Phone apps, or favorite activities

What are your favorite 5 apps on your phone?

Today featured a four-hour workshop with much complaining, so I’m not up for any deep thoughts. I’ll share some photos of a quick visit to watery areas of Tomoka State Park here in Ormond/Daytona/Orange Beaches in Florida, as well as beachy and river-y views from happier parts of the day as I list my five favorite phone apps. I bet you can guess some!

One. The Camera app, especially the one on this iPhone 17. I love all the zooms, the lenses, the Live Photos, the grid that helps you crop, and the indicators that tell you if your image is level. I have a ridiculous amount of fun taking pictures wherever I go, documenting all the life forms I encounter.

Two. Merlin Bird ID. Merlin brings me so much joy. It’s given me something to focus on that’s positive and educational, even in these troubled times. Days when I don’t get to go out and look for birds (like yesterday) are few and far between, which is fine with me. Now if only they made apps for identifying frogs and cicadas.

Three. iNaturalist. So far, none of these surprise anyone who’s ever read this blog. Right? Anyway, I’ve always wanted to know what I am looking at when I’m out in nature. This fantastic app helps me learn about my surroundings and allows me to teach others. I am in awe at the variety of living things around me, large and small. And iNat lets me learn and contribute to scientific knowledge. So much fun.

Four. Finch. It’s a game kind of app where you and your “birb” friend explore new things, work on mental health, and interact with friends to cheer them up. It borders on silly, but it helps center me in the morning and before bed. It can be very helpful for people dealing with an anxiety and depression.

Five. Crossword Puzzle Redstone. Lee plays this a lot, so I’ve joined him. The Hard ones are just right to keep my brain active and keep me from thinking I’m in mental decline. There are many different authors to choose from. We both like the G. Johnson ones. One good thing about the Crossword app is it keeps me off Facebook so much!

Runners up: Facebook, JetPack/Wordpress (blog app), Clime (NOAA weather), Apple Maps, Google.

I’d love to know which apps you like! Because I’m feeling better, here are other photos from today. Love that phone app.

Final note. Lee went to dinner with me and Vicki, but wasn’t feeling well and only ate a sweet potato. The place we ate was Aunt Catfish’s, a perfect old Florida seafood place. I could eat there again!