Here she is, my constant companion, my female Japanese Spitz. I couldn't wish for a better friend. Make of her what you wish, I love her and she loves me. Times have changed for me recently, I don't manage to get out much except for our morning walks which sometimes I don't feel like doing at all 😃, but she's worth it and has brought me a lot of joy along the way and many friends too.

Thanks for all your views and comments, faves and just for looking, my Friends.

This portrait was processed in Topaz Studio, PicMonkey and also a bit in Picasa.

I hope you like her !

Captured in the wee hours of this morning.

The Waxing Gibbous on August 10 has an illumination of 96%. This is the percentage of the Moon illuminated by the Sun. The illumination is constantly changing and can vary up to 10% a day. On August 10 the Moon is 12.96 days old. This refers to how many days it has been since the last New Moon. It takes 29.53 days for the Moon to orbit the Earth and go through the lunar cycle of all 8 Moon phases. Moongiant

© Sigmund Løland. All Rights Reserved.

Nature is constantly changing and so are we...

Part of getting through life is accepting, and dealing with, our weaknesses. Which doesn't mean they aren't still a pain in the butt.

Me, I'm over-sensitive to all kinds of sensory input - and input affecting my sensors. For instance, even in August in our constant ocean breezes, I daren't go outside without my ears covered.

This is, of course, a huuuge pain. When everyone else is out in shorts and bathing suits, I'm sweating with a big fleecy band around my head. It sucks, but the alternative (excruciating ear aches) sucks a whole lot worse.

I'm also overly sensitive to noise. And bright light. Especially bright flashing light that hits my eyes unexpectedly. So... imagine how much fun I am as a companion at a rawk show. Normally I take along ear plugs. Last night I forgot.

I guess I was lulled into complacency by the fact that the show was at a theatre. A play house. A place I last attended in my teens, when I saw some Shakespearean production there. So yeah... I went in plugless. And immediately regretted it. Still... I was up for enjoying myself... until the %$(*&$%(&ing light show started.

I can't imagine whose idea it was to flash big spotlights directly into the audience's eyes repeatedly throughout the night. Probably the same wise person who decided a super-bright sign behind the band... illuminated by 10,000 1,000 watt bulbs... was also a very good thing to flash repeatedly in the audience's eyes.

What really amazed me was that no one else seemed bothered. Whereas I was in several sorts of agony all night.

The bright flashing lights. Fuck, man. I thought I was gonna have a seizure or something. I ended up spending most of the night doubled over with my head in my lap, eyes closed, hands clamped over my face. Every time I tried to enjoy actually watching the band... zappo! Unexpected blasts of super-bright white light set off pinball explosions in my brain.

So today is pretty much a write-off. Migraine city, man.

And I HATE HATE HATE that my body is so delicate.

I'm from sturdy peasant stock. Why am I so fragile? Why do things that normal people take in stride disable me?

Sorry for the whining self-pity. Kee-rist. At least I know, without a doubt, that I am now too old for rawk shows. Goodbye youth. Your time has come and gone. From now on I'll just satisfy myself by listening to records at home.

Switzerland, May 2021

My best photos are here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ticino-best-photos-of-southern-...

My latest ANIMAL VIDEO (warning, it's a bit shocking): www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T2-Xszz7FI

You find a selection of my 80 BEST PHOTOS (mostly not yet on Flickr) here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/western-green-lizard-lacerta-bi... (the website exists in ESPAÑOL, FRANÇAIS, ITALIANO, ENGLISH, DEUTSCH)

ABOUT THE PHOTO:

So this photo is a bit of a novelty for me - at least here on Flickr, but it's also a journey back in time in a sense. I've always loved b/w and sepia photography; already as a very young teenager I would go out into the woods with an old Pentax Spotmatic (which I had nicked from my father) whenever it was a foggy day to shoot b/w compositions of sunbeams cutting through the ghostlike trees.

I used films with a sensitivity of at least 1600 (for those of you who remember what that means 😉 ), and the resulting photos had an incredibly fine grain which I loved; I blew them up to the size of posters and hung them on the walls of my teenage man-cave next to Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Slash.

But then I abandoned photography altogether for 20 years, and when I finally picked up a camera again, it was one of the digital kind. Now neither film nor grain played any role in my photographic endeavours - let alone b/w compositions: because the reason I fell in love with shooting pictures once more was the rare and incredibly colorful lizard species that had chosen my garden as its habitat.

It's this species - the Lacerta bilineata aka the western green lizard - that my photo website www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ and also my Flickr gallery are dedicated to, but I've since expanded that theme a bit so that it now comprises the whole Lacerta bilineata habitat, which is to say my garden and its immediate surroundings and all the flora and fauna I find in it.

I like that my gallery and the website have this clear theme, because in order to rise to the challenge of portraying all aspects of a very specific little eco system (which also happens to be my home of sorts), it forces me to constantly explore it from fresh angles, and I keep discovering fascinating new motives as my photographic journey continues.

Which brings me to the horse pasture you see in this photo. This playground for happy horsies lies just outside my garden, and it normally only interests me insofar as my green reptile friends claim parts of it as their territory, and I very much prefer it to be horseless (which it thankfully often is).

Not that the horses bother the reptiles - the lizards don't mind them one bit, and I've even seen them jump from the safety of the fly honeysuckle shrub which the pasture borders on right between the deadly looking hooves of the horses to forage for snails, without any sign of fear or even respect.

No, the reason I have a very conflicted relationship with those horses is that they are mighty cute and that there's usually also foals. The sight of those beautiful, happy animals jumping around and frolicking (it's a huge pasture and you can tell the horses really love it) is irresistible: and that inevitably attracts what in the entire universe is known as the most destructive anti-matter and ultimate undoing of any nature photographer: other humans.

Unlike with the horses, the lizards ARE indeed very much bothered by specimens of loud, unpredictable Homo sapiens sapiens - which makes those (and by extension also the horses) the cryptonite of this here reptile photographer. It's not the horses' fault, I know that, but that doesn't change a thing. I'm just telling you how it is (and some of you might have read about the traumatic events I had to endure to get a particular photo - if not, read at your own risk here: www.flickr.com/photos/191055893@N07/51405389883/in/datepo... - which clearly demonstrated that even when it's entirely horseless, that pasture is still a threat for artistic endeavours).

But back to the photo. So one morning during my vacation back in May I got up quite early. It had rained all night, and now the fog was creeping up from the valley below to our village just as the sky cleared up and the morning sun started to shine through the trees.

And just as I did when I was a teenager I grabbed my camera and ran out to photograph this beautiful mood of ghostlike trees and sunbeams cutting through the mist. There had already been such a day a week earlier (which is when I took this photo: www.flickr.com/photos/191055893@N07/51543603732/in/datepo... ), but this time, the horses were also there.

Because of our slightly strained relationship I only took this one photo of them (I now wish I had taken more: talk about missed opportunities), and otherwise concentrated on the landscape. It was only later when I went through all the photos on my computer that I realized that I actually really liked those horses, even despite the whole composition being such a cliché. And I realized another thing: when I drained the photo of all the color, I liked it even better - because there was almost a bit of grain in it, like in the photos from my youth.

Since then I have experimented quite a bit with b/w and sepia compositions (some of which I will upload here eventually I guess), but this photo here is the first one that helped me rediscover my old passion. I hope you like it even though it builds quite a stark contrast with the rest of my tiny - and very colorful - gallery. But in the spirit of showing you the whole Lacerta bilineata habitat (and also in the spirit of expanding my gallery a bit beyond lizards and insects), I think it's not such a bad fit.

As always, many greetings to all of you, have a wonderful day and don't hesitate to let me know what you think 😊

The rugged limestone cliffs on the Great Ocean Road (Victoria, Australia) are a soft rock that experience constant erosion beginning 10-20 million years ago. The stormy Southern Ocean and blasting winds gradually eat the limestone, and form caves in the cliffs, which moves the cliff face gradually back.

In het tropisch regenwoud leven vele plant- en diersoorten. Het regenwoud is zelfs het soorten rijkste ecosysteem ter wereld, en ook het oudste. Sommige Aziatische wouden zijn meer dan 100 miljoen jaar oud, en stammen daarmee uit de tijd van de dinosauriërs.

De dichte begroeiing en de bijna constante bewolking zorgen ervoor dat de temperatuur niet zo extreem is als bijvoorbeeld in de woestijn: de bomen en wolken houden overdag de felle zon tegen en 's nachts zorgen ze ervoor dat de warmte van de dag niet ontsnapt.

De dichte begroeiing zorgt bovendien voor beschutting, zodat kleinere prooidieren zich goed kunnen verstoppen voor de grotere roofdieren.

Dit natuurlijke gedrag is genetisch geprogrammeerd en kan zelfs in de nagebootste, natuurgetrouwe Tropenhal bestudeerd worden.

Duizenden tropische bomen en planten in de 4.000 m² grote tropenhal in Mondo Verde

Thanks for visit and comments

Please no

Invited Images of a group within comments.

[FLS]Latex Belly Strap SET [Modify]

[FLS]Bodylight

Marketplace : marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/212064

Taxi: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Winterfell%20Valley/161/14...

Dunărea la Capidava, Constanța

Pose: Amitie (edit on the hand)

Hair: Tram @ Collab88

Top Le Fil Casse @ Collab88

Bottom: Vanilla Bae

Shoes: Cult

Even through the darkest phase

Be it thick or thin

Always someone marches brave

Here beneath my skin

And constant craving

Has always been

Maybe a great magnet pulls

All souls towards truth

Or maybe it is life itself

Feeds wisdom

To its youth

Constant craving

Has always been

LISTEN

"All things change, nothing is extinguished. There is nothing in the whole world which is permanent. Everything flows onward; all things are brought into being with a changing nature; the ages themselves glide by in constant movement."

- Ovid

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks to all for 11,000.000+ views and kind comments ... !

Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved

one is constantly making exciting discoveries :-)

A.A. Milne

anemone, sarah p duke gardens, duke university, durham, north carolina

♥ [Aleutia] - Bree Outfit

Exclusive @ Kustom9 - March 15 - April 10

Maitreya /Maitreya Petite /Legacy/ L Perky/ Reborn/Juicy /and both Gen X bodies

♥ Be sure to grab a demo to see all her adorable print options! ( Irish - Fiesta - Solid)♥

After the event available @ [Aleutia] Mainstore

♥ Full Credits ♥

In Minto, ND. I'm quite sure they think I'm stark raving mad!

Isn't it just like Heaven

When You walk into the room

There's not a thing that's hidden

When every eye is on You

Can't get enough of Your presence

It's the perfect point of view

Isn't it just like, just like

Just like Heaven?

Hmm, come a little closer, stay a little longer

Hmm, I can't get enough of You

Hmm, come a little closer, stay a little longer

Hmm, I can't get enough of You

Doesn't it sound like Heaven

When You're singing over me

There's not a voice more constant

Your melodies, they never cease

Here I will stand in Your presence

In my true identity

Doesn't it sound like, yeah, it sounds like

Just like Heaven

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBKGPlFCPr0

La presencia del agua, por la proximidad de las riberas de los ríos Duero, Queiles y Ebro, es una constante a lo largo de los 116 kilómetros que constituyen el Camino del Agua Soriano-Camino Antonino, una ruta que permite conectar los cauces de los dos grandes ríos de la mitad norte peninsular, uniendo el Camino Natural Senda del Duero (GR-14) y el Camino Natural del Ebro (GR-99). La ruta recorre en sus inicios parte de los vestigios de la calzada romana que se encuentran en tierras sorianas, entre Numancia y Augustóbriga, y que nos lleva desde la cultura prerromana de los celtíberos a la romana y la medieval.

www.mapa.gob.es/es/desarrollo-rural/temas/caminos-natural...

www.mapa.gob.es/es/desarrollo-rural/temas/caminos-natural...

Focus/Sea Brook Photography Challenge - Sensuality

Featuring:

GOS Leia Ankle Strap Mule - available at FaMESHed X through 6-Mar

Seniha Aurah Set - available at Cupid Inc. through 28-Feb

Pepe Skins Fen V2 skin - available at Kinky through 22-Feb

Truth Lullaby hair (the current Truth VIP group gift)

Full details at Grumpy Kitten

My Bob has had a rough week... last Thursday we had to rush him to the emergency vet because he was staining to make.... he was yowling all over the house, staining while he was walking.... the vet said his bladder was full and he had a blockage.... after flushing him out in both areas, we took him home... a few days and he still acted strange... constantly going in and out of the box and nothing... but then he did make and what a relief...

On Monday I took him to our vet and she did a lot of tests, even a urine culture.... thank goodness his levels are not bad and he's acting like his old self.... he is 17 years old!

She put him on an antibiotic for a week and I'm hoping that will also help him feel better.

It's so scary and heartbreaking when you know they don't feel well and they can't tell you what is wrong...

Thank God he is doing better... so we want to wish everyone a Happy Caturday and enjoy the rest of the weekend!!

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”

― Lao Tzu

Constant companion at a sailing turn in Croatia

Even through the darkest phase

Be it thick or thin

Always someone marches brave

Here beneath my skin

And constant (Constant)

Craving (Craving)

Has always (Always)

Been (Been)

Maybe a great magnet pulls

All souls to what's true

Or maybe it is life itself

That feeds wisdom to its youth

Constant (Constant)

Craving (Craving)

Has always (Always)

Been (Been)

Craving

Ah, constant craving

Has always been

Has always been

Constant (Constant)

Craving (Craving)

Has always (Always)

Been (Been)

Constant (Constant)

Craving (Craving)

Has always (Always)

Been (Been)

Craving

Ah, constant craving

Has always been

Has always been

Has always been

(Has always)

Always been

(Has always)

Always been

~EPIC POP | J2 [Feat. Lesley Roy]

Song: Constant Craving

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdJ2AM8LCo0

"Forgiveness is not a single act, but a matter of constant practice." Diana Gabaldon, - Drums of Autumn

🎶 JASON MRAZ - BEFORE IT ALL ENDS

It hasn't rained in a hundred days

But the waters still rising in other ways

The world may soon be going down the drain

I just want more time with my baby before it all ends

Yesterday was hot but it was hotter today

I hope tomorrow we can still go out and play

Yeah, the world may soon be going up in flames

I just want more time with my baby before it all ends

Before it all ends

Because a meteor came crashing on our beds

Before it all ends

Because our presidents threw nuclear warheads

Before it all ends

Because the world wide web done swallowed all my friends

I just want more time with my baby before it all ends

Of all that's been not much remains

Yeah the only constant thing is change (constant change)

The world may soon be going down the commode

I just want more time with my baby before we explode

Before it all ends

Because the earth is flat and we all went over the edge

Before it all ends

Because we all got anal probed by aliens

Before it all ends

Because everyone thought that dollars made more sense

I just want more time with my baby before it all ends

Yeah, I just want more time with my baby before it all ends

This is not a joke

I just want more time with my baby before it all ends

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NUMeamMZWQ

Camouflage in the Natural World never ceases to amaze me. Treecreepers are no exception. Despite being constantly on the move they can be difficult to see and follow. With its huge feet clinging to the rough bark of an Oak tree in the New Forest, this one was searching in the grooves for insects.

Thank you all for your kind responses.

consistently,

continually,

you.

Listen: constant craving - K.D. Lang (MTV unplugged)

even through the darkest phase

be it thick or thin

always someone marches brave

here beneath my skin

has always been...

Walking in fog often provides a visual representation of my thought process. My brain constantly brings different topics into view, but in the process lets others slide into the periphery. Most of the time they are all still there, competing for my attention, but all in varying degrees. In fog I respond to the overall loss of clarity, but also the nuance that is created by relative distance. It's this layering effect I find most appealing as more distant objects eventually recede into nothingness...exactly the same as my mind reacts.

Walking outdoors this morning felt otherworldly. I love seeing familiar places rendered as ones I'm visiting for the very first time. A rich dichotomy as the serenity of fog is ripped apart by this visceral reaction. In these moments I invariably come up with camera angles that never would have occurred to me in normal circumstances.

She lies in wait for the arrival of her goslings, each day constantly priming, preening and tiding up the nest. It won't be long now before three goslings will emerge from under those magnificent downy feathers, and make their way into the world.

Shortly after this photo was taken, that's exactly what happened.

Constantly changing, the view from Chicago's Wolf Point is fantastic at early blue hour. The office lights are just becoming visible, but there's still plenty of light --- and the trains are still running frequently enough so you aren't waiting forever between shots.

_ _ _

💲 check it out:

nisah-cheatham.pixels.com/featured/blue-hour-confluence-n...

Re-edit of a test of recently acquired Carl Zeiss glass (Exakta mount 50mm f/3.5 Jena Tessar lens) adapted to Nikon Z6.

Image MKZ_1684 copy_DxO.1 copy2

A kayaker's dream scene, I had to pinch myself. The water is constantly changing with the light which makes this place quite magical. Earlier in the day I went for a long swim, I was determined not to squeal getting in like some of the old guys I heard. People were looking at me like I was some kind of strange, cold blooded water creature after I dived in without making a sound. The ice cold water isn't easy to embrace but once in, you don't want to get out, so refreshing on a hot day.

Please don't use this image on websites, blogs, facebook, or other media without my explicit permission.

It's never too late to thank everyone who follows me and deals with me. SecondLife really has changed the way I interact with people and even affected the way I am in RL. Thank you for your constant support ♥

- CREDITS -

- Hair: DOUX - Bubbles

- Eyes: Avi-Glam. Moonshine eyes

- Jacket: Lunar. Neve fluffy hoodie

Even when resting the barnie is always on the alert looking for her next prey.

Barn Owl (Tyto alba)

Yorkshire Dales - Lower Barn/ Embankment Female

Many thanks to all those who take the time to comment on and fave my photos. It is truly appreciated and welcome.

DSC_7545

Many thanks for the visits, faves and comments. Cheers

Buff-banded Rail

Scientific Name: Gallirallus philippensis

Description: The Buff-banded Rail is a medium-sized stout rail with short legs. It has a distinctive grey eyebrow and an orange-brown band on its streaked breast. The lores, cheek and hindneck are rich chestnut. The chin and throat are grey, the upperparts streaked brown and the underparts barred black and white. The eye is red. Young birds are much paler to white underneath, with indistinct bars and only a faint orange-brown tint on the breast. Downy chicks are fluffy black. This rail walks slowly, with tail raised and flicking constantly.

Similar species: The orange-brown breast band distinguishes the Buff-banded Rail from the similar but smaller Lewin's Rail,Dryolimnas pectoralis, which has a rich chestnut crown and nape and a proportionally longer pink bill.

Distribution: The Buff-banded Rail is widespread in mainland Australia, particularly along the eastern coast and islands, and on Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands. It is also found in south-east Asia, New Guinea and New Zealand.

Habitat: The Buff-banded Rail is seen singly or in pairs in dense reeds and vegetation bordering many types of wetlands or crops. It makes widespread use of artificial wetlands like sewage ponds and drainage channels.

Seasonal movements: The Buff-banded Rail is resident and possibly locally nomadic, though little is known of these movements.

Feeding: The Buff-banded Rail feeds on crustaceans, molluscs, insects, seeds, fruit, frogs, carrion and refuse. It mostly feeds early in the morning and the evening.

Breeding: Breeding is poorly known, but the Buff-breasted Rail nests in long grass, tussocks, rushes or crops. It makes an unlined cup-shaped nest of grasses or reeds. Both parents incubate and the young will leave the nest within 24 hours. Both parents remain with the young, which usually feed themselves, though the female may feed them as well. Two broods may be raised in some seasons.

Calls: Loud creaky squeak when breeding but usually silent.

Minimum Size: 28cm

Maximum Size: 33cm

Average size: 31cm

Average weight: 130g

Breeding season: September to February

Clutch Size: 5 to 8 eggs

Incubation: 19 days

Nestling Period: 1 days

(source: www.birdsinbackyards.net)

© Chris Burns 2023

__________________________________________

All rights reserved.

This image may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying and recording without my written consent.

Potentential thunder clouds in North Berwick which came to nothing thank goodness. Blustery day with constant dynamic light to confuse us. Lobster on the pier was a glorious lunch :)

Tim Ball has been posting some wonderful film shots of the Torridon area from 1995. I thought I'd post some of mine from 2007. Xpan, Fuji Velvia. The old scans look a little dodgy these days.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHamgwlQ1yo

Sometimes life surprises you in the nicest way. After a lifetime of having hyperactive small dogs that barked at the slightest noise, I now have a large, gentle dog that basically wags his tail at everyone. The joy he has brought me and the rest of the humans in my family grows every day. Long live Cooper, the wonder dog!

Waves constantly battering the coastline of Portknockie in Morayshire, Scotland, on a very dark and stormy day.

A constant Simple Pleasure of mine. Taking the odds and ends of flowers and making designs with them before I have to throw them out ;o)

Texture: "Textura aguada" by Ana Librillana

My Simple Pleasures set: Simple Pleasures

My Textured set here: Elisa Textured set

* A familiar subject for me, its another image of the Humber Bridge taken from the South Bank of the River. The city of hull is on the North bank and can just be seen on the right of the image

I love to photograph the Humber Bridge which is two miles outside of Hull. Built in 1981 it is an architectural masterpiece With a centre span of 4,626 ft and a total length of 7,283 ft or 1.3 miles the Humber Bridge was the longest single-span suspension bridge in the world for 17 years, until Japan's Akashi Kaikyō Bridge opened on 5 April 1998. Each tower consists of a pair of hollow vertical concrete columns, each 510 ft tall and tapering from20 ft square at the base to 14.8 ft at the top. The bridge is designed to tolerate constant motion and bends more than 10 ft in winds of 80 mph . The towers, although both vertical, are 1.4 inches farther apart at the top than the bottom due to the curvature of the earth.

THANKS FOR YOUR VISIT TO MY STREAM

I WOULD BE VERY GRATEFUL IF YOU COULD NOT FAVE A PHOTO

WITHOUT ALSO LEAVING A COMMENT