs planted in the border and otherwise the border has a large number of small oak seedlings, looking like a leafy green ground cover.

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

I’m so excited to have just learned that the State of NC has a native seed library as part of an effort to encourage people to plant native plants! I hope our state legislature doesn’t learn about it—the majority party would likely consider this to be seditious. library.nc.gov/seed-library

library.nc.gov

Seed Library | Library of NC

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

I posted the photo in the FB NC Snake Identification and Education group for ID, because I didn’t know what it was. Apparently they like to live underground, making it less likely that they will be seen. It was a nice first encounter for me, but disturbing for the snake, I’m sure.

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Now I’m hoping to see one in my garden! Great photo.

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

More native plants are emerging in my garden each day! Some that I’ve planted, others that have shown up without any action on my part.

A 5-petaled yellow flower against somewhat muted green leaves, low to the ground. The ends of the petals are notched, creating three small lobes at the end of each petal. The center of the bloom is a collection of small yellow disc flowers. Aging wood chips are under and around the plant. The leaves are oval shaped with serrated edges. Green and gold is the common name of this plant (Chrysogonum repens).

Five small green plants are emerging amongst brown oak leaves. Three of the plants have opened up their leaves, and one of them clearly shows a whorl of three elliptical-shaped leaves. The other two plants that are emerging still have their leaves folded up together, forming a pod shape. Bashful wakerobin trillium is one of the common names (Trillium catesbaei)

Three pale green spikes are growing up through brown oak leaves. The tips of the plants are pointy and darker green than the rest of the spikes. Jack-in-the-pulpits (Arisaema triphyllum).

A small plant with multiple green leaves is topped with blossoms that have tones of pink and purple. The young plant is nestled among brown oak leaves. The common name of this plant is Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica).

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

I had my first ever encounter with a snake while gardening this past week. This little one is a harmless Rough earthsnake (Virginica striatula). It was sheltering under some flower pots that I moved around to pull up some of the many oak seedlings emerging on our property.

Small even-toned brown snake with one lighter area just below the head. The snake is on the ground amidst oak leaves. Pieces of mulch and an acorn cap are near the snake as well.

A close-up photo of the same snake as in the previous photo. The keeled scales are seen more clearly in this photo, as well as the cream colored band across the back of its head.

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Some very local scenery that graced our walk this morning.

Tree with long exposed roots along the bank of a woodland creek.

Mossy rock boulders above a pool of water in the woods.

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Some of the little things that make me happy! #NCnativegardening

Flower bud on a Arrowwood viburnum (Viburnum dentatum), yellow-green color, with two opposite leaves behind the bud

New Oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) leaves, light green color

Star chickweed bloom, Stellaria pubera, 10 white petals with a yellowish center and multiple delicate stamens

Toad trillium (Trillium cuneatum), with four mottled dark and light green leaves surrounding a central green flower bud spire.

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Obsessively checking my yard everyday during this unseasonably warm period in Piedmont NC. For the past 3 years, I have been “leaving the leaves.” They are thick now, with a massive number of acorns added to the mix last fall. Some perennials are emerging. Should I quit worrying about the acorns?

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

I can believe it as well. We own some beautiful property in SW Virginia, and the first spring we visited the property I remember marveling at the beautiful flowers blooming on vines in many trees. Then I identified the flowers as multiflora rose, and the marveling changed to feelings of despair.

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

For the last several years , we have been engaged in a variety of DIY projects at our family beach cottage in Nags Head, NC. Our original idea was to improve the cottage so we could enjoy it in retirement.Question: will we finish our projects before we are too old to be able to enjoy them?

Small bedroom with gray-beige bamboo plank floating flooring installed. White wooden frames for twin beds are stacked on one side, with a lighted lamp sitting on the top of the frames. Spacers to provide expansion room for the flooring are visible around the perimeter of the room.

A small bedroom has bamboo plank flooring, with two unused planks on top of the flooring. Two white wooden bed frames are stacked on the right side of the room, with boxes of flooring planks on top of the bed frames. There’s a mirror on the end wall showing the reflection of a window and a lamp sitting on top of the bed frames. An older man stands in the doorway of the room to the left side of the photo, looking toward the camera.

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

Congratulations! We have been removing English ivy from our property for about 34 years now, not surprising since all the property adjacent to ours has it. At least the natives have a fighting chance now!

it.xn--its-so0a

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

54 years ago today. I’m grateful for the life we have shared.

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

I am largely unprepared for Christmas, but hey, I have cookies and Chex Mix! We had fun and made a colorful mess decorating cookies with our grandchildren today.

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Beautiful sky this evening, for a few short minutes!

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

The Great Spangled Fritillaries and some unidentified species of bees were both taking advantage of this beautiful Gaillardia pulchella in NW Georgia last week.

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

Pilgrimage to Montgomery planned by good people at Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. I want to remember the resilience of people who endured centuries of oppression and suffering, and find strength and inspiration in their examples of perseverance.

Quilt honoring John Lewis, civil rights stalwart, who advised us to “Do something. Get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”

Hanging plinths to remember the more than 4400 Black people who were lynched in the Jim Crow era between 1877-1950, often with the complicity of the “justice systems” in the South. Racial injustice continues to be rampant in our criminal “justice” systems. The National Memorial for Peace and Justice, Equal Justice Initiative.

Metal sculpture created by artist and activist Michelle Browder to honor Anarcha, Betsey, and Lucy, enslaved teen girls who were subjected to painful experimental surgeries to further the research of J. Marion Sims, often referred to as “the father of gynecology.” Dr. Sims operated on these girls and other unknown enslaved girls and women repeatedly without anesthesia or other pain relief, and without consent. Today, Black women are 3 times more likely to die from pregnancy complications than White women. See this article in the Smithsonian Magazine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/mothers-of-gynecology-monument-honors-enslaved-women-180980064/

A replica of a Republic P-47 airplane flown by Tuskegee Airmen in the 99th Fighter Squadron, the first Black Flying Squadron in the US and the first Black squadron to be deployed overseas in WWII. The Tuskegee Airmen came to be known as the Redtails due to painting the tails of their aircraft with red paint. The Tuskegee Airmen and the all Black crews that supported them (9 crew members for every pilot in the air) were recognized officially as well as personally for their role in protecting American bombers, as well as their own effectiveness in inflicting damage on enemy planes, factories, ships, equipment, etc. Even so, they dealt with much racism in the US and abroad. Their performance contributed to President Truman’s decision to order desegregation of the US military services in 1948.

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

After a mostly gray day, I walked out of the grocery store this afternoon to a blue sky with feathery white clouds. For a moment, I felt peaceful and had a sense of what it would be like to think that all was right with the world.

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Reposted by Linda R. Watson

E. Rosalie @erosalie.infoepi.com · 13/03/2025

A French University is funding a Safe Place For Science program meant to recruit scientists who cannot continue their work in the US. www.univ-amu.fr/fr/public/a...

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

I don’t recommend it. Our dog did, and the aftermath was much expensive surgery.

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Linda R. Watson @clrwatson.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

What are your strategies for promoting a better world these days? In the midst of daily outrages, how do you choose your focus?

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