Germany, Mainau, an island in Lake Constance on the shore of the Constance Lake near the city of Konstanz opposite to the shore of the City of Überlingen. It is maintained as a garden island & a model of excellent environmental practices. The island can be reached via a bridge & has a jetty for ferries.

 

Dahlia, there are over 40 species of dahlia, with hybrids commonly grown as garden plants. The majority types do not produce fragrant flowers, like most plants that do not attract pollinating insects through scent, they are brightly coloured, displaying most hues, with the exception of blue.

Spaniards reported finding the plants growing in Mexico in 1525, in 1787 the French botanist Nicolas-Joseph Thiéry de Menonville, sent to Mexico to steal the cochineal insect valued for its scarlet dye.

In 1963 the dahlia was declared the national flower of Mexico. The tubers were grown as a food crop by the Aztecs, attempts to introduce the tubers as a food crop in Europe were unsuccessful.

 

Due to the for Germany unusual advantageous climate on the island at the lake the island is called the "Flowering Island". Famous for its parks & gardens with even full-grown palm trees, cypresses & countless other Mediterranean plants, partly even tropical vegetation can grow on the drop-shaped island.

The Plants & flower-beds with are constantly renewed by the gardeners, not only the over approximately 20,000 dahlia bushes Rhododendrons of 180 different species, Azaleas or the Italian rose garden, strictly geometric, consisting of pergolas, sculptures fountains, over 1200 kinds of roses can be found on the island.

A million daffodils, hyacinth, tulips, 500-year-old wild roses & more than 30,000 other rose bushes, also palm trees & citrus fruits grow here, the palms go into the greenhouse over the winter, with a changing climate soon maybe it will not be necessary anymore.

But that has nothing to do with the island's sometimes claimed tropical climate; the lake does level out temperatures & acts a little as central heating in winter because it has stored summer heat.

But above all, the art of the skilled gardeners & their work on the Mainau making this island so unique.

 

👉 One World one Dream,

🙏...Danke, Xièxie 谢谢, Thanks, Gracias, Merci, Grazie, Obrigado, Arigatô, Dhanyavad, Chokrane to you & over

17 million visits in my photostream with countless motivating comments

Countless piano models in a wide variety of shapes and sizes have already been built with LEGO bricks. Anyway, I expand this huge range with my execution.

 

What kind of music would suit this instrument better than a classic ragtime? So she plays the title Original Rags by Scott Joplin and gives the goldfish good vibrations! ;-)

For all the years I've been driving through Glen Finart near Ardentinny, and all the countless hours I've spent on the forest paths in the area, I never knew that these mysterious ruins existed. I was coming back from another forest walk and heading back to my car when I bumped into a local who was walking his dog (he turned out to be an American from New Orleans!) . He asked me if I had photographed these ruins. I didn't know what he was talking about so he pointed me in the direction of a tree-covered granite hill. Nestled at the top, reached by a trek through bushes, trees and over a barbed wire fence (a section was brought down by a fallen tree) I found these ruins. A Google search returned no hits and none of the locals I've talked to seem to know anything about it or its history so, for now, it remains a mystery.

 

Update: I found an old map from 1869 that showed these ruins to be in an area called Nether Craigcoll but I'm still unable to find any information about them. Bit at least I now know what the area is called and that the building was in ruins as early as 1869.

China, Beijing, Chaoyang District. X-Mas Décor at the

"Solana Shopping Mall Plaza".

 

❄ ❆ ❅🌛 ★ 🌠 🎄 🌲 🔔 🌠 🌲 🎁 🎅 🎁 🌲 🔔 🌲 🎄 🌠 ★ 💤 🌝❅❆❄

 

🎅 Despite all the complications & inconveniences in 2020,

I wish all of you an exciting, cheerful fairy-tale like festive season.

 

🌠 Trotz aller Komplikationen & Unannehmlichkeiten im Jahr 2020,

ich wünsche euch allen eine märchenhafte Weihnachtszeit.

 

🌲 A pesar de todas las complicaciones & inconvenientes en 2020,

yo desearles a todos ustedes un emocionante & encantada temporada festiva,

 

🎁 Malgré toutes les complications & inconvénients de 2020,

je souhaite à toute une joyeuse & magique saison festive

 

🔔 Nonostante tutte le complicazioni & gli inconvenienti del 2020,

augurare a tutti voi una emozionante & eccitante stagione di festa.

 

🎄 Apesar de todas as complicações & inconveniências em 2020,

desejo a todos um conto de fadas do tempo do Natal.

 

❄ ☃ ❄ ☃ ❄ ☃ ❄ ☃ ❄ ☃ ❄ ☃ ❄ ☃ 🎅 ❄ ☃ ❄ ☃ ❄ ☃ ❄ ☃ ❄ ☃ ❄ ☃ ❄

 

👉 One World one Dream,

🙏...Danke, Xièxie 谢谢, Thanks, Gracias, Merci, Grazie, Obrigado, Arigatô, Dhanyavad, Chokrane to you & over

14 million visits in my photostream with countless motivating comments

Hongqiao Railway Station, Shanghai

 

The modern Chinese term "Chunyun" refers to the spectacle of countless Chinese people travelling within the country during the Chinese New Year (also known as “Chunjie”, the Spring Festival), which has been described as the largest human migration. During this period, train tickets are hard to come by, motorways are clogged up and, especially in the event of bad weather, there would be huge disasters.

The root cause of this strange phenomenon is the "hukou" system that has been in place in China since the CCP came to power, a system similar to South Africa's former apartheid system that classified people into categories according to whether they were from urban or rural areas, and if they were from urban area, in which province. People in different hukou categories are treated differently. Initially, this system was designed to limit rural-urban migration, which would ensure the number of state serfs and thus the privilege of the cities to exploit the rural areas, and was aimed at Communist-led industrialisation. The initial classification of the hukou is hereditary, meaning that the children and grandchildren of a person classified as a peasant usually remain peasants unless the State orders a change in classification.

With the failure of Maoist modernisation and industrialisation (1949-1978), the peasants of the Deng era were allowed to work in the cities, but at the same time they were not allowed to obtain an urban hukou easily, and to this day they do not have all the rights to live in the cities - for example, they are not allowed to bring their parents to live in the city where they work, their children are not allowed to attend school in the city where they work, they do not have health insurance in the city where they work, and when they get old and cannot work anymore, they have to go back to their hometown. They are called "peasant workers", and their status may not be as good as that of third world immigrants who make a living in developed countries. In addition, while one with an urban hukou from other provinces can certainly go to Beijing or Shanghai to work, it may be more difficult for them to obtain a hukou of Beijing or Shanghai than it is for them to obtain the status of an immigrant in the U.S. Thus, they are in a similar position to "peasant workers", who are not allowed to have a real home with their family in the city where they work.

Chinese New Year is the longest and most important legal holiday of the year for most Chinese, and due to cultural traditions, the right to rest on this holiday is not arbitrarily taken away by employers like other legal paid holidays. So most people migrating for work have basically no other choice but to go home to their families during Chinese New Year. Combined with tourists who have no other time of the year to travel other than this time of year, the annual Chinese New Year creates the largest human migration.

 

A giant slogan across the hall reads:

Firm in faith, striving to ascend, share the same destiny, and head for the common future.

It's a huge irony for all the people who are born with different destinies under the slogan banner. The good news is that hardly anyone will give it a second glance.

 

However, there is one thing that is common to all people's treatment: to travel by train, one must endure the various formalities imposed by China's railway passenger transport.

China's railway stations, unlike most of the world's railway stations, have waiting areas that are segregated from the platforms, just like in airports. Train station staff only open the appropriate gate 15-20 minutes before a train departs to let passengers for that train onto the platform - naturally, passengers who are not for that train are still not allowed to go there. This in itself is already a hassle. In recent years, in order to strengthen social control, China's railway passenger transport has again implemented the real-name system, whereby everyone who wants to take a train must go through two ID verification gates, the first one when entering a station and before the security check, and the second one when entering a platform. It is therefore impossible to travel on China's trains without an ID, a smartphone tied to an ID or a passport (for foreigners).

Excerpt from hokuso-4cities.com/en/spots/detail/320/:

 

Omotesando Road

Narita City

 

Omotesando Road is 800 meters,which lies from JR Narita Station to Omotesando Road, leads straight to Narita’s famous Shinshoji Temple. There are inns, restaurants, and numerous souvenir shops. For over 300 years, shopkeepers here have been welcomed visitors to this town. To keep with its history and tradition, it is not out of place here to see kimono-wearing proprietors greeting their customers. Omotesando Road also has countless restaurants which serve the local delicacy of eel cuisine. Narita city opens numerous events throughout the year, and many events are opened on Omotesando street. This place is the perfect place to enjoy and participate in a traditional Japanese festival.

All rights reserved. Please do not use this or any of my images in anyway without my written permission. Please also REFRAIN FROM POSTING YOUR OWN IMAGES within my Photostream. I consider this rude and unwelcome.

  

Another shot from Calver, Derbyshire.

 

award count

www.cameralenscompare.com/photoAwardsCounterDetails.aspx?...

Icelandic folklore is riddled with countless tales of fantastic spirits that reflect the unique landscapes in which they reside, as well as people’s fear and admiration of nature.

 

This subglacial mound in southern Iceland is called Lómagnúpur and stories about it have been around for a long time. One of the oldest is the 13th century Njáls saga. Flosi is one of the main characters of the story that lived at a farm near the Svínafell glacier and he came up with the idea to burn Njál’s farm. In one of his dreams, he saw a giant coming out of the mountain and announcing the death of his people. The giant named 25 men that ended up putting Njal's farm to flames before walking back into the mountain.

 

Geologically, most of Lómagnúpur is made of palagonite, but there are also layers of pillow lava, lava columns and sediments. The lowest layers are 2.5 million years old and the highest 1.5 million. The foremost, nearly vertical cliffs (671m) shown in this picture are the highest in Iceland. Lómagnúpur is also prone to unexpected landslides; their scars are visible and detectable on the mountain and its root today. Possibly people felt dwarfed in the presence of the impressively steep and high cliffs and gave it a supernatural force; after all, this unstable creature is the home of large giants.

 

For those interested in technical details, this is a panorama of 3 horizontals captured with Nikon D750 and Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8. Handheld shots due to strong winds, framed at 24mm, 1/80s, f/9 and ISO 100.

A Twilight Sonata at Barrel Vault Manor: The Melody of Forgotten Keys

 

In the tender embrace of twilight, Barrel Vault Manor unfurls its melancholic symphony. The fading sun caresses the well-loved piano, its keys bearing the marks of countless melodies, now softened, as if inviting a gentle touch to reawaken its forgotten tunes. Outside, leaves dance in the wind, their rustles harmonizing with the soft murmur of the beaded curtains.

 

A single key is pressed, and in that moment, the air is graced with the distinct aroma of an old piano, a fragrance lingering from days of melodies past. The instrument, once vibrant with life, now stands in quiet solitude, its music waiting to be rekindled, a poignant reminder of the passage of time and the echoes of melodies that once filled the air.

_______________________________________________

 

Credits

 

∘ Dead Unicorn

 

Dead Unicorn - Barrel Vault Manor @ SL Home & Decor Weekend Sale

Dead Unicorn - Board Games Clutter

Dead Unicorn - Bead Curtain S Wooden

 

∘ .:Youneed!:.

 

.:YN:. Office Desk Bonnie Set @ SL Home & Decor Weekend Sale - Includes:

.:YN:. Office Desk Bonnie Green

 

∘ Dahlia

 

Dahlia - Raven - Wall Photo Holder - Gold @ Collabor88

Dahlia - Autumn Mood - Pomeranian in Pumpkin - RARE 2 @ Saturday Sale

Dahlia - Autumn Mood - Porcelain Pumpkins - Ivory 12 @ Saturday Sale

 

∘ Apple Fall

 

Apple Fall Original Artwork - Moon Garden Banner, Dark

Apple Fall Globe w/ Books - Black (Group Gift)

Apple Fall Enamel Teapot - White (Group Gift)

Apple Fall Jar Candle - Sapphire Musk, Open (Group Gift)

Apple Fall Basil Sproutlings (Group Gift)

AF Magazine Files (Group Gift)

 

∘ Nutmeg

 

Nutmeg. Dark Hutch / 1 @ Saturday Sale

Nutmeg. Dark Piano Chair Beige

Nutmeg. Curtain

Nutmeg. Valance

 

∘ Concept

 

Concept} 06. Tierra. Chair Fur Dark @ Happy Weekend

 

∘ Serenity Style

 

Serenity Style - Soul Whispers Piano @ SL Home & Decor Weekend Sale

 

∘ Yugen

 

Yugen.// stamp box @ SL Home & Decor Weekend Sale

 

∘ Dust Bunny

 

dust bunny . hanging plants . double planter

dust bunny . hoya plant

dust bunny . harvest feast . pumpkin slice

 

∘ Mithral

 

Mithral * Metal + Wood Desk Lamp (Pack C)

Mithral * Wall Organizer Shelf (Natural)

 

∘ [ zerkalo ]

 

[ zerkalo ] The infamous couch - Gift Fog

[ zerkalo ] Arnprior - Pumpkin Candles - GIFT

 

∘ Soy.

Soy. Super long Hanging Hedera

 

Melchar the Mage had seen many things in his scrying pool - the secrets and wonders of countless realms. But tonight he made his most terrible discovery. Tonight he realized that something was staring back.

 

Built for Summer Joust 2025: 12x12 Vignette

Italy, Venice, "Marala", a classic 1930s luxury motor yacht, integrated with the latest in modern entertainment, safety & navigation systems. The home port is Piraeus, Greece, but official flagged in Panama. The accommodation capacity offering seven comfortable cabins for a maximum of 13 yacht guests spending the nights & under normal conditions she has room for approx. 18 expert crew members to operate the yacht. The Marala has been fife times renamed, delivered in 1931 & has had just three owners in almost 90 years.

 

The steel hull, aluminium & steel superstructure yacht is 58.8 mtr long, a beam of 8.08 mtr, a deep draught of almost 4 mtr, two 750 Horse Power main engines, reaching a high speed of 15 knots = 27.78 km built with a teak wood deck by Camper & Nicholsons ship building company in Southampton, United Kingdom

 

📌 ....if you still have some 10 million++€ lying around somewhere & don't need it, you can buy the Marala with it, …just for nice weekends, photo shootings or so. Of course you need also a bit of pocket money for the monthly costs, crew, gasoline, insurance, maintenance etc. etc.

📍....but you will find out you newer knew that you have so many good friends....... cheers... 🍸

 

The lagoon city hides many picturesque places offside the tourist roads. If the buildings would be straight, painted & well maintained, I think Venice without this patina, the gondolas & gondolieri, channels, little bridges & the at all-time busy Canal Grande; all these main ingredients altogether express the romantic charm of Venice.

 

👉 One World one Dream,

🙏...Danke, Xièxie 谢谢, Thanks, Gracias, Merci, Grazie, Obrigado, Arigatô, Dhanyavad, Chokrane to you & over

16 visits in my photostream with countless motivating comments

I started my digital photography career just about two years ago. I've drooled over countless photos in or around the PNW. especially the city of Seattle. I've seen almost every composition(good ones at least) and have found a few not so popular ones that are now my favorite. I've also spent a ton of time on Google Earth mapping out new vantage points.

 

Another cool aspect of photography is the people I've met. Some of them good people but bad photographers and some of them good photographers but bad people... yeah I know right. But we all share a common interest. And I know a handful that are always looking for a never been done POV.

 

Well I came across this spot that I've eyed for a while but finally built the courage to go for it. I couldn't believe what I was seeing as it unfolded. The composition is near perfect. The icons, the lineup of the space needle and the queen Anne tower, the stadiums, the direction! I love it. I posted it to my Instagram and my Facebook! But that's what brings me to this; not a single one of my photography friends said anything about it. Most of them didn't even bother to like it. There was one person in the Seattle Photography Club with over 6000 members who mentioned the POV being "unique".

 

Maybe I expected too much? Maybe the composition sucks or I just took a horrible photo of it? Maybe I'm letting it get to me? haha

 

Anyways, here is a new comp I would like to share. Maybe someone here can at least try to guess where it's taken from. maybe someone here has seen this comp before? I'd like to see it!!

Germany Wedel, the marshland, on the left side of the photo, the Elbe Crossing 2, the river Elbe carrying each 277 mtr high pylons, two on each side of the banks of the river.

The pylons of Elbe Crossing 2 are the tallest pylons used for carrying currents for traction.

 

The mud flats & on right side of the up to 10mtr high dike, the vast, fertile marshland of the river Elbe, a flock of starlings flying over the “Nabu” nature reserve. This nature reserve is very important, migratory birds from the north & partly from the east meet for stop-over here since ever on their trip south in fall & back in spring.

 

👉 One World one Dream,

🙏...Danke, Xièxie 谢谢, Thanks, Gracias, Merci, Grazie, Obrigado, Arigatô, Dhanyavad, Chokrane to you & over

15 million visits in my photostream with countless motivating comments

Information from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Cod

 

Cape Cod

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

This article is about the area of Massachusetts. For other uses, see Cape Cod (disambiguation).

For other uses, see Cod (disambiguation).

 

Coordinates: 41°41′20″N 70°17′49″W / 41.68889°N 70.29694°W / 41.68889; -70.29694

Map of Massachusetts, with Cape Cod (Barnstable County) indicated in red

Dunes on Sandy Neck are part of the Cape's barrier beach which helps to prevent erosion

 

Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is an island and a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States. It is coextensive with Barnstable County. Several small islands right off Cape Cod, including Monomoy Island, Monomoscoy Island, Popponesset Island, and Seconsett Island, are also in Barnstable County, being part of municipalities with land on the Cape. The Cape's small-town character and large beachfront attract heavy tourism during the summer months.

 

Cape Cod was formed as the terminal moraine of a glacier, resulting in a peninsula in the Atlantic Ocean. In 1914, the Cape Cod Canal was cut through the base or isthmus of the peninsula, forming an island. The Cape Cod Commission refers to the resultant landmass as an island; as does the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in regards to disaster preparedness.[1] It is still identified as a peninsula by geographers, who do not change landform designations based on man-made canal construction.[citation needed]

 

Unofficially, it is one of the biggest barrier islands in the world, shielding much of the Massachusetts coastline from North Atlantic storm waves. This protection helps to erode the Cape shoreline at the expense of cliffs, while protecting towns from Fairhaven to Marshfield.

 

Road vehicles from the mainland cross over the Cape Cod Canal via the Sagamore Bridge and the Bourne Bridge. The two bridges are parallel, with the Bourne Bridge located slightly farther southwest. In addition, the Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge carries railway freight as well as tourist passenger services.

Contents

[hide]

 

* 1 Geography and political divisions

o 1.1 "Upper" and "Lower"

* 2 Geology

* 3 Climate

* 4 Native population

* 5 History

* 6 Lighthouses of Cape Cod

* 7 Transportation

o 7.1 Bus

o 7.2 Rail

o 7.3 Taxi

* 8 Tourism

* 9 Sport fishing

* 10 Sports

* 11 Education

* 12 Islands off Cape Cod

* 13 See also

* 14 References

o 14.1 Notes

o 14.2 Sources

o 14.3 Further reading

* 15 External links

 

[edit] Geography and political divisions

Towns of Barnstable County

historical map of 1890

 

The highest elevation on Cape Cod is 306 feet (93 m), at the top of Pine Hill, in the Bourne portion of the Massachusetts Military Reservation. The lowest point is sea level.

 

The body of water located between Cape Cod and the mainland, bordered to the north by Massachusetts Bay, is Cape Cod Bay; west of Cape Cod is Buzzards Bay. The Cape Cod Canal, completed in 1916, connects Buzzards Bay to Cape Cod Bay; it shortened the trade route between New York and Boston by 62 miles.[2] To the south of Cape Cod lie Nantucket Sound; Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, both large islands, and the mostly privately owned Elizabeth Islands.

 

Cape Cod incorporates all of Barnstable County, which comprises 15 towns: Bourne, Sandwich, Falmouth, and Mashpee, Barnstable, Yarmouth, Dennis, Harwich, Brewster, Chatham, Orleans, Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro, and Provincetown. Two of the county's fifteen towns (Bourne and Sandwich) include land on the mainland side of the Cape Cod Canal. The towns of Plymouth and Wareham, in adjacent Plymouth County, are sometimes considered to be part of Cape Cod but are not located on the island.

 

In the 17th century the designation Cape Cod applied only to the tip of the peninsula, essentially present-day Provincetown. Over the ensuing decades, the name came to mean all the land east of the Manomet and Scussett rivers - essentially the line of the 20th century Cape Cod Canal. Now, the complete towns of Bourne and Sandwich are widely considered to incorporate the full perimeter of Cape Cod, even though small parts of these towns are located on the west side of the canal. The canal divides the largest part of the peninsula from the mainland and the resultant landmass is sometimes referred to as an island.[3][4] Additionally some "Cape Codders" – residents of "The Cape" – refer to all land on the mainland side of the canal as "off-Cape."

 

For most of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, Cape Cod was considered to consist of three sections:

 

* The Upper Cape is the part of Cape Cod closest to the mainland, comprising the towns of Bourne, Sandwich, Falmouth, and Mashpee. Falmouth is the home of the famous Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and several other research organizations, and is also the most-used ferry connection to Martha's Vineyard. Falmouth is composed of several separate villages, including East Falmouth, Falmouth Village, Hatchville, North Falmouth, Teaticket, Waquoit, West Falmouth, and Woods Hole, as well as several smaller hamlets that are incorporated into their larger neighbors (e.g., Davisville, Falmouth Heights, Quissett, Sippewissett, and others).[5]

 

* The Mid-Cape includes the towns of Barnstable, Yarmouth and Dennis. The Mid-Cape area features many beautiful beaches, including warm-water beaches along Nantucket Sound, e.g., Kalmus Beach in Hyannis, which gets its name from one of the inventors of Technicolor, Herbert Kalmus. This popular windsurfing destination was bequeathed to the town of Barnstable by Dr. Kalmus on condition that it not be developed, possibly one of the first instances of open-space preservation in the US. The Mid-Cape is also the commercial and industrial center of the region. There are seven villages in Barnstable, including Barnstable Village, Centerville, Cotuit, Hyannis, Marstons Mills, Osterville, and West Barnstable, as well as several smaller hamlets that are incorporated into their larger neighbors (e.g., Craigville, Cummaquid, Hyannisport, Santuit, Wianno, and others).[6] There are three villages in Yarmouth: South Yarmouth, West Yarmouth and Yarmouthport. There are five villages in Dennis including, Dennis Village(North Dennis), East Dennis, West Dennis, South Dennis and Dennisport.[7]

 

* The Lower Cape traditionally included all of the rest of the Cape,or the towns of Harwich, Brewster, Chatham, Orleans, Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro, and Provincetown. This area includes the Cape Cod National Seashore, a national park comprising much of the outer Cape, including the entire east-facing coast, and is home to some of the most popular beaches in America, such as Coast Guard Beach and Nauset Light Beach in Eastham. Stephen Leatherman, aka "Dr. Beach", named Coast Guard Beach the 5th best beach in America for 2007.[8]

 

[edit] "Upper" and "Lower"

 

The terms "Upper" and "Lower" as applied to the Cape have nothing to do with north and south. Instead, they derive from maritime convention at the time when the principal means of transportation involved watercraft, and the prevailing westerly winds meant that a boat with sails traveling northeast in Cape Cod Bay would have the wind at its back and thus be going downwind, while a craft sailing southwest would be going against the wind, or upwind.[9] Similarly, on nearby Martha's Vineyard, "Up Island" still is the western section and "Down Island" is to the east, and in Maine, "Down East" is similarly defined by the winds and currents.

 

Over time, the reasons for the traditional nomenclature became unfamiliar and their meaning obscure. Late in the 1900s, new arrivals began calling towns from Eastham to Provincetown the "Outer Cape", yet another geographic descriptor which is still in use, as is the "Inner Cape."

[edit] Geology

Cape Cod and Cape Cod Bay from space.[10]

 

East of America, there stands in the open Atlantic the last fragment of an ancient and vanished land. Worn by the breakers and the rains, and disintegrated by the wind, it still stands bold.

“

”

Henry Beston, The Outermost House

 

Cape Cod forms a continuous archipelagic region with a thin line of islands stretching toward New York, historically known by naturalists as the Outer Lands. This continuity is due to the fact that the islands and Cape are all terminal glacial moraines laid down some 16,000 to 20,000 years ago.

 

Most of Cape Cod's geological history involves the advance and retreat of the Laurentide ice sheet in the late Pleistocene geological era and the subsequent changes in sea level. Using radiocarbon dating techniques, researchers have determined that around 23,000 years ago, the ice sheet reached its maximum southward advance over North America, and then started to retreat. Many "kettle ponds" — clear, cold lakes — were formed and remain on Cape Cod as a result of the receding glacier. By about 18,000 years ago, the ice sheet had retreated past Cape Cod. By roughly 15,000 years ago, it had retreated past southern New England. When so much of Earth's water was locked up in massive ice sheets, the sea level was lower. Truro's bayside beaches used to be a petrified forest, before it became a beach.

 

As the ice began to melt, the sea began to rise. Initially, sea level rose quickly, about 15 meters (50 ft) per 1,000 years, but then the rate declined. On Cape Cod, sea level rose roughly 3 meters (11 ft) per millennium between 6,000 and 2,000 years ago. After that, it continued to rise at about 1 meter (3 ft) per millennium. By 6,000 years ago, the sea level was high enough to start eroding the glacial deposits that the vanished continental ice sheet had left on Cape Cod. The water transported the eroded deposits north and south along the outer Cape's shoreline. Those reworked sediments that moved north went to the tip of Cape Cod.

 

Provincetown Spit, at the northern end of the Cape, consists largely of marine deposits, transported from farther up the shore. Sediments that moved south created the islands and shoals of Monomoy. So while other parts of the Cape have dwindled from the action of the waves, these parts of the Cape have grown.

Cape Cod National Seashore

 

This process continues today. Due to their position jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean, the Cape and islands are subject to massive coastal erosion. Geologists say that, due to erosion, the Cape will be completely submerged by the sea in thousands of years.[11] This erosion causes the washout of beaches and the destruction of the barrier islands; for example, the ocean broke through the barrier island at Chatham during Hurricane Bob in 1991, allowing waves and storm surges to hit the coast with no obstruction. Consequently, the sediment and sand from the beaches is being washed away and deposited elsewhere. While this destroys land in some places, it creates land elsewhere, most noticeably in marshes where sediment is deposited by waters running through them.

[edit] Climate

 

Although Cape Cod's weather[12] is typically more moderate than inland locations, there have been occasions where Cape Cod has dealt with the brunt of extreme weather situations (such as the Blizzard of 1954 and Hurricane of 1938). Because of the influence of the Atlantic Ocean, temperatures are typically a few degrees cooler in the summer and a few degrees warmer in the winter. A common misconception is that the climate is influenced largely by the warm Gulf Stream current, however that current turns eastward off the coast of Virginia and the waters off the Cape are more influenced by the cold Canadian Labrador Current. As a result, the ocean temperature rarely gets above 65 °F (18 °C), except along the shallow west coast of the Upper Cape.

 

The Cape's climate is also notorious for a delayed spring season, being surrounded by an ocean which is still cold from the winter; however, it is also known for an exceptionally mild fall season (Indian summer), thanks to the ocean remaining warm from the summer. The highest temperature ever recorded on Cape Cod was 104 °F (40 °C) in Provincetown[13], and the lowest temperature ever was −12 °F (−24.4 °C) in Barnstable.[14]

 

The water surrounding Cape Cod moderates winter temperatures enough to extend the USDA hardiness zone 7a to its northernmost limit in eastern North America.[15] Even though zone 7a (annual low = 0–5 degrees Fahrenheit) signifies no sub-zero temperatures annually, there have been several instances of temperatures reaching a few degrees below zero across the Cape (although it is rare, usually 1–5 times a year, typically depending on locale, sometimes not at all). Consequently, many plant species typically found in more southerly latitudes grow there, including Camellias, Ilex opaca, Magnolia grandiflora and Albizia julibrissin.

 

Precipitation on Cape Cod and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket is the lowest in the New England region, averaging slightly less than 40 inches (1,000 mm) a year (most parts of New England average 42–46 inches). This is due to storm systems which move across western areas, building up in mountainous regions, and dissipating before reaching the coast where the land has leveled out. The region does not experience a greater number of sunny days however, as the number of cloudy days is the same as inland locales, in addition to increased fog. Snowfall is annual, but a lot less common than the rest of Massachusetts. On average, 30 inches of snow, which is a foot less than Boston, falls in an average winter. Snow is usually light, and comes in squalls on cold days. Storms that bring blizzard conditions and snow emergencies to the mainland, bring devastating ice storms or just heavy rains more frequently than large snow storms.

[hide]Climate data for Cape Cod

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year

Average high °C (°F) 2.06

(35.7) 2.5

(36.5) 6.22

(43.2) 11.72

(53.1) 16.94

(62.5) 23.5

(74.3) 26.39

(79.5) 26.67

(80.0) 25.06

(77.1) 18.39

(65.1) 12.56

(54.6) 5.44

(41.8) 26.67

(80.0)

Average low °C (°F) -5.33

(22.4) -5

(23.0) -1.33

(29.6) 2.72

(36.9) 8.72

(47.7) 14.61

(58.3) 19.22

(66.6) 20.28

(68.5) 15.56

(60.0) 9.94

(49.9) 3.94

(39.1) -2.22

(28.0) -5.33

(22.4)

Precipitation mm (inches) 98

(3.86) 75.4

(2.97) 95

(3.74) 92.5

(3.64) 83.6

(3.29) 76.7

(3.02) 62.2

(2.45) 65

(2.56) 74.7

(2.94) 84.8

(3.34) 90.7

(3.57) 92.7

(3.65) 990.9

(39.01)

Source: World Meteorological Organisation (United Nations) [16]

[edit] Native population

 

Cape Cod has been the home of the Wampanoag tribe of Native American people for many centuries. They survived off the sea and were accomplished farmers. They understood the principles of sustainable forest management, and were known to light controlled fires to keep the underbrush in check. They helped the Pilgrims, who arrived in the fall of 1620, survive at their new Plymouth Colony. At the time, the dominant group was the Kakopee, known for their abilities at fishing. They were the first Native Americans to use large casting nets. Early colonial settlers recorded that the Kakopee numbered nearly 7,000.

 

Shortly after the Pilgrims arrived, the chief of the Kakopee, Mogauhok, attempted to make a treaty limiting colonial settlements. The effort failed after he succumbed to smallpox in 1625. Infectious diseases such as smallpox, measles and influenza caused the deaths of many other Kakopee and Wampanoag. They had no natural immunity to Eurasian diseases by then endemic among the English and other Europeans. Today, the only reminder of the Kakopee is a small public recreation area in Barnstable named for them. A historic marker notes the burial site of Mogauhok near Truro, although the location is conjecture.

 

While contractors were digging test wells in the eastern Massachusetts Military Reservation area, they discovered an archeological find.[citation needed] Excavation revealed the remains of a Kakopee village in Forestdale, a location in Sandwich. Researchers found a totem with a painted image of Mogauhok, portrayed in his chief's cape and brooch. The totem was discovered on property on Grand Oak Road. It is the first evidence other than colonial accounts of his role as an important Kakopee leader.

 

The Indians lost their lands through continued purchase and expropriation by the English colonists. The documentary Natives of the Narrowland (1993), narrated by actress Julie Harris, shows the history of the Wampanoag people through Cape Cod archaeological sites.

 

In 1974, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council was formed to articulate the concerns of those with Native American ancestry. They petitioned the federal government in 1975 and again in 1990 for official recognition of the Mashpee Wampanoag as a tribe. In May 2007, the Wampanoag tribe was finally federally recognized as a tribe.[17]

[edit] History

Cranberry picking in 1906

 

Cape Cod was a landmark for early explorers. It may have been the "Promontory of Vinland" mentioned by the Norse voyagers (985-1025). Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524 approached it from the south. He named Martha's Vineyard Claudia, after the mother of the King of France.[18] The next year the explorer Esteban Gómez called it Cape St. James.

 

In 1602 Bartholomew Gosnold named it Cape Cod, the surviving term and the ninth oldest English place-name in the U.S.[19] Samuel de Champlain charted its sand-silted harbors in 1606 and Henry Hudson landed there in 1609. Captain John Smith noted it on his map of 1614 and at last the Pilgrims entered the "Cape Harbor" and – contrary to the popular myth of Plymouth Rock – made their first landing near present-day Provincetown on November 11, 1620. Nearby, in what is now Eastham, they had their first encounter with Native Americans.

 

Cape Cod was among the first places settled by the English in North America. Aside from Barnstable (1639), Sandwich (1637) and Yarmouth (1639), the Cape's fifteen towns developed slowly. The final town to be established on the Cape was Bourne in 1884.[20] Provincetown was a group of huts until the 18th century. A channel from Massachusetts Bay to Buzzards Bay is shown on Southack's map of 1717. The present Cape Cod Canal was slowly developed from 1870 to 1914. The Federal government purchased it in 1928.

 

Thanks to early colonial settlement and intensive land use, by the time Henry Thoreau saw Cape Cod during his four visits over 1849 to 1857[21], its vegetation was depauperate and trees were scarce. As the settlers heated by fires, and it took 10 to 20 cords (40 to 80 m³) of wood to heat a home, they cleared most of Cape Cod of timber early on. They planted familiar crops, but these were unsuited to Cape Cod's thin, glacially derived soils. For instance, much of Eastham was planted to wheat. The settlers practiced burning of woodlands to release nutrients into the soil. Improper and intensive farming led to erosion and the loss of topsoil. Farmers grazed their cattle on the grassy dunes of coastal Massachusetts, only to watch "in horror as the denuded sands `walked' over richer lands, burying cultivated fields and fences." Dunes on the outer Cape became more common and many harbors filled in with eroded soils.[22]

 

By 1800, most of Cape Cod's firewood had to be transported by boat from Maine. The paucity of vegetation was worsened by the raising of merino sheep that reached its peak in New England around 1840. The early industrial revolution, which occurred through much of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, mostly bypassed Cape Cod due to a lack of significant water power in the area. As a result, and also because of its geographic position, the Cape developed as a large fishing and whaling center. After 1860 and the opening of the American West, farmers abandoned agriculture on the Cape. By 1950 forests had recovered to an extent not seen since the 18th century.

 

Cape Cod became a summer haven for city dwellers beginning at the end of the 19th century. Improved rail transportation made the towns of the Upper Cape, such as Bourne and Falmouth, accessible to Bostonians. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Northeastern mercantile elite built many large, shingled "cottages" along Buzzards Bay. The relaxed summer environment offered by Cape Cod was highlighted by writers including Joseph C. Lincoln, who published novels and countless short stories about Cape Cod folks in popular magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post and the Delineator.

 

Guglielmo Marconi made the first transatlantic wireless transmission originating in the United States from Cape Cod, at Wellfleet. The beach from which he transmitted has since been called Marconi Beach. In 1914 he opened the maritime wireless station WCC in Chatham. It supported the communications of Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, Admiral Byrd, and the Hindenburg. Marconi chose Chatham due to its vantage point on the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded on three sides by water. Walter Cronkite narrated a 17-minute documentary in 2005 about the history of the Chatham Station.

 

Much of the East-facing Atlantic seacoast of Cape Cod consists of wide, sandy beaches. In 1961, a significant portion of this coastline, already slated for housing subdivisions, was made a part of the Cape Cod National Seashore by President John F. Kennedy. It was protected from private development and preserved for public use. Large portions are open to the public, including the Marconi Site in Wellfleet. This is a park encompassing the site of the first two-way transoceanic radio transmission from the United States. (Theodore Roosevelt used Marconi's equipment for this transmission).

 

The Kennedy Compound in Hyannisport was President Kennedy's summer White House during his presidency. The Kennedy family continues to maintain residences on the compound. Other notable residents of Cape Cod have included actress Julie Harris, US Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis, figure skater Todd Eldredge, and novelists Norman Mailer and Kurt Vonnegut. Influential natives included the patriot James Otis, historian and writer Mercy Otis Warren, jurist Lemuel Shaw, and naval officer John Percival.

[edit] Lighthouses of Cape Cod

Race Point Lighthouse in Provincetown (1876)

 

Lighthouses, from ancient times, have fascinated members of the human race. There is something about a lighted beacon that suggests hope and trust and appeals to the better instincts of mankind.

“

”

Edward Rowe Snow

 

Due to its dangerous constantly moving shoals, Cape Cod's shores have featured beacons which warn ships of the danger since very early in its history. There are numerous working lighthouses on Cape Cod and the Islands, including Highland Light, Nauset Light, Chatham Light, Race Point Light, and Nobska Light, mostly operated by the U.S. Coast Guard. The exception is Nauset Light, which was decommissioned in 1996 and is now maintained by the Nauset Light Preservation Society under the auspices of Cape Cod National Seashore. These lighthouses are frequently photographed symbols of Cape Cod.

 

Others include:

 

Upper Cape: Wings Neck

 

Mid Cape: Sandy Neck, South Hyannis, Lewis Bay, Bishop and Clerks, Bass River

 

Lower Cape: Wood End, Long Point, Monomoy, Stage Harbor, Pamet, Mayo Beach, Billingsgate, Three Sisters, Nauset, Highland

[edit] Transportation

 

Cape Cod is connected to the mainland by a pair of canal-spanning highway bridges from Bourne and Sagamore that were constructed in the 1930s, and a vertical-lift railroad bridge. The limited number of access points to the peninsula can result in large traffic backups during the tourist season.

 

The entire Cape is roughly bisected lengthwise by U.S. Route 6, locally known as the Mid-Cape Highway and officially as the Grand Army of the Republic Highway.

 

Commercial air service to Cape Cod operates out of Barnstable Municipal Airport and Provincetown Municipal Airport. Several bus lines service the Cape. There are ferry connections from Boston to Provincetown, as well as from Hyannis and Woods Hole to the islands.

 

Cape Cod has a public transportation network comprising buses operated by three different companies, a rail line, taxis and paratransit services.

The Bourne Bridge over the Cape Cod Canal, with the Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge in the background

[edit] Bus

 

Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority operates a year-round public bus system comprising three long distance routes and a local bus in Hyannis and Barnstable Village. From mid June until October, additional local routes are added in Falmouth and Provincetown. CCRTA also operates Barnstable County's ADA required paratransit (dial-a-ride) service, under the name "B-Bus."

 

Long distance bus service is available through Plymouth and Brockton Street Railway, with regular service to Boston and Logan Airport, as well as less frequent service to Provincetown. Peter Pan Bus Lines also runs long distance service to Providence T.F. Green Airport and New York City.

[edit] Rail

 

Regular passenger rail service through Cape Cod ended in 1959, quite possibly on June 30 of that year. In 1978, the tracks east of South Dennis were abandoned and replaced with the very popular bicycle path, known as the Cape Cod Rail Trail. Another bike path, the Shining Sea Bikeway, was built over tracks between Woods Hole and Falmouth in 1975; construction to extend this path to North Falmouth over 6.3 miles (10.1 km) of inactive rail bed began in April 2008[23] and ended in early 2009. Active freight service remains in the Upper Cape area in Sandwich and in Bourne, largely due to a trash transfer station located at Massachusetts Military Reservation along the Bourne-Falmouth rail line. In 1986, Amtrak ran a seasonal service in the summer from New York City to Hyannis called the Cape Codder. From 1988, Amtrak and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation increased service to a daily frequency.[24] Since its demise in 1996, there have been periodic discussions about reinstating passenger rail service from Boston to reduce car traffic to and from the Cape, with officials in Bourne seeking to re-extend MBTA Commuter Rail service from Middleboro to Buzzards Bay[25], despite a reluctant Beacon Hill legislature.

 

Cape Cod Central Railroad operates passenger train service on Cape Cod. The service is primarily tourist oriented and includes a dinner train. The scenic route between Downtown Hyannis and the Cape Cod Canal is about 2½ hours round trip. Massachusetts Coastal Railroad is also planning to return passenger railroad services eventually to the Bourne-Falmouth rail line in the future. An August 5, 2009 article on the New England Cable News channel, entitled South Coast rail project a priority for Mass. lawmakers, mentions a $1.4-billion railroad reconstruction plan by Governor Deval Patrick, and could mean rebuilding of old rail lines on the Cape. On November 21, 2009, the town of Falmouth saw its first passenger train in 12 years, a set of dinner train cars from Cape Cod Central. And a trip from the Mass Bay Railroad Enthusiasts on May 15, 2010 revealed a second trip along the Falmouth line.

[edit] Taxi

 

Taxicabs are plentiful, with several different companies operating out of different parts of the Cape. Except at the airport and some bus terminals with taxi stands, cabs must be booked ahead of time, with most operators preferring two to three hours notice. Cabs cannot be "hailed" anywhere in Barnstable County, this was outlawed in the early nineties after several robbery attempts on drivers.

 

Most companies utilize a New York City-style taximeter and charge based on distance plus an initial fee of $2 to $3. In Provincetown, cabs charge a flat fare per person anywhere in the town.

[edit] Tourism

Hyannis Harbor on Nantucket Sound

 

Although Cape Cod has a year-round population of about 230,000, it experiences a tourist season each summer, the beginning and end of which can be roughly approximated as Memorial Day and Labor Day, respectively. Many businesses are specifically targeted to summer visitors, and close during the eight to nine months of the "off season" (although the "on season" has been expanding somewhat in recent years due to Indian Summer, reduced lodging rates, and the number of people visiting the Cape after Labor Day who either have no school-age children, and the elderly, reducing the true "off season" to six or seven months). In the late 20th century, tourists and owners of second homes began visiting the Cape more and more in the spring and fall, softening the definition of the high season and expanding it somewhat (see above). Some particularly well-known Cape products and industries include cranberries, shellfish (particularly oysters and clams) and lobstering.

 

Provincetown, at the tip of Cape Cod, also berths several whale watching fleets who patrol the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Most fleets guarantee a whale sighting (mostly humpback whale, fin whale, minke whale, sei whale, and critically endangered, the North Atlantic Right Whale), and one is the only federally certified operation qualified to rescue whales. Provincetown has also long been known as an art colony, attracting writers and artists. The town is home to the Cape's most attended art museum, the Provincetown Art Association and Museum. Many hotels and resorts are friendly to or cater to gay and lesbian tourists and it is known as a gay mecca in the summer.[26]

 

Cape Cod is a popular destination for beachgoers from all over. With 559.6 miles (900.6 km) of coastline, beaches, both public and private, are easily accessible. The Cape has upwards of sixty public beaches, many of which offer parking for non-residents for a daily fee (in summer). The Cape Cod National Seashore has 40 miles (64 km) of sandy beach and many walking paths.

 

Cape Cod is also popular for its outdoor activities like beach walking, biking, boating, fishing, go-karts, golfing, kayaking, miniature golf, and unique shopping. There are 27 public, daily-fee golf courses and 15 private courses on Cape Cod.[27] Bed and breakfasts or vacation houses are often used for lodging.

 

Each summer the Naukabout Music Festival is held at the Barnstable County Fair Grounds located in East Falmouth,(typically) during the first weekend of August. This Music festival features local, regional and national talent along with food, arts and family friendly activities.

[edit] Sport fishing

 

Cape Cod is known around the world as a spring-to-fall destination for sport anglers. Among the species most widely pursued are striped bass, bluefish, bluefin tuna, false albacore (little tunny), bonito, tautog, flounder and fluke. The Cape Cod Bay side of the Cape, from Sandwich to Provincetown, has several harbors, saltwater creeks, and shoals that hold bait fish and attract the larger game fish, such as striped bass, bluefish and bluefin tuna.

 

The outer edge of the Cape, from Provincetown to Falmouth, faces the open Atlantic from Provincetown to Chatham, and then the more protected water of Nantucket and Vineyard Sounds, from Chatham to Falmouth. The bays, harbors and shoals along this coastline also provide a robust habitat for game species, and during the late summer months warm-water species such as mahi-mahi and marlin will also appear on the southern edge of Cape Cod's waters. Nearly every harbor on Cape Cod hosts sport fishing charter boats, which run from May through October.[28]

[edit] Sports

 

The Cape has nine amateur baseball franchises playing within Barnstable County in the Cape Cod Baseball League. The Wareham Gatemen also play in the Cape Cod Baseball League in nearby Wareham, Massachusetts in Plymouth County. The league originated 1923, although intertown competition traces to 1866. Teams in the league are the Bourne Braves, Brewster Whitecaps, Chatham Anglers (formerly the Chatham Athletics), Cotuit Kettleers, Falmouth Commodores, Harwich Mariners, Hyannis Harbor Hawks (formerly the Hyannis Mets), Orleans Firebirds (formerly the Orleans Cardinals), Wareham Gatemen and the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox. Pro ball scouts frequent the games in the summer, looking for stars of the future.

 

Cape Cod is also a national hot bed for baseball and hockey. Along with the Cape Cod Baseball League and the new Junior Hockey League team, the Cape Cod Cubs, many high school players are being seriously recruited as well. Barnstable and Harwich have each sent multiple players to Division 1 colleges for baseball, Harwich has also won three State titles in the past 12 years (1996, 2006, 2007). Bourne and Sandwich, known rivals in hockey have won state championships recently. Bourne in 2004, and Sandwich in 2007. Nauset, Barnstable, and Martha's Vineyard are also state hockey powerhouses. Barnstable and Falmouth also hold the title of having one of the longest Thanksgiving football rivalries in the country. The teams have played each other every year on the Thanksgiving since 1895. The Bourne and Barnstable girl's volleyball teams are two of the best teams in the state and Barnstable in the country. With Bourne winning the State title in 2003 and 2007. In the past 15 years, Barnstable has won 12 Division 1 State titles and has won the state title the past two years.

 

The Cape also is home to the Cape Cod Frenzy, a team in the American Basketball Association.

 

Soccer on Cape Cod is represented by the Cape Cod Crusaders, playing in the USL Premier Development League (PDL) soccer based in Hyannis. In addition, a summer Cape Cod Adult Soccer League (CCASL) is active in several towns on the Cape.

 

Cape Cod is also the home of the Cape Cod Cubs, a new junior league hockey team that is based out of Hyannis at the new communtiy center being built of Bearses Way.

 

The end of each summer is marked with the running of the world famous Falmouth Road Race which is held on the 3rd Saturday in August. It draws about 10,000 runners to the Cape and showcases the finest runners in the world (mainly for the large purse that the race is able to offer). The race is 7.2 miles (11.6 km) long, which is a non-standard distance. The reason for the unusual distance is that the man who thought the race up (Tommy Leonard) was a bartender who wanted a race along the coast from one bar (The Cap'n Kidd in Woods Hole) to another (The Brothers Four in Falmouth Heights). While the bar in Falmouth Heights is no longer there, the race still starts at the front door of the Cap'n Kidd in Woods Hole and now finishes at the beach in Falmouth Heights. Prior to the Falmouth race is an annual 5-mile (8.0 km) race through Brewster called the Brew Run, held early in August.

[edit] Education

 

Each town usually consists of a few elementary schools, one or two middle schools and one large public high school that services the entire town. Exceptions to this include Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School located in Yarmouth which services both the town of Yarmouth as well as Dennis and Nauset Regional High School located in Eastham which services the town of Brewster, Orleans, Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro, and Provincetown (optional). Bourne High School is the public school for students residing in the town of Bourne, which is gathered from villages in Bourne, including Sagamore, Sagamore Beach, and Buzzards Bay. Barnstable High School is the largest high school and is known for its girls' volleyball team which have been state champions a total of 12 times. Barnstable High School also boasts one of the country's best high school drama clubs which were awarded with a contract by Warner Brothers to created a documentary in webisode format based on their production of Wizard of Oz. Sturgis Charter Public School is a public school in Hyannis which was featured in Newsweek's Magazine's "Best High Schools" ranking. It ranked 28th in the country and 1st in the state of Massachusetts in the 2009 edition and ranked 43rd and 55th in the 2008 and 2007 edition, respectively. Sturgis offers the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in their junior and senior year and is open to students as far as Plymouth. The Cape also contains two vocational high schools. One is the Cape Cod Regional Technical High School in Harwich and the other is Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical High School located in Bourne. Lastly, Mashpee High School is home to the Mashpee Chapter of (SMPTE,) the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. This chapter is the first and only high school chapter in the world to be a part of this organization and has received much recognition within the Los Angeles broadcasting industry as a result. The officers of this group who have made history are listed below:

 

* President: Ryan D. Stanley '11

* Vice-President Kenneth J. Peters '13

* Treasurer Eric N. Bergquist '11

* Secretary Andrew L. Medlar '11

 

In addition to public schools, Cape Cod has a wide range of private schools. The town of Barnstable has Trinity Christian Academy, Cape Cod Academy, St. Francis Xavier Preparatory School, and Pope John Paul II High School. Bourne offers the Waldorf School of Cape Cod, Orleans offers the Lighthouse Charter School for elementary and middle school students, and Falmouth offers Falmouth Academy. Riverview School is located in East Sandwich and is a special co-ed boarding school which services students as old as 22 who have learning disabilities. Another specialized school is the Penikese Island School located on Penikese Island, part of the Elizabeth Islands off southwestern Cape Cod, which services struggling and troubled teenage boys.

 

Cape Cod also contains two institutions of higher education. One is the Cape Cod Community College located in West Barnstable, Barnstable. The other is Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay, Bourne. Massachusetts Maritime Academy is the oldest continuously operating maritime college in the United States.

[edit] Islands off Cape Cod

 

Like Cape Cod itself, the islands south of the Cape have evolved from whaling and trading areas to resort destinations, attracting wealthy families, celebrities, and other tourists. The islands include Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, as well as Forbes family-owned Naushon Island, which was purchased by John Murray Forbes with profits from opium dealing in the China trade during the Opium War. Naushon is one of the Elizabeth Islands, many of which are privately owned. One of the publicly accessible Elizabeths is the southernmost island in the chain, Cuttyhunk, with a year-round population of 52 people. Several prominent families have established compounds or estates on the larger islands, making these islands some of the wealthiest resorts in the Northeast, yet they retain much of the early merchant trading and whaling culture.

www.ravishlondon.com/londonstreetart

   

Together Shoreditch and Spitalfields in the East of London constitute the most exciting place to be in London. The population is young, dynamic and imaginative; Friday and Saturday nights are a riot with a plethora of bars and clubs many with their own unique flavour. But what makes this area really special is that Shoreditch and Spitalfields comprise what one might call, ‘the square mile of art’; a de factor open air art gallery; with graffiti, posters and paste-ups being displayed on the main streets, down the side roads and in all the nooks and crannies of this post-industrial environ.

   

From Eine’s huge single letters being painted on shop shutters, to the haunting propaganda posters of Obey, to Cartrain’s political black and white pop-art; and to the one very small bronze coloured plastic circle, with the imprint of a dog shit and a man's foot about to step into it, which I once saw pasted to a wall, there is an incredible diversity.

 

Being on the streets, the work can be destroyed, taken or painted over at any minute. It is fragile and transient. Furthermore the juxtaposition of different pieces of art is random and unpredictable both in content and its location, which means that each day throws up a new and unique configuration of work within the streets, which you can only experience by travelling through the city.

 

Street Art Beginnings

 

The reasons for why East London has seen the flowering of street art are manifold. The post-industrial legacy of Shoreditch’s crumbling low-rise warehouses, not only provides an environment in which the artists and designers can do their work, but East London’s proximity to the City of London provides an economic source of support for the artists and designers; and finally Shoreditch with its building sites, old dilapidated warehouses provides a canvas upon which those artists can display their work and increase their commercial value.

 

Set against the characterless nature of the steely post-modernity of the city, the autumnal colours of the terraced warehouses in Shoreditch, no bigger than four to five stories high; offer a reminder of the legacy of a thriving fabrics and furniture industry which blossomed in the seventeenth Century. Both Shoreditch and Spitalfields have industrial pasts linked to the textiles industry, which fell into terminal decline by the twentieth century and was almost non-existent by the end of Wolrd War II. The decline was mirrored in the many three to four storey warehouses that were left to decay.

 

The general decline was arrested in the 1980s with the emergence of Shoreditch and Hoxton (Hoxton and Shoreditch are used interchandeably to refer to the same area) as a centre for new artists. It is difficult to say what attracted the artists to this area. But it was likely to be a combination of the spaces offered by the old warehouses, the cheap rents, and the location of Shoreditch and Spitalfields close to the City of London; where the money was to buy and fund artistic endeavour.

 

Not just that but post-war Shoreditch dominated by tens of post-war tower blocks, built amidst the ruins of the terraced housing that lay there before, which was bombed during World War II; had the rough edge which might inspire an artist. Shoreditch hums with the industry of newly arrived immigrants but also of the dangers of the poorer communities which inhabit these areas. Homeless people can be found sat underneath bridges on the main thoroughfares on Friday and Saturday nights; and Shoreditch is apparently home to one of the largest concentrations of striptease joints and a number of prostitutes. So, Shoreditch is a crumbling dirty, dodgy, polluted mess but it also has money; and these two factors provide an intoxicating mix for artists, who can take inspiration from their environment, but also rub shoulders with people who have the kind of money to buy their work.

 

By the early nineties Hoxton’s reputation as a centre for artists had become well established. As Jess Cartner-Morley puts it ‘Hoxton was invented in 1993. Before that, there was only 'Oxton, a scruffy no man's land of pie and mash and cheap market-stall clothing…’ At that time artists like Damien Hirst and Tracy Emin were taking part in ‘A Fete Worth than Death’ an arts based event in Hoxton. Gradually these artists began to create their own gravity, attracting more and more of their own like. Clubs and bars began to emerge, as did a Hoxton style, ‘the Hoxton fin’ being a trademark haircut. Many designers and artists located around Shoreditch and Spitalfields. Shoreditch has also become a hive of studios for artists, vintage fashion shops, art students and musicians.

 

At the same time as an artistic community was forming fuelled by money from the City, London was subject to a revolution in street art. According to Ward, writing for Time Out, the street art scene began in the mid-1980s as part of London’s hip-hop scene. Graffiti artists, emulating what was going on Stateside, began to tag their names all over London. According to Ward many of those pioneers ‘went on to paint legal commissions and are at the heart of today’s scene’. That is to say, from the community of artists congregating in East London, a number were inspired by graffiti, and because the East London, with its countless dilapidated warehouses, and building sites, offered such a good canvas; they went on to use the East London as a canvas for their work.

 

Little seems to have been written about the individual journey’s particular street artists have taken to get to where they are, which help illuminate some of the issues talked about in this section. Cartrain said that Banksy was a huge influence for him commenting that, "I've sent him a few emails showing him my work and he sent me a signed piece of his work in the post."

 

What created the East London street art scene may also kill it

 

The East London urban art scene is unlikely to last forever, being the symptom of a delicate juxtaposition of industrial decline and economic forces.

 

The irony is that the same factors which are responsible for the creation of the East London art scene are likely to destroy it.

 

Politicians from all parties, spiritual leaders for global capital, tell us of the unstoppable forces of globalisation. They say if Britain is to continue to dip its paw into the cream of the world’s wealth it needs to become a post-industrial service economy; suggesting a rosy future of millions of Asians slaving away co-ordinated by keyboard tapping British suits, feet on desk, leant back on high backed leather chairs, secretary blowing them off.

 

Art, which is feeble and dependent upon the financial growth of an economy for its survival, will have to shape itself around the needs and demands of capital.

 

The financial district of the City of London, lying to the south of Shoreditch, has been successfully promoted as a global financial centre, and its mighty power is slowly expanding its way northwards. Plans are afoot for the glass foot soldiers of mammon, fuelled by speculative property investment, to gradually advance northwards, replacing old warehouses with a caravan of Starbucks and Japanese sushi places and a concomitant reduction in dead spaces to portray the art, increased security to capture and ward off street artists, increased property prices and the eventual eviction of the artistic community. Spitalfields has already had big corporate sized chunks taken out of it, with one half of the old Spitalfields Market being sacrificed for corporate interests in the last five years.

 

So then the very same financial forces, and post-industrial legacy, which have worked to create this micro-environment for street art to thrive, are the same forces which will in time eventually destroy it. Maybe the community will move northwards, maybe it will dissipate, but until that moment lets just enjoy what the community puts out there, for its own financial interests, for their own ego and also, just maybe, for the benefit of the people.

 

Banksy

 

Banksy is the street artist par excellence. London’s street art scene is vibrant and diverse. There is some good, cure, kitschy stuff out there, but in terms of creativity and imagination Banksy leads by a city mile. His stuff is invariably shocking, funny, thought provoking and challenging.

 

Banksy considers himself to be a graffiti artist, which is what he grew up doing in the Bristol area in the late eighties. According to Hattenstone (2003) Banksy, who was expelled from his school, and who spent some time in prison for petty crimes, started graffiti at the age of 14, quickly switching over to stencils, which he uses today, because he didn’t find he had a particular talent for the former. His work today involves a mixture of graffiti and stencils although he has shown a capacity for using a multitude of materials.

 

Key works in London have included:

 

•In London Zoo he climbed into the penguin enclosure and painted "We're bored of fish" in six-foot-high letters.

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•In 2004 he placed a dead rat in a glass-fronted box, and stuck the box on a wall of the Natural History Museum.

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•‘A designated riot area’ at the bottom of Nelson’s Column.

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•He placed a painting called Early Man Goes to Market, with a human figure hunting wildlife while pushing a shopping trolley, in the British Museum.

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His work seems to be driven by an insatiable desire to go on producing. In an interview with Shepherd Fairey he said, ‘Anything that stands in the way of achieving that piece is the enemy, whether it’s your mum, the cops, someone telling you that you sold out, or someone saying, "Let’s just stay in tonight and get pizza." Banksy gives the impression of being a person in the mould of Tiger Woods, Michael Schumacher or Lance Armstrong. Someone with undoubted talent and yet a true workaholic dedicated to his chosen profession.

 

Its also driven by the buzz of ‘getting away with it’. He said to Hattenstone, ‘The art to it is not getting picked up for it, and that's the biggest buzz at the end of the day because you could stick all my shit in Tate Modern and have an opening with Tony Blair and Kate Moss on roller blades handing out vol-au-vents and it wouldn't be as exciting as it is when you go out and you paint something big where you shouldn't do. The feeling you get when you sit home on the sofa at the end of that, having a fag and thinking there's no way they're going to rumble me, it's amazing... better than sex, better than drugs, the buzz.’

 

Whilst Banksy has preferred to remain anonymous he does provide a website and does the occasional interview putting his work in context (see the Fairey interview).

 

Banksy’s anonymity is very important to him. Simon Hattenstone, who interviewed Banksy in 2003, said it was because graffiti was illegal, which makes Banksy a criminal. Banksy has not spoken directly on why he wishes to maintain his anonymity. It is clear that Banksy despises the notion of fame. The irony of course is that ‘Banksy’ the brand is far from being anonymous, given that the artist uses it on most if not all of his work. In using this brand name Banksy helps fulfil the need, which fuels a lot of graffiti artists, of wanting to be recognised, the need of ego.

 

Banksy is not against using his work to ‘pay the bills’ as he puts it. He has for example designed the cover of a Blur album, although he has pledged never to do a commercial job again, as a means of protecting his anonymity. Nevertheless he continues to produce limited edition pieces, which sell in galleries usually for prices, which give him a bit of spending money after he has paid the bills. Banksy has said, ‘If it’s something you actually believe in, doing something commercial doesn’t turn it to shit just because it’s commercial’ (Fairey, 2008). Banksy has over time passed from urban street artist into international artistic superstar, albeit an anonymous one.

 

Banksy has a definite concern for the oppressed in society. He often does small stencils of despised rats and ridiculous monkeys with signs saying things to the effect of ‘laugh now but one day we’ll be in charge’. Whilst some seem to read into this that Banksy is trying to ferment a revolutionary zeal in the dispossessed, such that one day they will rise up and slit the throats of the powers that be, so far his concern seems no more and no less than just a genuine human concern for the oppressed. Some of what seems to fuel his work is not so much his hatred of the system but at being at the bottom of it. He said to Hattenstone (2003) ‘Yeah, it's all about retribution really… Just doing a tag is about retribution. If you don't own a train company then you go and paint on one instead. It all comes from that thing at school when you had to have name tags in the back of something - that makes it belong to you. You can own half the city by scribbling your name over it’

 

Charlie Brooker of the Guardian has criticised Banksy for his depictions of a monkey wearing a sandwich board with 'lying to the police is never wrong' written on it. Certainly such a black and white statement seems out of kilter with more balanced assessments that Banksy has made. Brooker challenges Banksy asking whether Ian Huntley would have been right to have lied to the police?

 

Brooker has also criticized Banksy for the seemingly meaninglessness of some of this images. Brooker says, ‘Take his political stuff. One featured that Vietnamese girl who had her clothes napalmed off. Ho-hum, a familiar image, you think. I'll just be on my way to my 9 to 5 desk job, mindless drone that I am. Then, with an astonished lurch, you notice sly, subversive genius Banksy has stencilled Mickey Mouse and Ronald McDonald either side of her. Wham! The message hits you like a lead bus: America ... um ... war ... er ... Disney ... and stuff.’ Brooker has seemingly oversimplified Banksy’s message, if indeed Banksy has one, to fuel his own criticisms. It is easy to see that for many the Vietnam painting tells us that the United States likes to represent itself with happy smiling characters, that hide the effects of its nefarious activities responsible for the real life faces of distress seen on the young girl. Something that we should be constantly reminded of. But then that’s a matter of politics not of meaninglessness.

 

Banksy’s ingenuity comes through in his philosophy on progression, ‘I’m always trying to move on’ he says. In the interview he gave with Shepherd Fairey he explained that he has started reinvesting his money in to new more ambitious projects which have involved putting scaffolding put up against buildings, covering the scaffolding with plastic sheeting and then using the cover of the sheets to do his paintings unnoticed.

 

Banksy has balls. Outside of London he has painted images in Disney Land; and on the Israeli wall surrounding Palestine. How far is he willing to push it? What about trying something at the headquarters of the BNP, or on army barracks, or at a brothel or strip club employing sex slaves, or playing around with corporate advertising a la Adbusters?

 

www.ravishlondon.com/londonstreetart

     

COUNTLESS DROPS DANCING ON THIS SEA

 

I've walked past this natural landmark countless times and I see and feel something different here every time.

I walked in the early days of the first lockdown and paused here to call my late mum to talk her through taking her medications. She was recently widowed at the time and was in the early stages of Alzheimer's and dementia, so she was having to learn again to be independent, with support.

Her late husband had done everything for her (out of love)

At this stage in the walk I will have done the uphill slog up through East Farndon village, and then the walk evens out across vast open fields following the Jurassic Way long distance footpath on my way to Sibbertoft.

This walk has become a kind of pilgrimage that I've walked sometimes with loved ones, but often alone.

It gave me head space throughout those difficult days of Covid and brings me pleasure now, especially as it's a walk that I can do from my own doorstep.

 

Half The World Away

I have already visited countless times when shooting around Mt. Fuji

"Shiraito no water fall" in Fujinomiya City, Shizuoka Prefecture

The appearance of hanging innumerable threads to us It brings a great refreshing feeling.

Moreover, most of the underground water flows directly from the cliff.

Minus Io that is out and the surrounding area is always comfortable Wrapped in.

One of the countless gothic churches in Paris, France.

day 55 of 365 days project.

 

everything happens for a reason, we've all been told this countless times in our life and have hopefully spread this important message onward. this school year alone has taught me so much about fate. the development of events outside a person's control is what makes the best and worst part of our lives--but we learn from it. we learn from every aspect of it, but not always all at the same time. when you wake up out of your innocent sleep and start your day only to have life turn off that light at the end of the tunnel and leave you in what seems like the darkest state of confusion--that's when you really need something to take you, guide you, and carry you in the wind's new direction of that time.

 

what if fate could be captured in a photograph? what would fate look like? is fate the person you fall in love with? maybe it's the city you moved to, acting as a base for how the rest of this chapter ends. regardless, it's out of your control--just like the moment you let go of that paper airplane and realize "this could either carry itself perfectly or just immediately crash." this photo shows these planes staying in flight, constantly cycling, lingering, and letting the wind take them exactly where it needs to go. oh, how life would be so pretty if this were to happen!

 

thank you to everyone that helped me make, stick, and hang these airplanes everywhere! and you thought these were photoshopped...hehe

 

blog.

facebook.

instagram.

when the road ahead is the road you’ve looked down countless times past. when you’ve never looked back before today, but today you pause. the first time on this path that you pause and start to turn your head, but the instant the light starts seeping into the corners of your heart from behind, you close your eyes and the tear that trickles down is full to bursting with whys. when you wake and the world ahead is blurred and foggy, but the eerie voice that thrives in the mist whispers and whispers and whispers the promises you know couldn’t be kept disembodied. the ones you want kept and broken all in one painful mixture of joy and trepidation. the ecstasy of st. theresa deprived the deus ex machina. instead, just the stark frigid grip in your chest that wrests cries from your throat unheard of by man or god in this destitute history of earth. when cries of grief and perdition, suffering and sublimation, diversion, fuse into that irredeemable, catatonic, coagulate mixture. when you press your palm to your face so hard the nails dig in because you know that lingering scent, and if only you could remember its origin, which aches with the power and sickening beauty of the unanswered. when today was the day you almost looked back for the first time. but you didn’t. what do you do.

SN/NC: Aloe Barbadensis, Xanthorrhoeaceae Family

 

This sculptural succulent, Aloe barbadensis, is a powerhouse of natural wellness. Beyond its renowned ability to soothe skin, its clear gel is a cornerstone of the haircare industry. Prized in countless shampoos and conditioners, it hydrates the scalp, strengthens strands, and imparts a healthy shine. Known as both Aloe Vera and Babosa, this plant is a living fusion of botanical beauty and profound practical use.

 

Esta suculenta escultural, Aloe barbadensis, é uma potência do bem-estar natural. Além de sua renomada capacidade de acalmar a pele, seu gel transparente é um pilar da indústria de cuidados capilares. Valorizado em inúmeros shampoos e condicionadores, hidrata o couro cabeludo, fortalece os fios e confere um brilho saudável. Conhecida como Aloe Vera e Babosa, esta planta é uma fusão viva de beleza botânica e uso prático profundo.

 

Esta suculenta escultural, Aloe barbadensis, es un prodigio del bienestar natural. Más allá de su renombrada capacidad para calmar la piel, su gel transparente es un pilar de la industria del cuidado capilar. Valorado en innumerables champús y acondicionadores, hidrata el cuero cabelludo, fortalece las hebras e imparte un brillo saludable. Conocida como Aloe Vera y Babosa, esta planta es una fusión viviente de belleza botánica y uso práctico profundo.

 

Questa succulenta scultorea, Aloe barbadensis, è una potente fonte di benessere naturale. Oltre alla sua rinomata capacità di lenire la pelle, il suo gel trasparente è un pilastro dell'industria della cura dei capelli. Prezioso in innumerevoli shampoo e balsami, idrata il cuoio capelluto, rinforza le ciocche e dona una lucentezza sana. Conosciuta come Aloe Vera e Babosa, questa pianta è una fusione vivente di bellezza botanica e profonda utilità pratica.

 

Cette succulente sculpturale, Aloe barbadensis, est une puissance de bien-être naturel. Au-delà de sa renommée pour apaiser la peau, son gel clair est un pilier de l'industrie du soin capillaire. Prisé dans d'innombrables shampoings et après-shampoings, il hydrate le cuir chevelu, renforce les mèches et leur donne un éclat sain. Connue sous le nom d'Aloe Vera et de Babosa, cette plante est une fusion vivante de beauté botanique et d'utilité pratique profonde.

 

Deze sculpturale vetplant, Aloe barbadensis, is een krachtpatser van natuurlijk welzijn. Naast het vermogen de huid te verzachten, is de heldere gel een hoeksteen van de haarverzorgingsindustrie. Gewaardeerd in talloze shampoos en conditioners, hydrateert het de hoofdhuid, versterkt het de haren en geeft het een gezonde glans. Bekend als Aloe Vera en Babosa, is deze plant een levende fusie van botanische schoonheid en diepgaand praktisch nut.

 

Diese skulpturhafte Sukkulente, Aloe barbadensis, ist eine Powerquelle natürlicher Wellness. Neben ihrer bekannten Fähigkeit, die Haut zu beruhigen, ist ihr klares Gel eine tragende Säule der Haarpflegeindustrie. Geschätzt in unzähligen Shampoos und Conditionern, spendet es der Kopfhaut Feuchtigkeit, stärkt die Strähnen und verleiht einen gesunden Glanz. Bekannt als Aloe Vera und Babosa, ist diese Pflanze eine lebendige Verbindung aus botanischer Schönheit und tiefgründigem praktischem Nutzen.

 

这种形态优美的多肉植物——Aloe barbadensis，是天然保健的宝库。除了众所周知的舒缓肌肤功效，其透明凝胶更是护发产业的主力之一。在无数的洗发水和护发素中备受推崇，它能滋润头皮，强韧发丝，并带来健康光泽。被称为芦荟（Aloe Vera）和巴巴萨（Babosa）的它，是植物之美与深刻实用价值的生动融合。

 

この彫刻的な多肉植物、アロエ・バーベデンシスは、自然の健康の宝庫です。肌を鎮める効果で知られるだけでなく、その透明なジェルはヘアケア産業の主力です。数多くのシャンプーやコンディショナーで高く評価され、頭皮を保湿し、髪を強化し、健康的な輝きを与えます。アロエベラおよびバボサとして知られるこの植物は、植物の美しさと深遠な実用性の生ける融合です。

 

هذا النبات العصاري المميز، ألوي باربادنسيس، هو قوة في العناية الطبيعية. إلى جانب قدرته المشهورة على تهدئة البشرة، فإن هلامه الصافي هو دعامة أساسية في صناعة العناية بالشعر. يُقَدَّر في عدد لا يحصى من الشامبو والبلسم، فهو يرطب فروة الرأس، ويقوي خصلات الشعر، ويمنحها لمعانًا صحيًا. تُعرف باسم الألوفيرا والبابوسا، هذا النبات هو مزيج حي من الجمال النباتي والاستخدام العملي العميق.

After having taken a photograph there are countless possibilities how to proceed in post processing. Sometimes this can give me quite a headache as with this image. I liked the subject and composition but wasn't quite sure how to really "absorb" the viewer into the forest. I tried a lot of different processing options and ended with a photo I liked but there was still something missing. After uploading it on Flickr I even replaced it three times but each version didn't feel "right" either...

 

So I forgot about the picture for a week or so until I came about a photography competition by the www.lens-flare.de/blog. I had another look at my photo and this time I tried a completely different approach by converting it into black and white, realizing that the colors had "distracted" me before. Now I was quite happy with the result and submitted it. Well, and guess what -- I even won the competition with my picture, which was quite a shock (albeit a pleasant one) for me.

 

I guess there are always countless possibilities -- not only with a certain subject but also what to do about it after having taken the photograph. And sometimes it pays off to just wait a few days and think about it before uploading it. So what do you think? Does it look better now? Or just different? I welcome your opinions...

 

This was taken six weeks before I left the great land and this was my last epic chase on the south end of Frank Keller's and my beloved black geeps. These shots were ones I wanted for 10 yrs and it all came together with little time to spare as my decade in Alaska was nearing its end.

 

Here is the story as written on that day:

 

"So I got out trackside today for a quick little chase of a 120S from Anchorage to Bear Valley thanks to a tip from Frank Keller. The timing and lightning were perfect and I decided to try a shot I've had my eye on for 10 years. While I've shot here at this iconic Placer Creek location countless times, I've never waded down into the creek. In the summer the willows are too green and thick and it will be much more obscured. In winter the snow can get really deep here and the river will ice over, so the window for open water and no brush is pretty narrow.

 

But the really hard part is finding a train at exactly the right time in good light. Well today it all came together. I followed the train all the way south shooting along the arm and then after watching him diverge at Portage Junction I buzzed down the road towards Whittier. For whatever reason he took quite a bit longer to get there than usual. This was good and bad. It was nice that it afforded me plenty of time to wade down there and find my angle, but less than ideal in the 15 degree temps out in the creek. I found a nice dry rock to lay on to get the low angle I wanted and then waited.

 

The problem always with this spot is that you have no warning of the train approaching. You can't see it and you can't hear it due to the mile long tunnel he traverses before crossing the creek and the fact that the rolling water and occasional vehicle traffic mask any hint of sound emanating from the tunnel such that by the time you do hear him approach you have two seconds. Hence, in order not to miss your shot (and trust me I have more than once!) you have to have your camera positioned and ready.

 

But, one benefit today with the cold dry air was the gentle cloud wafting out of the tunnel from the heaters that keep the portals from icing over. As soon as the train entered the tunnel it began pushing the exhaust and warm air ahead of it so the cloud got progressively larger giving me a nice four minute warning this time!

 

I thought these two shots of the two distinct clouds coming from the tunnel were just kind of cool."

 

Then moments after the smoke cloud began to grow the train popped out and the moment 10 yrs in the making was finally captured!

 

ARR 3006 leads 120S at Bear Valley, AK

Friday November 15, 2017

Continuing the series of photos on the theme. This image reflects time. The freezing of an instant is its countless possibilities of existence.

 

Photo creative language - Part 3

Boardwalk through the Lorance Creek Natural Area, near Little Rock, Arkansas. The Natural Area is jointly owned and managed by the Nature Conservancey and the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission. The 390 acres of the Natural Area preserve a shallow, groundwater-fed swamp. A short, paved trail (ADA accessible) first cuts through an upland pine-oak forest before a wooden boardwalk stretches out over the swamp. From there you have a great view of a mosaic of cypress and tupelo trees. In the preserve, you can find over 600 species of plants, along with 125 bird species and 25 reptile and amphibian species (along with countless mosquitoes).

Een kleurrijk landschap door de vele bollenvelden met duizenden bloemen. Ook tussen Hoorn en Enkuizen (West-Friesland) zijn prachtige velden te vinden.

 

Oosterleek, Nederland

 

A colorful landscape due to the many bulb fields with thousands of flowers. Also between Hoorn and Enkhuizen (region West-Friesland) many beautiful fields can be found.

 

Oosterleek, The Netherlands

hannover central station, a nexus where countless stories intersect. through a kaleidoscope of reflections, life unfolds in layers. a moment, fleeting yet full, as strangers share a platform, each absorbed in their own world. the cold bite of the morning air contrasts with the warmth that lingers behind the glass. colors blur, a vivid streak across the canvas of daily commute. here, a figure stands out, cloaked in contemplation, their gaze fixed on a destination unseen. another, a silhouette against the morning rush, finds solace in the sanctuary of her thoughts. this image, a snapshot of transient solitude amidst the communal rhythm of travel, captures the quiet intimacy of public spaces, where every passerby is a story, every reflection a window into another life.

Netherlands, Ruigenhoek, … an overwhelming ocean of countless tulips between Lisse/Keukenhof & the village of Ruigenhoek.

a close-up of a fraction of a tulip field with millions of tulips in one colour next to a number of other fields with differently coloured tulips, hyacinths & daffodils between the road to the village of Ruigenhoek & the Keukenhof Park.

 

The Keukenhof is one of the world's largest flower gardens, therefor as known as the Garden of Europe, situated near Lisse.

The park is open annually only from mid-March to mid-May when the tulips are flowering. The best time to view the tulips in the Netherlands is around mid-April.

 

👉 One World one Dream,

🙏...Danke, Xièxie 谢谢, Thanks, Gracias, Merci, Grazie, Obrigado, Arigatô, Dhanyavad, Chokrane to you & over

17 million visits in my photostream with countless motivating comments

Throughout the countless travels to the Netherlands, Jack the Flipper used different cameras and lenses with professional equipment, to rise the level of our landscape/seascape photographies.

 

In Jack the Flipper's Galleries you can recognize the evolution of our works. From the past years in the beginning to the the next level of shooting and developing images.

 

Nature is our Mainspring!

 

If you appreciate our work, follow us;)!

One of countless pretty little glacial streams and mini waterfalls along the Ring Road between Vik and Jökulsárlón. There was MUCH fog and rain that morning.

 

www.jenstlouisphotography.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Teton Mountain Range from Snake River Overlook.

 

My attempt at re-creating Ansel's shot. I've visited this Snake River Overlook countless times trying to capture the shot with the clouds as Ansel had in his photograph. This is as close as I've come. The trees have grown and the snow line is much lower, but I'm thrilled with this shot. A 24x36 print sits in my office.

 

Explored (#23, May 27, 2009, Many Thanks!)

 

See original: www.archives.gov/exhibits/picturing_the_century/port_adam...

 

View Large: B l a c k M a g i c | Hive Mind

Countless human blunders have cast long shadows over the environmental balance and it has so badly been affected for so long years, we are on an irreversible cliff of disaster.

Only flicker of hope lies in human effort to reduce pollution in sacrificing fake comfort of life and to make the earth a little safer, sweeter and liveable.

A group of cyclists in the city of Bled, Slovenia

Jerusalem, Israel: Patches of countless, tiny, yellow flowers, lying in the shadow of the tree that, presumably, shed them…

China, Beijing, …arrival area in the “Birds Egg”, the nickname for the Grand National Theatre, west of the Tiananmen Square with the Great Hall of the People & diagonal opposite the Forbidden City.

On the right the titanium & glass window construction, on the left various levels of the concert halls & other function facilities.

 

The ellipsoid dome of titanium & glass is surrounded by an artificial lake, the entrance is leading into the building after walking through a tunnel like hallway underneath the lake.

 

The arts centre containing an opera, music & theatre hall, with a total of seats 5,452 people in the three halls with almost 12,000 m² in size. Construction, designed by French architect Paul Andreu, started in December 2001, the inaugural concert was held in December 2007.

 

The dome measures 212 mtr by 144 mtr & is 46 meters, seven floors public area high. The main entrance is at the north side. Guests arrive in the building after walking through a hallway that goes underneath the lake.

 

👉 One World one Dream,

🙏...Danke, Xièxie 谢谢, Thanks, Gracias, Merci, Grazie, Obrigado, Arigatô, Dhanyavad, Chokrane to you & over

15 million visits in my photostream with countless motivating comments

China, Harbin, City Impressions, St. Sophia Cathedral Place with the Cathedral.

 

Heilongjiang Province, the most northeast part of China, when viewed on a map has the shape of a swan. Its capital city is Harbin, which is located south of Heilongjiang.

 

Not only for its special position, but also as the centre of Heilongjiang's political, economic, educational & cultural life, Harbin is described as the pearl beneath the swan's neck. Lying on the east of the Songnen Plain, what is more, Harbin plays a vital role in communications between South & North Asia as well the regions of Europe & the Pacific Ocean.

Harbin was the birthplace of Jin, 1115-1234 & Qing, 1644-1911, Dynasties, the latter of which had a very considerable influence on modern Chinese history.

 

At the end of the 19th century, Russia built the terminus of the Middle East Railway here. Later, more than 160,000 foreigners from 33 countries migrated to Harbin, promoting the development of a capitalist economy in the city. The economy & culture of Harbin achieved unprecedented prosperity at that time & the city gradually grew into a famous international commercial port. Assimilating external culture, Harbin created its unique & exotic cityscape. The majestic St. Sofia Orthodox Church & Zhongyang Dajie each built in a European style have the effect of bringing you into an 'eastern Moscow'. Even though you are sure to be attracted by various exotic buildings, the Dragon Tower which embodies the wisdom of the Chinese people is a must on your journey.

 

Besides these rich cultural heritages, Harbin is favoured with beautiful natural scenery. Based on meandering Song Hua River & subject to severe low temperatures in winter, down to -30°C, when I took this Pictures the Temperature varied between -20°C & -26°C but dry air, Harbin boasts a unique ice & snow culture. So, Harbin is also called the "Ice City".

 

The impressive "Ice & Snow Festival" is the greatest & unusual one in the world, therefor Harbin is also called the "Ice City".

As well the large Siberian Tiger & white tigers research centre, with about 500 tigers & a few other species, does an important work to prevent this species from extinction. The Research centre can be visited, tours in small a bus are available, passing through wide natural, separated, sections, however the focus point is to save the tigers.

 

👉 One World one Dream,

🙏...Danke, Xièxie 谢谢, Thanks, Gracias, Merci, Grazie, Obrigado, Arigatô, Dhanyavad, Chokrane to you & over

15 million visits in my photostream with countless motivating comments

We, and countless thousands of Calgarians, headed to the mountains for the first day of our long weekend, our Victoria Day Weekend. The parking areas at trailheads were overrun, and so many just parked on the roadside. There were more people on our route than usual, but it was challenging enough that it didn't attract throngs. We thought there would be snow about, and luckily the snow at the top was strong and stable.

This is one of countless beautiful roads that crisscross New Zealand. I'm afraid I've forgotten exactly where I was when I took this photo! I know that is very lame, but I bet people around here can help me pinpoint the area.

 

As far as the camera settings, this is the kind of shot you can get with something called "compression," a method where you use a zoom lens and zoom in quite far. It takes images in the distance and makes them larger than life.

 

- Trey Ratcliff

 

Read more here at the Stuck in Customs blog.

Germany, Wedel, behind the dike the endless fertile pasture marshland that stretches 200 km along the banks of the River Elbe & along the coast of the North Sea from Hamburg through Schleswig-Holstein up to Denmark.

 

👉 One World one Dream,

🙏...Danke, Xièxie 谢谢, Thanks, Gracias, Merci, Grazie, Obrigado, Arigatô, Dhanyavad, Chokrane to you & over

16 million visits in my photostream with countless motivating comments

Countless small bridges.

Albreda, British Columbia

 

Panasonic Lumix G 14mm f2.5

Olympus OM-D E-M5

It's no surprise almost everyone paid the most attention to Lilly, Summerhill, Portage and Jamestown for their final signal shots. But for many, it seems they forgot one, the signal bridge at PT 252 just outside Portage, PA.

 

I made countless visits to the Pitt Line in the past, but this is the first time I considered grabbing it other than tele smashing it at Carney's. I learned from Jim Johnston of a shortcut off PA 53 to get a close up view. After exploring it for myself, i was pissed at how stupidly easy it was. Oh well, at least it was shot for the record.

 

NS 9318

NS 21E

Cresson, PA

Germany, Hamburg in Christmas spirit on the Jungfernstieg.

 

❄ ❆ ❅🌛 ★ 🌠 🎄 🌲 🔔 🌠 🌲 🎁 🎅 🎁 🌲 🔔 🌲 🎄 🌠 ★ 💤 🌝❅❆❄

 

🎅 Despite all the complications & inconveniences in 2020,

I wish all of you an exciting, cheerful fairy-tale like festive season.

 

🌠 Trotz aller Komplikationen & Unannehmlichkeiten im Jahr 2020,

ich wünsche euch allen eine märchenhafte Weihnachtszeit.

 

🌲 A pesar de todas las complicaciones & inconvenientes en 2020,

yo desearles a todos ustedes un emocionante & encantada temporada festiva,

 

🎁 Malgré toutes les complications & inconvénients de 2020,

je souhaite à toute une joyeuse & magique saison festive

 

🔔 Nonostante tutte le complicazioni & gli inconvenienti del 2020,

augurare a tutti voi una emozionante & eccitante stagione di festa.

 

🎄 Apesar de todas as complicações & inconveniências em 2020,

desejo a todos um conto de fadas do tempo do Natal.

 

❄ ☃ ❄ ☃ ❄ ☃ ❄ ☃ ❄ ☃ ❄ ☃ ❄ ☃ 🎅 ❄ ☃ ❄ ☃ ❄ ☃ ❄ ☃ ❄ ☃ ❄ ☃ ❄

 

👉 One World one Dream,

🙏...Danke, Xièxie 谢谢, Thanks, Gracias, Merci, Grazie, Obrigado, Arigatô, Dhanyavad, Chokrane to you & over

14 million visits in my photostream with countless motivating comments

China, Shanghai, Zhujiajiao, tour boats on stand-by on a waterway in the "Water Town" on the outskirts of Shanghai in the Qingpu District is not only well-known throughout China. With a history of more than 1,700 years, the little fan-shaped town being regarded as Shanghai's Venice established about 1,700 years ago, archaeological findings dating back 5.000 years.

 

The historical centre of Zhujiajiao, built on a peninsula enclosed by the rivers Dianpu He & the Cao He; these are rivers flowing from west to east, which been converted into transport channels over the centuries, "Cao He" means "river for the water transport of grain".

Middle-class people built two- to three-story "row houses" along these canals from around the 16th century, on the other side of which roads for carts ran. On the ground floor of these whitewashed & grey-tiled houses, there was usually a shop or workshop open to the street, while a veranda facing the canal, often with stone steps to the water.

 

Zhujiajiao, literally meaning "Village of the Zhu Family", since "Zhu Yuanzhang", the founder of the subsequent Ming dynasty, also came from the Zhu clan, the name was tabooed & the place in Zhujiege, "Pearl Market", or Zhuxi, "Pearls Brook", renamed, the same pronunciation, but different characters & different meanings.

 

👉 One World one Dream,

🙏...Danke, Xièxie 谢谢, Thanks, Gracias, Merci, Grazie, Obrigado, Arigatô, Dhanyavad, Chokrane to you & over

15 million visits in my photostream with countless motivating comments

Erik Witsoe | BLOG | Facebook | Medium | 500px | Twitter | Instagram | Flickr

Warszawa, Poland

Spring

Yeah...it is my favorite puddle and always has something more to say.

We've been in the Teeside are for just over an hour, and for several days these trains will be the focus of our attention.

 

The first potash working of our trip rumbles by, braking for the stop and runround at Grangetown Junction, passing some of the countless miles of pipework in the region and the yard at Lackenby steelworks.

 

How lucky we were! The weather was generally good, with some lovely light when occasional showers formed, and two red DB locos on the Boulby branch traffic.

 

6F34 15.23 Boulby Mine to Teesport with polyhalite for export.

This dismal stretch of country road is one of countless miles I pass, mostly in a blur. They are transitory places, not really intended to be occupied so much as passed through. Corridors of passage. You can take in details as you make the transit. But only if you choose. Most people seem to cross through with heartless indifference. Distracted with daily life, impatient to get from A to B. I invariably see reactions of surprise in the faces of passing motorists when I occupy this space in foot. That is if I see any reaction at all. Many never even notice me. I come here to take in the place for what it really is. To absorb its lonely dreariness. To sense the emotions imprinted into this narrow channel by the countless souls that have travelled this stretch. None of this can happen injuries a moving car. No for that you must hike in here, uninsulated and insecure. It's like a space walk in a way. It feels inhospitable in the extreme. I often get this feeling near highways. This is simply no place to be. It's a place occupied only briefly by accident victims, disabled motorists, and drunks pulled over by the police. And none of them are here to appreciate the surroundings. For them a bad day just got worse. I linger before moving on, looking up and down the road. Cars appear over the top of the rise abruptly with no notice and pass me by in an instant. Drivers lose sight of the speed of their travel. It's known as being velocitized. But standing here they pass with a terrifying speed. A few more minutes of this and I move on. This really is no place to be.

Italy, Venice, … even so the gondolier sings loudly & full-breasted~ "♪ ’O Sole Mio ♫"~, an Italian classic written in 1898,

…but the sun ignores him this morning at the Ponte Rialto…

 

Modern gondolas are up to 11 mtr long, 1.6 mtr wide & a weight of about 350 kg, made of 280 hand-made pieces using eight types of wood. It takes about 200 hours to manufacture a gondola; at a cost of roughly 30,000 €.

The oar-paddle, which is several meters long, lies in a fork, forcola, which is inserted into a rectangular opening in the hull on the starboard side. To compensate for unilateral propulsion, the gondola body is built asymmetrically along the central axis; the left side is curved more than the right starboard side, so that its contour on the starboard side is about 0.25 m shorter than on the port side.

The oar-paddle is held in an o complicated shaped fork, known as a Fórcola, allowing several positions of the oar for slow forward rowing, powerful forward rowing, turning, slowing down, rowing backwards stopping, shaped individually for each gondoliers style. The ornament iron, called the "fero da prorà" or "dolfin", on the front of the boat is made from brass, stainless steel, or aluminium. It serves as decoration; every detail of the gondola has its own symbolism & needed to balance the weight of the gondolier at the stern, has an "S" shape symbolic of the twists in the Canal Grande. Under the main blade, there is a kind of comb with six teeth or prongs pointing forward standing for the six districts of Venice. A kind of tooth juts out backwards toward the centre of the gondola symbolises the island of Giudecca, the curved top signifies the Doge's cap.

 

Originally, the designs were not uniform & changed over the centuries. Originally, there were gondolas in all possible colours. The Venetian noble & patrician houses at the time tried to outdo each other in the magnificent equipment of the boats.

In order to put an end to this unbridled pomposity, the Senate of Venice in 1562 passed the expense law. Supported by the church, this law prescribed uniform black equipment for all gondolas; there were exceptions for foreign envoys & for festivals.

 

👉 One World one Dream,

🙏...Danke, Xièxie 谢谢, Thanks, Gracias, Merci, Grazie, Obrigado, Arigatô, Dhanyavad, Chokrane to you & over

16 million visits in my photostream with countless motivating comments