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From my set entitled “Steve and Marg’s Farm”
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/sets/72157608031549391/
In my collection entitled
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/collections/7215760074...
In my photostream
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/
My brother, Stephen Pallett, has farmed near the south shore of Lake Simcoe for close to fifty years: poultry, pigs, beef and an assortment of field crops. Over the years he has served as an area councillor and was on the board of the conservation authority. Currently, he is vice president of the Red Barn Theatre in Jackson's Point, and also serves as chair for the committee of adjustment for the Town of Georgina. Another of his activities has been the annual bird count.
Reproduced from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrow_(tool)
In agriculture, a set of harrows is an implement for cultivating the surface of the soil. In this way it is distinct in its effect from the plough, which is used for deeper cultivation. They are commonly called harrows (plural) as they are used as a set. There are nominally three types of harrows; disc (disk), tine and chain.
Harrows were originally horse-drawn. In modern practice they are almost always tractor-mounted implements, drawn after the tractor, either trailed or mounted on the three-point linkage.
Harrowing is often carried out on fields to follow the rough finish left by ploughing operations. The purpose of this harrowing is generally to break up clods and lumps of soil and to provide a finer finish, a good tilth or soil structure that is suitable for seeding and planting operations. Such coarser harrowing may also be used to remove weeds and to cover seed after sowing.
In cooler climates the most common types are the disc harrow, the chain harrow, the tine harrow or spike harrow and the spring tine harrow. Chain harrows are often used for lighter work such as levelling the tilth or covering seed, while disc harrows are typically used for heavy work, such as following ploughing to break up the sod. In addition, there are various types of power harrow, in which the cultivators are power-driven from the tractor rather than depending on its forward motion.
Tine harrows are used to refine seed-bed condition before planting, to remove small weeds in growing crops and to loosen the inter-row soils to allow for water to soak into the subsoil.
Chain harrowing may be used on pasture land to spread out dung, and to break up dead material (thatch) in the sward, and similarly in sports-ground maintenance a light chain harrowing is often used to level off the ground after heavy use, to remove and smooth out boot marks and indentations. When used on tilled land in combination with the other two types, chain harrowing rolls the remaining larger clumps of soil to the surface where the weather will break them down and prevent interference with seed germination.
All three harrow types can be used in one pass to prepare the soil for seeding. It is also common to used any combination of two harrows for a variety of tilling processes. Where harrowing provides a very fine tilth, or the soil is very light so that it might easily be wind-blown, a roller is often added as the last of the set.
Harrows may be of several types and weights, depending on the intended purpose. They almost always consist of a rigid frame to which are attached discs, teeth, linked chains or other means of cultivation, but tine and chain harrows are often only supported by a rigid towing-bar at the front of the set.
In the southern hemisphere the so-called giant discs are a specialised kind of disc harrows that can stand in for a plough in very rough country where a mouldboard plough will not handle the tree-stumps and rocks, and a disc-plough is too slow (because of its limited number of discs). Giant discs are scalloped-edged discs operated in a set, or frame, that is often weighted with concrete or steel blocks to improve penetration of the cutting edges. This sort of cultivation is normally immediately followed by broadcast fertilisation and seeding, rather than drilled or row seeding.
A drag is a heavy harrow.
In Europe, harrows were first used in the early Middle Ages.
The following text is taken from the Household Cyclopedia of 1881:
"When employed to reduce a strong obdurate soil, not more than two harrows should be yoked together, because they are apt to ride and tumble upon each other, and thus impede the work, and execute it imperfectly. On rough soils, harrows ought to be driven as fast as the horses can walk; because their effect is in the direct proportion to the degree of velocity with which they are driven. In ordinary cases, and in every case where harrowing is meant for covering the seed, three harrows are the best yoke, because they fill up the ground more effectually and leave fewer vacancies, than when a smaller number is employed. The harrowman's attention, at the seed process, should be constantly directed to prevent these implements from riding upon each other, and to keep them clear of every impediment from stones, lumps of earth, or clods, and quickens or grass roots; for any of these prevents the implement from working with perfection, and causes a mark or trail upon the surface, always unpleasing to the eye, and generally detrimental to the vegetation of the seed. Harrowing is usually given in different directions, first in length, then across, and finally in length as at first. Careful husbandmen study, in the finishing part of the process, to have the harrows drawn in a straight line, without suffering the horses to go in a zigzag manner, and are also attentive that the horses enter fairly upon the ridge, without making a curve at the outset. In some instances, an excess of harrowing has been found very prejudicial to the succeeding crop; but it is always necessary to give so much as to break the furrow, and level the surface, otherwise the operation is imperfectly performed."
Post processing:
Topaz: detail (HDR)
PhotoShop Elements 5: straighten, light balance, multiply, posterization, ink outlines
This is a bronze artwork entitled "Ikaro fallen" (...or loosely translated as Fallen Angel) created by the Polish contemporary artist Igor Mitoraj. It is displayed at the foot of the even more famous Leaning Tower of Pisa, as part of the exhibition ANGELS, among the events celebrating the 950th anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone of the Cathedral of Pisa. It's the first time a contemporary artist is hosted in the Square of Miracles.
The exhibition "ANGELS" (May 17, 2014 - April 12, 2015) includes about a hundred pieces of work: monumental works, bronzes, iron casts and marble sculptures, as well as fifty plaster casts and some paintings, a lesser known side of the artist’s production, created in recent years.
This angel sculpture was facing the Leaning Tower, and it was somewhat challenging for me to get both the angel and the Leaning Tower into one single image, without sacrificing some of the important details. Eventually I decided to skip the Tower and instead took this photo of the front of this angel, which shows the exquisite details of Igor's artwork.
Taken next to the Leaning Tower at The Square of Miracles, Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, as part of a series of shore excursions during my Mediterranean cruise in 2014
Mural entitled "The Ascension" by Candy Kuo aka @itscandykuo for Paint Memphis 2021, seen at 660 South B.B. King Boulevard in Memphis, Tennessee.
Drone photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
Turret Arch at dawn, with the sun already up, but still behind the crest of the La Sals, Arches National Park, Utah. The clouds racing in the half light ended up bringing significant snow fall that evening and all the next day.
To me, the conundrum of the desert is how to love it and protect it simultaneously. Ed Abbey pondered the same thing as he wandered Arches during the summers of 1956 and 1957. I particularly like his chapter of Desert Solitaire entitled 'Polemic: Industrial Tourism and the National Parks.' Part of Abbey's vision was for the Park Service to build minimal roads, maximal trails, and force private automobiles to park at the Park perimeter, with entrance only being gained on foot, by bicycle, or by government shuttle. This model served early Yellowstone National Park, and currently is employed to great effect in the Pirineos in Spain; however, here in the modern U.S., the automobile has been catered to for many years. Witness, for example, the relative ease with which I drove to within ⅓ of a mile of The Windows in Arches in order to make this image.
Explored 2016-01-07
Dave: Eva, are you on the couch that you're not allowed on?
Eva: Nope.
Dave: Actually, you are. We have a strict no dogs on this new couch policy.
Eva: My answer to your question stands.
Dave: How is that?
Eva: I'm on the couch that you say I'm not allowed on. There is no such thing as a couch that I'm not allowed on.
Dave: I hate to break it to you, but you're not a lawyer.
Eva: You should have thought of that before you let me stream all of those episodes of Ally McBeal. Calista Flockheart is a national treasure.
Dave: I don't recall hooking you up with a streaming service to watch Ally McBeal.
Eva: You totally did. When you went kayaking the other day you left the remote on this couch with Disney Plus on.
Dave: On this couch?
Eva: Yup. Where did you expect me to watch Ally? On the floor with Bruno and Aggie? Ally would say that's a breach of our contract.
Dave: We don't have a contract.
Eva: It's an implied contract. With a remarkable amount of bias towards my specific unique needs.
Dave: Wow. Will you at least get off now?
Eva: As a show of good will, yes. But on an unrelated note - when are you going kayaking next?
-----------
I turned around this morning and found Eva on the forbidden couch at the lake. She had even moved the cushions so she had a better chin rest. Love this dog, possibly partly because she has a loose respect for the rules.
Listen As I Lay Me Down - Sophie B. Hawkins
Sophie Ballantine Hawkins (born November 1, 1967, in Manhattan, New York City, U.S.) is an American singer, songwriter, musician and painter. Her biggest hits are "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover," "Right Beside You," and "As I Lay Me Down." Her debut album, Tongues and Tails, was released in 1992. It achieved both worldwide commercial success and critical acclaim, earning her a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist in 1993. The single "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover" went to #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles' chart in the USA. Whaler, her second album, was released in 1994. It also contained a Top 10 hit, the song "As I Lay Me Down." A 1998 documentary by Gigi Gaston, entitled The Cream Will Rise, follows her during one of her tours and captures her struggle to deal with past trouble with her family, including her mother and brother. Music and riffs by Hawkins are included throughout the film. Timbre was re-released in 2001 on her own label, Trumpet Swan Productions. It was bundled with a bonus disc containing new songs, demos, remixes, and videos. Her first independently recorded and released album, Wilderness, was released in 2004. In August 2007, Hawkins headlined the first Los Angeles Women's Music Festival in support of the festival's dual agenda of supporting animal rescue groups and promoting and supporting female musicians. Hawkins is a vegan and a long-time supporter of animal rights. In February 2008, Hawkins re-recorded her hit "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover" as Damn We Wish You Were President in support of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Hawkins wrote, "Hillary Clinton's achievements come from her heart. She has initiated so much positive change for families, children, victims of crime and the environment in her struggle for the forward movement of America and the working people of this nation"
La Costa Brava, el agreste litoral de la provincia de Girona, cuenta con una villa medieval a pocos kilómetros de su perfil marítimo. Su centro histórico se levanta sobre una colina rodeada de llanuras, que en su origen fue zona pantanosa. Hay que remontarse al siglo IX para encontrar los primeros documentos escritos que hablan de esta población, época a la que pertenece su castillo. Continuos enfrentamientos bélicos hicieron que durante siglos sólo se conservase la Torre del Homenaje de esta construcción defensiva. Se trata de una torre románica de planta circular levantada entre los siglos XI y XIII. Sus 15 metros de altura se asientan sobre una plataforma de roca natural, en la que también se encuentran numerosas tumbas visigóticas. Durante el siglo XV fue empleada como campanario, por lo que se la conoce como la Torre de las Horas. En la actualidad, el solar del castillo lo ocupa la casa de la familia Pi i Figueras, promotor de la restauración del Recinto Gótico de Pals. De factura moderna, esta casa mantiene los mismos rasgos arquitectónicos que el resto de la urbe. Calles empedradas interrumpidas por arcos de medio punto, fachadas con ventanas ojivales y balcones de piedra son los signos distintivos de Pals. La muralla es otro de los lugares que transportan al viajero a la Edad Media. Cuatro torres de planta cuadrada se mantienen aún en pie, a pesar de que datan del siglo XII. Torres con nombre propio como Ramonet, Rom, Xinel·lo y Hospital. Otros puntos de interés son el mirador Josep Pla, la Plaza Mayor, las sepulturas de la calle Mayor y la iglesia de Sant Pere. El escritor palafrugellense da nombre a una de las atalayas naturales, desde donde se divisan los campos del Ampurdán y las islas Medes. Arcos góticos y sepulturas medievales son los otros hitos que encontramos en el camino. Parte de los sillares de piedra del castillo fueron empleados en el siglo X para edificar la iglesia de Sant Pere. En su estructura final se distinguen la base románica, el ábside y nave gótica, y el pórtico y campanario barrocos. La mejor manera de recorrer Pals es perderse por su calles medievales, pero antes de esto merece la pena acercarse a una casa fortificada del siglo XV, sede del Museo de Arqueología Submarina. Entre otras curiosidades, podemos conocer la historia de los vinos y cavas de Cataluña, gracias la exposición permanente que exhibe. A las afueras de la villa se extiende otra parte del municipio de Pals, los Masos de Pals, antiguo conjunto de masías (casas de campo catalanas) que actualmente acogen a un nutrido núcleo urbano. Y en la costa, la playa de Pals. Más de cuatro kilómetros de aguas transparentes donde el viajero podrá disfrutar del benigno clima mediterráneo y de todas las oportunidades de ocio que la Costa Brava ofrece. Campos de golf, deportes náuticos y visitas al Parque Natural Illes Medes son sólo algunas de ellas. Pals también se convierte en una excelente oportunidad para acercarnos a la gastronomía del Baix Ampordà, que aúna productos del mar y la tierra. Las habas y los guisantes de la huerta aparecen junto a esqueixadas (ensalada de bacalao), escalivadas (asado de berenjena, cebolla y pimientos) o guisos de pollo o conejo con marisco. Por su parte, gambas, lubinas y doradas se preparan de multitud de maneras. Entre los postres, las frutas tienen una gran importancia (fresas, melocotones, melones, sandías, naranjas...), y se convierten en verano en helados y sorbetes.
In Wordpress In Blogger photo.net/photos/Reinante/ In Onexposure
(Continuation of story which begins with the first upload entitled Portugal)
We took the ferry across the Straits of Gibraltar and when we entered the city of Tangiers, a whole new exotic world opened before our eyes. I had first seen Moorish architecture in the Algarve. In the beginning, this landscape can appear foreboding and menacing. Later it becomes mysterious and welcoming.
The street signs were all in French and Arabic. Not really a surprise, but I was once again reminded of my poor language skills. Helping Marvin navigate would be difficult for me, but I conjured up some bold confidence that worked for a short while.
It was still early in the afternoon so we decided to press on to Fez and spend the night there. Soon we were in the middle of an open road with no towns in sight. That was a rather welcome sight. Navigation was easier I thought but then remembered that we had no local currency. I mentioned this to Marvin and he brushed off the fact saying that surely a town would appear soon where we could exchange money.
The day went along and no towns appeared on the horizon. The sun was quickly going down in the sky. The arrow of the fuel gauge had also dipped dangerously low. In the age of no international credit cards this was a very serious problem as we had read that the Moroccans would only do business in dirhams.
Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a man on a motorcycle pull up along side our car. He was smiling and waving. He began to speak and when he did his first question was, “Are the two of you Americans?” I was dumbfounded. We were in a Volkswagen with Portuguese license plates. We had been away from America so long we had almost forgotten that we were Americans. How did he know?
He continued to yell and screamed that he loved Americans because his brother had gone to school in America and we were very kind to him. He asked where we were staying and we shook our heads. I then blurted out that we had failed to get dirhams and that we were low on gas.
He screamed back to follow him and he would help us. Soon we were pulling into a gas station and we could talk in a normal tone. His brother owned the gas station but our new friend would pay for our tank to be filled up. We could repay him the following morning after we exchanged currency. We then followed him to a lovely hotel and said good-bye until the morning. It was our first of many warm experiences with Muslim hospitality.
The image is of the oldest medina in the world at Fez. It was named a United Nations World Heritage site just before we visited there.
Detail of a mural entitled "Main Course" by Ernesto Maranje aka @ernestomaranje together with community volunteers, seen on the wall of Lighthouse of Fort Lauderdale at 679 North Andrews Avenue in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
More than 150 volunteers, including community members who are blind or visually impaired, gathered at Lighthouse of Broward County to participate in Mockingbird Trail’s interactive mural painting curated by local artist, Ernesto Maranje. The multi-sensory and socially impactful event was funded by the Community Foundation of Broward’s Art of Community grant and was part of Broward College’s MLK Day of Service.
The multi-sensory mural, which is located at the Lighthouse of Broward on the Mockingbird Trail, brings a new experience to how one interacts with art. Through sight, touch, sound and smell, the visitor encounters and feels the Mockingbird’s habitat through a sensory experience designed by Cadence, a Landscape Architecture practice focused on connecting physical and social landscapes.
Photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Mural entitled "Winter in Utah" by D A A S aka @daas, seen in the mid-concourse tunnel at Salt Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Mural entitled "Dadstrength" by Joe Miller aka @thejoemiller seen on the wall of the North Flats Apartments at Honore & North Avenue in the Wicker Park area of Chicago Illinois. The mural depicts the artist's brother and niece.
Drone photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
Mural entitled "Bullets for a Fool" by Gus Cutty aka @guscutty, seen at 15 Gill Street in Asheville, North Carolina.
Photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
A mural entitled "The Collector" painted by artist Josh Keyes in 2015 for the "Forest For The Trees" project.
This the best rendition of the painting I have at this time even with hours of photoshopping. If I get a better image, I'll update this. Here are the Emails we exchanged:
I received this Email 051609
Dear Mr. Strain,
My name is Elizabeth R. My mother had one of your paintings entitled "There Is A Boy Who Loves Me". When she passed away in 1996, the painting was given to her sister who lives in Dallas, Texas. She has the painting hanging in her den and I told her I would do some research regarding the artist. And I looked you up on the internet.
The painting was done in 1968. You have signed it on the front and there is a letter attached to the back of the painting. I think my mother may have purchased this piece of art while she was living in Corpus. She had it on an easel for as long as I can remember. She lived in Victoria, Texas and that is where I was born. She loved the painting and I can just see it right now.
I thought maybe you could tell me something about the painting. My aunt is 85 years old and is not able to remove it from the wall unless she has help.
I would like to know if the painting is an original or a print? there is not a number in the right hand corner of the painting; just your signature.
I will do more research on the painting but if you could email me any more information regarding this piece of art, I would surely appreciate it.
Thank you so very much. I surely did enjoy enjoy reading your biography. I am presently living near LG, Texas.
Elizabeth R.
The same day, I got another Email from Elizabeth:
Dear Strain,
I just spoke with my aunt and she did tell me the contents of the letter that came with the watercolor and ink painting.
It says that you came upon a young lady in the road and all she said was that there is a boy who loves me. She is wearing a white dress and she is barefoot and she has long hair and there is a house in the background.. I am sure you will remember this painting and maybe give me more information.
Thank you again.
Elizabeth R.
The same day, I sent this response to Elizabeth:
Hi Elizabeth ... I just don't remember the picture. I do remember the title. I traveled a lot into Mexico when I was working in the Rio Grande Valley and I was much intrigued with the responses of the more primitive poverty stricken people of La Frontera. I do remember a little girl saying that to me in Spanish. I smiled and thought she didn't know what to say to a stranger, so she just said the most important thing in her life that day. I did a number of versions as I recall. The actual incident took place as I was driving south from Mier toward Reynosa on the Mexican side. The little girl (grade school, perhaps third grade) was standing on the school ground of a most unusually shaped school building. I stopped to sketch and she came up to watch. That was the only thing she said, although I tried to talk to her. Later I used her as a person standing in front of an unusual home I sketched in Falfurrias, Tx.
I think if I could see even a poor grade photograph of the watercolor, I'd be able to tell you all about it. What your aunt has is an original, because I never went into the print business. If it's the watercolor I did of the little girl in front of the original school where I met her, I think it's one of my better watercolors and your mother paid a whopping price for those years probably as much as $60 to $75 ... LOL ... If I could get a good resolution photograph of it, I'd love to put it on my sebsite.
I'm doing almost entirely computer art now and having a ball. As you probably know, my website is www.billstrain.com and my main thing going now is the first selection on that site with the word Flickr in it. That's where I do a daily blog of art, humor and narrative. I have as many of my old originals on the Flickrsite as anywhere under the set name of "Blasts from the Past."
I look forward to hearing from you. You might want to change my Email to bill.strain@yahoo.com. That's where I get most of my mail. This address is the old original one that we set up with the old website. Thanks for you inquiry and ..
Best wishes from Sherry and Bill in Kerrville
Still on the 16th, this Email from Elizabeth:
Hi Bill,
Thank you so much for your reply. I read your email to my aunt, who does not own a computer and never will, and she gave me a more detailed description of the painting. there is a one story house in the background and to the left of the house appears some black crosses maybe 5; look like crosses. then the little girl is standing on some stones and there appears to be more stones that could have been from a stone wall. She says the colors are magnificent!!! she just loves the painting.
She has a friend who will be returning to town around the 25th and he will come over and take a picture of it digitally and he can email you a picture. Then perhaps you will remember the painting. She is thrilled that I heard from you and will be glad to have her friend take a picture. I am thrilled that it is an original.
My aunt had it put into a different frame and she sees it every day all day when she is in her den. She acquired the painting about 11 years ago.
Thank you so much for the information and you will be hearing from me when her friend can send you the photo.
Have a great weekend.
Elizabeth R.
Then this Email came from Paul, actually 3 Emails each with a different JPEG of the watercolor. It was from these three JPEGs I got the image posted. I'll keep this updated until we get the best results we're going to. So another magic "BLAST FROM THE PAST" ... lol
From Paul: Sorry for the reflection. I couldn't see it until I got home and downloaded them onto my computer.
I'm sending the three best. Will try again, but am traveling till next week.... Have Jean remind me when I get back.
Sending them separately.
Paul
Here's my Email to Elizabeth after I saw the painting and was able to remember it:
Hi Elizabeth,
I got three photographs from Paul and he will try for more quality when he returns from a business trip. I worked a couple of hours trying to restore the color and detail, but the reflections were too strong.
That IS the primary painting I remember. I conisder it one of the top twenty paintings I've ever done. And that's the school I told you about and a caricature of the young gangly girl I talked to that day. I felt pretty special that she had shared with me something she probably didn't even share with her parents ... LOL ... for fear they'd cut off the possibility of a friendship with the boy.
I have an 13 x 18 inch scanner and could scan that watercolor without taking it out of the frame, if anyone is ever in the Kerrville area. I can't remember the size of the actualy painting, but I could do it in two or three scans and then patch it together and provide you with a CD and the potential for having prints made for the family or anyone you wanted to give them to.
If Paul is able to get a better quality photograph, I'll put it on my Flickrsite and add it to the "Blasts from the past" set and that one really is a blast from the past. On my website with my conventional art I have a publication "Nueces District Clerk's Journal" or something to that effect and a similar composition is in black and white on the cover. Also from the same era is one I called "Coronado's Child" of a little boy sitting on the edge of where a sidewalk ends in front of an abaondoned old church in Mier, Mexico. During those years I did a lot of sketching up and down the Rio Grande, Camargo, Mier, Rio Grande City, Roma, San Ignacio and even up to Laredo.
Well, it's been a hoot and I thank you for making it possible...grin. I'll wait for Paul's next effort and we'll talk some more.
Best wishes and ...
Love from Sherry and Bill
Momma fox taking a bit of a break from her kits...
To see other fox photos please check out my album entitled "foxes" at www.flickr.com/photos/black_cat_photography/albums/721577...
All comments regarding this picture, subject, composition, etc are welcome and appreciated. TIA.
MadPea Jewel of the Nile - NOW OPEN
Welcome to our latest adventure - JEWEL OF THE NILE
Are you ready for an Egyptian adventure?
Please read our How to Play page for more details about the game and its structure. Once you land at the game start you can purchase your HUD from the vendor for $L1000. This game is being released in 3 chapters. Your HUD entitles you to all 3 story chapters, as they are released. Good luck and enjoy the game!
Start HERE: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Magical%20Peak/127/55/1502
How to Play: bit.ly/3Pm9Ydi
Game Video: bit.ly/3YpamMr
Mural entitled “Love Note” by Matt Moore aka @puckmcgruff, seen at 141 East Fourth Street in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
Excerpt from rbg.ca:
Directions by Mohammed Kazem
b. 1969, Dubai, UAE
Lives and works in Dubai, UAE
In Mohammed Kazem’s monumental work, viewers are invited to pass through a large-scale figure of the number zero on which numerous geographic coordinates, representing all countries of the world, are inscribed in numeric form. The work is based on the significance of the number zero – one of the first important innovations by a Muslim scientist. The course of history was changed when Persian scholar Muhammad Ibn Musa Al-Khwarizmi discovered the number zero and considered it a number within the field of algebra.
Originally conceived for the United Arab Emirates and the metropolitan city of Abu Dhabi, whose population is comprised of a diversity of nationalities, races, and religions, the work embodies the principle of coexistence and peace, inviting viewers to pass through it, as if starting anew from equal ground. As the day progresses, light, shadows, and reflections over the digital structure change, further enhancing the connection between the work and its natural surroundings.
Mohammed Kazem’s artistic practice spans video, photography, and performance, seeking new ways of apprehending his environment and experiences. The work is informed by his training as a musician. He was a member of the Emirates Fine Arts Society and is one of the Five, an informal group of Emirati artists at the vanguard of conceptual and interdisciplinary art practice.
Kazem has participated in numerous group shows, in Abu Dhabi, New York, Gwangju, Houston, etc. In 2013 he represented the UAE at the Venice Biennale with an immersive video installation entitled Walking on Water, curated by Reem Fadda, and in 2015 he showcased works from the Tongue series at 1980 – Today, curated by Hoor Al Qasimi.
AIM IM with Chris .
11:28 PM
(ty) hey bra' got a sec
(chris) sure, homestyle
what do you think of this idear ok - im thinkin of a group. small, invite only,
ok
where each week the moderator posts an image file and the members each photoshop it their own style
and then folks can discuss how they get certain effects and such
yeah, I remember us talking about that
I think it sounds great
see how many interpretations of the same image you can get
i want to call it
the Chris Owens Experience
you mind?
lol not at all
thanks i know your name is trademarked
hell yeah it is
I have pending lawsuits against many people
lol
lol
do you own chrisowens.com?
votechrisowens is gone
that was a guy running for senate
that was priceless
no, I don't own chrisowens.com
some photographer does
i do want to make a group dedicated to spamming spammers
on flickr
ahh sweet
everytime you get the same invite from the same ass, you send him an invite to this group
HAHA
you only get invited if youre a spam bloated ass
that could be its motto
nice
mebbe call it Spamaholics Anonymous
LOL
and then when they join
kick them out
so i can resend them invites
right
mebbe i could use my secret account
cool
and have people nominate the spammer of the week. sidebar, you use 1001 for flickring?
nah
really?
I would if my main machine were a Mac
dang
I have it loaded
its the shit
but I don't do photos on my powerbook
i should make a set called 'everyone hates you' and just put dark evil shit in there
sweet
I love your dark stuff
i want to be happy
i really do
too bad
but ive seen too much
attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion, for example
... I miss childhood sometimes
Mural entitled "A Life of Gold" by @ivanroque for "Wallpapered City," seen at 2310 North 68th Street in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.
Drone photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
Statue entitled ‘Kanklininkas’ near the castle in Kaunas, Lithuania’s second city, of a man playing the kanklės, a traditional Lithuanian plucked string musical instrument, of the zither family. It was sculpted by Robertas Antinis. I cannot find a date of completion.
Seen in my set entitled "Mississauga"
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/sets/72157600987373042/
I've often mentioned that I work at RONA, which is a Canadian competitor to Home Depot and Lowes.
When I was growing up, our family business (Pleasant View Farms) was engaged in the wholesale and retail sales of farm and landscaping/nursery supplies: hardware, fencing, pesticides, plants, hay/straw for bedding, containers, firewood, seed, clothing, paint and on and on.
In 2002, after many years in various endeavours (museums, teaching English, marketing, I was accepted in the seasonal department at RONA, where I employed the skills and knowledge that I had garnered so many years before at Pleasant View Farms.
If you visit while I'm at RONA, you'll likely find me in the greenhouse and/or garden centre. I also spend a good deal of time on the seasonal hardware floor.
It's just part-time... a day or two a week, but it suits nicely.
About RONA
wrightreports.ecnext.com/coms2/reportdesc_COMPANY_C1248L300
Rona Inc. The Group's principal activity is to retail and distribute hardware, home improvement and gardening products in Canada. The Group operates in two segments namely Corporate and Franchised Stores and Distribution. The Corporate and Franchised stores segment relates to the retail operations of corporate stores and the Group's share of the retail operations of the franchised stores in which the Group has an interest. The Distribution segment relates to the supply activities to affiliated, franchised and corporate stores. As of 19-Feb-2008, the Group had 77 Big-Box stores, 327 Proximity stores and 235 Specialized stores and 40 specialized ICI.
RONA.ca Information
www.rona.ca/content/investor-relations
General Links:
www.mssociety.ca/en/events/biketour/default.htm
RONA History
1982 - Ro-Na purchased the assets of Botanix.
1984 - Ro-Na created a purchasing alliance with Ontario-based Home Hardware Stores Ltd. through Alliance RONA Home Inc.
1988 - Ro-Na merged with Dismat, another building materials company, to create Ro-Na Dismat Group Inc.
1990 - Ro-Na formed an alliance with Hardware Wholesalers, Inc. of Fort Wayne, Indiana.
1997 - ITM Entreprises S.A., a France-based group, invests $30 million in the Ro-Na Dismat Group Inc. ITM becomes a shareholder and forms a purchasing alliance with Ro-Na.
1998 - Ro-Na eliminates the Le Quincailleur and Dismat names and introduces RONA L'express, RONA L'express Matériaux and RONA Le Rénovateur Régional. It also changes its name from Ro-Na Dismat Group Inc. to RONA Inc.
1999 - RONA opens a new warehouse adjacent to its headquarters, measuring 654,000 square feet (61,000 m²), doubling its warehousing capacity and achieving considerable cost savings.
2000 - RONA acquires Cashway Building Centres, with 66 stores. It permanently opens its online store on the rona.ca website.
2001 - RONA acquires 51 Revy, Revelstoke and Lansing stores and thus owning many more stores in the Greater Toronto Area.
2002 - RONA closes a public offering consisting of a total offering of $150.1 million of Common Shares. RONA's Common Shares are then traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "RON".
2003 - RONA acquires Réno-Dépôt Inc. from British Kingfisher plc, including The Building Box stores. RONA also opens its third large distribution center in Calgary, Alberta.
2004 - RONA acquires Totem Building Supplies Ltd., an Alberta company. RONA Dream Home airs on Global. RONA also joins the AIR MILES Reward Program.
2005 - RONA Dream Home 2 airs on Global.
2006 - RONA acquires a majority (51%) stake in Matériaux Coupal Inc..
2006 - RONA acquires Curtis Lumber Building Supplies
2007 - RONA acquires Burnaby, BC based Dick's Lumber
2007 - RONA acquires Nova Scotia based Castle Cash & Carry
Post Processing:
PhotoShop Elements 5: crop, balance, posterization, rough pastels, sandstone
Mural entitled "Here or There" by Erick Dominguez aka @tutodartist, seen at the RC Cola Bottling Plant at 2308 NW 5th Avenue in the Wynwood Arts District of Miami, Florida.
Photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee
A capture across the winding river towards Kilchurn Castle sitting on Loch Awe.
Sir Colin Campbell, 1st Lord of Glenorchy, built Kilchurn Castle at the head of Loch Awe in the mid-1400s. Colin’s father Duncan Campbell, later 1st Lord Campbell, had offered him the land to ensure his loyalty following the sudden death of his elder brother Gillespec. Colin’s descendants, the Campbells of Glenorchy, were the most powerful junior branch of Clan Campbell, and Kilchurn remained their power base for around 150 years. The Glenorchy Campbells at times nearly rivalled even the Clan Campbell’s chiefs, the earls of Argyll, for supremacy.
The castle’s existence is noted in a charter dated March 1449, entitled ‘apud Castrum de Glenurquhay’ (at the Castle of Glenurquhay). It originally consisted of the courtyard and the five-storey tower house, containing a hall, private chambers, a cellar and a prison. Colin’s son Duncan, the 2nd Lord, added the laich hall in the courtyard before his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. Colin, the 6th Lord, added the four angle-turrets on the top of the tower house. He was also responsible for relocating the Campbells of Glenorchy from Kilchurn to their new home of Balloch, now Taymouth, in Perthshire before his death in 1583.
Kilchurn found a new role in 1689. In that year Sir John Campbell of Glenorchy, 1st Earl of Breadalbane, retired to his ancestral seat and set about converting it into a garrison stronghold. The tower house was converted into accommodation for officers, while a barracks housing 200 men was built on the north side of the courtyard. The barracks block remains relatively complete, and is today the oldest surviving barracks on the British mainland.
The garrison stronghold saw little use, other than as an outpost for government soldiers during the Jacobite risings of 1715 and 1745. The castle was eventually abandoned later that century.
Mural entitled "The Last Butterflies Ballet" by Mantra aka @mantra, seen at 2713 Commerce Street in Dallas, Texas.
Drone photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
@ Entitled "Back to Supersonica"
Lockheed VC-140B JetStar ( L-1329 ) • cn 5044
• REG : 62-4200
• RMK : Part of boneyard project titled "Black to Supersonica"
@ History Aircraft :
• 1962 : was built and still wears very distant USAF markings with reg 62-4200
• 1977 : It was withdrawn to AMARC in Tucson AZ
• 20XX : This rather unique Jetstar entitled 'Back to Supersonica' was painted by Andrew Schoultz and display at the "Pima Air Space Museum" as part of the "Boneyard Project" Artist paintwork.
This sculpture entitled 'Seated' is on show outside the De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill from 19th April - 29th October 2023.
It is by Tschabalala Self and she says "Taking a seat is a universal act of leisure and calm. I wanted to create a monumental sculpture for the public that spoke to this simple joy. The woman is strong, beautiful and self-possesses. She represents all individuals, but women in particular, who understand the power and importance of simple gestures that assert their right to take up space." (2022).
Tschabalala Self was born in 1990 and is an American artist
Tschabalala Self's first public sculpture stands three metres high and is made from patinated bronze. This monumental work was an everyday object - a seat - as an entry point for questions of permission and performance within public space. Its subject - poised, immaculately dressed, glancing to her left - emboldens onlooks to sit with confidence and comfort.
Through an expansive practice bringing together painting, printmaking, sculpture and collage, Self's depictions, predominantly of women, traverse different artistic traditions. Bland and femme bodies are particularly prevalent in her work, heating different subjects, or characters, with individual and powerful identities, many of which are reimagined from chance encounters. Through mediations on race and gender, Self's work is concerned with what it means to flourish as a human and how the self is performed and perceived within contemporary life.
Read how the local community came together to make a statement after she was vandalised......
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/jun/03/uk-seaside-c...
Mural entitled "Tres Reinas" by Lola Goce aka @lulagoce for Blkout Walls 2023, seen at at 2501 Cass Avenue in Detroit, Michigan.
Drone photo by James aka @urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Mural entitled "Spreading the Seeds for a More Equitable Future" by Carlos Alberto aka @carlosalberto_art, seen at 510 Gratiot Avenue in Detroit, Michigan.
Drone photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
What’s with this recent entitlement-culture and dilution of artist recognition across social media?⠀
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I can attest to the effort, time and hardship invested by photographers to capture the images they do. It’s not a bad thing, we do it because we love it and because it challenges us but the images we share don’t come easy. This is why it’s hard for us when we see our carefully shot and carefully finished image somehow becoming someone else’s image. To re-edit and use however they choose.⠀
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Finding a photo online, dropping it in a bucket of saturation then warming up your keyboard ready to thank everyone for admiring your ‘new image’ isn’t photography and it’s not ok.⠀
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“I’m a skilled connoisseur and I’m just as entitled to use the photo as you are”. I’m sorry but, no. You’re not.⠀
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Let’s shift the culture back to what’s right, stop supporting the cheaters and go back to encouraging talented artists to continue creating amazing work for the rest of us to enjoy. ⠀
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#Photography⠀
A model locomotive by Hornby entitled 'Queen Elizabeth II'. This was a Hornby Collectors' Club special edition model from a few years ago. I chose this to be a little different as I suspect there will be a large number of chess pieces, playing cards, coins and stamps this week. The portion of the locomotive shown is exactly 3" long.
A focus stack of 23 images lit by natural window light and processed in Helicon Focus. Global adjustments in Lightroom. Dust and speck removal in Photoshop. Conversion to mono using Silver Efex Pro.
Many thanks to everyone who views, faves and comments on this image and the others in my photostream. HMM to everyone!
The Arch of the Triton is one of the most enigmatic architectonic features of the Palace of Pena. Entitled the “Allegoric Gate to the creation of the World” right in the 19th century, its most prominent facet is its Triton, a mythological monster, half-man and half-fish. Similarly, all of the arch is divided between the aquatic world below and the terrestrial world above. On the ground floor, the canopied Neo-Gothic arch, with its scaled small columns, is framed by corals bearing three shells, with the Triton sitting on one. This is the domain of the water. In the upper floor are the plants that convey the terrestrial world: the head of the Triton emerges out of a tree, framed by the vines that cover the entire bow-window that the monster appears to be holding aloft. The transition is made by water weed, with these aquatic plants growing on the border between the two worlds with the Triton visible behind them.
The decodification of this arch has led to a series of different theories and many of them entirely unfounded. In all likelihood, King Ferdinand proceeded in the design of this archway in the same fashion that he applied to almost all of the other decorative arts in the Palace of Pena: he attempted to recover features of Portuguese culture and there are two corresponding possible origins for this Triton, both literary. One is a work by Damião de Góis dated 1554, which mentions how a Triton had been spotted singing sat on a shell on a beach near Colares. However, Luís de Camões also makes reference to a Triton in Canto IV of the Lusiadas, whose description certainly recalls the monster of Pena:
“This was a big beast, black and ugly, (…)
With a hairy beard that fell downwards
From the head to the shoulders, they were all
Some water weeds soaked with water, and well it would seem
That no smooth comb had ever met”.
[from www.parquesdesintra.pt/en/pontos-de-atracao/the-arch-of-t... ]
EXPLORE
Junk Food - "Sandwich Set" comes with clickable/shareable plates for all sized avi's as well as loaf of bread, mayo, veggie platter and meat trays. Nothing like a good old sammich during the Summer...well minus 4 lbs of crab legs.
On sale this weekend via the K9 Event, in-world only along with so many other great Summer items.
Junk Food In-World (It's like Disney but for foodies!):
www.maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Junk%20Food/192/72/36
Junk Food MP:
marketplace.secondlife.com/en-US/stores/150026
Junk Food on FB:
Junk Food Flickr:
www.flickr.com/groups/junkfoodstore/pool/
Junk Food on Discord:
discord.gg/chkk2hDt
The engraving in this video is from The Graphic, August 18, 1875. It is by F. Morris, and is entitled 'The Mowers'.
WOUNDWORT
A clownish answer he gave, when I,
A man of letters, offered aid:
“I can ‘eal it better mesel’.”
The grass was flush with his gush of blood
And flecks of it dripped from docks
And plantains. A red runnel ran down
The scythe blade, which cleaved the air
Where he had dropped it. His leg
Was open to the shin, and within
I glimpsed a gleam of tibia, white
Before the blood engulfed it.
He shrugged me off, and dragged
Himself to the hedge, where woundworts
Spired their flowers – a signature
In clotted gore – ripped
The stinking leaves with a quaking hand,
Restrained his stertorous breath,
And crammed them into the gash.
The burnt rubber taint of the herb
Mingled with the rusty smell of blood
As the wound lips sandwiched its leaves.
Forty days, it should have taken,
Balsam-poulticed, for such a wound
To heal; he hobbled out each day
To work his field, the gash
Sealed with hog’s grease and herb,
And was whole within a week.
A clownish answer he gave, and I,
A man of letters, use it yet:
Clown’s Woundwort – All Heal to the wise.
Source material: Marcus Woodward (Ed.), Gerard’s Herbal: John Gerard’s Historie of Plants, (1597), Middlesex, 1998, pp. 238-240. Adapted from Gerard’s account of how he “discovered” the healing qualities of this herb. “Clownish” is not quite as insulting as it seems; a “clown” in the sixteenth century was a country labourer, not necessarily a fool. John Clare’s use of the word to describe himself in the nineteenth century was tinged with self-irony, but was in no way intended to suggest foolishness. The comparison of the smell of the crushed herb to “burnt rubber” is an anachronism in the context of Gerard’s writing, since rubber was not known in Europe until the mid eighteenth century, but on the basis of my own experience, I can think of no more apt comparison. Woundwort used to be eaten as a vegetable, which suggests perhaps that people did not find its smell so repellent as we do today. Could this be, perhaps, because we automatically associate its odour - which is perhaps quite inoffensive in itself - with the smell of burning tyres: a comparison which a person of Gerard’s time could not possibly have made? Poem by Giles Watson, 2009; reading recorded 13th June, 2010.
This photograph was published in an online article in ''MAPQUEST TRAVEL ENTITLED: '' 10 Adrenaline-Charged Adventure Travel Destinations '' by ANNA FLEET IN 2021
It was previously Selected for sale in the GETTY IMAGES COLLECTION on November 15th 2018
CREATIVE RF gty.im/1066492306 MOMENT OPEN COLLECTION**
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**** This frame was chosen on Sunday February 25th 2021 to appear on FLICKR EXPLORE (Highest Ranking: #396. This is my 197th photograph to be selected.
I am really thrilled to have a frame picked and most grateful to every one of the 38.388+ Million people who have visited, favourite and commented on this and all of my other photographs here on my FLICKR site. *****
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©All photographs on this site are copyright: DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) 2011 – 2021 & GETTY IMAGES ®
No license is given nor granted in respect of the use of any copyrighted material on this site other than with the express written agreement of DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) ©
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Photograph taken at an altitude of One hundred and forty six metres at 15:30pm on Thursday 8th November 2018, off Þingvallavegur 36 in the Þingvellir National Park, the only UNESCO world heritage site on the Icelandic mainland. It is situated East of Rekjavik in the municipality of Bláskógabyggð in southwestern Iceland and is known historically for the Alþing (Althing), the site of Iceland's parliament from the 10th to 18th centuries.
The park sits in a Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the boundary between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. To its south lies Þingvallavatn, the largest natural lake in Iceland.
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Nikon D850 Focal length 65mm. Hand held with Nikkor VR vibration reduction enabled on Normal setting. Shutter speed 1/10s Aperture f/13.0 iso100 RAW (14 bit uncompressed) Image size L 8256 x 5504 FX). Colour space. Adobe RGB. AF-C focus 51 point with 3-D tracking. Manual exposure. Matrix metering. Auto 0 white balance (8030K). Nikon Distortion control on. Vignette control Normal.
Nikkor AF-S 24-120mm f/4G ED VR. Phot-R ultra slim 77mm UV filter. Nikon EN-EL15a battery. Matin quick release neckstrap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag. Nikon GP-1 GPS module.
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LATITUDE: N 64d 15m 20.60s
LONGITUDE: W 21d 7m 41.50s
ALTITUDE: 146.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE: 130.00MB NEF: 92.1MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 46.20MB
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PROCESSING POWER:
Nikon D850 Firmware versions C 1.01 (16/01/2018) LD Distortion Data 2.017 (20/3/18)
HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB SATA storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX-1 64bit (Version 1.2.11 15/03/2018). Nikon Capture NX-D 64bit (Version 1.4.7 15/03/2018). Nikon Picture Control Utility 2 (Version 1.3.2 15/03/2018). Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.
The Omni William Penn Hotel is a 23 floor (3 underground) hotel located at 530 William Penn Place on Mellon Square in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A variety of luminaries have stayed at the hotel, including John F. Kennedy. The hotel staff innovated Lawrence Welk's now famous bubble machine, and it was the site of Bob Hope's marriage proposal in 1934.[2][3][4][5] The hotel has won numerous awards including being named to the "Best of Weddings 2009" list by The Knot and receiving the Editor's Choice Award in the Business Hotels category on Suite101.com.
Omni William Penn Hotel, Pittsburgh is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.[6]
The hotel also features an award-winning restaurant that dates from 1916, the Terrace Room, featuring among other amenities a wall long mural entitled "The taking of Fort Pitt". The Terrace Room was voted "Best Hotel Dining" establishment in both 2008 and 2009 by readers of the Pittsburgh City Paper.
It is outfitted with numerous furnishings in the Art Deco style
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Mural entitled “The Rising" by YANOE aka @oh_yanoe and Eric Skotnes aka @zoueh_skotnes collectively known as @yanoexzoueh, seen at 923 Redondo Boulevard in Inglewood, California.
Drone photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Teee.
Mural entitled "Stu" by Owen Dippie aka @owendippie, seen at 422 Seaton Road in Los Angeles, California.
Drone photo by James aka Urbanmuralhunter on that other photo site.
Edit by Tee
"To recall in colour seventy dreams" is a line from the poem entitled 70 by Lemn Sissay. Seen here on the north side of the Royal Festival Hall as part of the Southbank Centre's celebration of the 70th anniversary of the National Poetry Library.
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.
“
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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.
Submitted to Kreative People DigiArt Gallery Contest "Baby it's Cold Outside" found here:
www.flickr.com/groups/1752359@N21/discuss/72157631898684006/
The Rainbow Works November Texture Challenge
Textures by Neighya
Both challenge textures applied in this design.
Background is from my stock and entitled "Mist on Pond" found here:
www.flickr.com/photos/plumnutz/8169675548/
Sculpture entitled "Joie de Femme, Heroic" by Richard Mcdonald and can be found in the Aria Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.A. and from my FREE Snippet stock here:
I met him on Bandra Hill Road liked his look , his turban , his peaceful attitude and shot a few frames.
He belongs to the Sikh religion.
about Sikhism
Sikhism,[1] founded in fifteenth century Punjab on the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev and ten successive Sikh Gurus (the last one being the sacred text Guru Granth Sahib), is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world.[2] This system of religious philosophy and expression has been traditionally known as the Gurmat (literally the counsel of the gurus) or the Sikh Dharma. Sikhism originated from the word Sikh, which in turn comes from the Sanskrit root śiṣya meaning "disciple" or "learner", or śikṣa meaning "instruction".[3][4]
The principal belief of Sikhism is faith in waheguru—represented using the sacred symbol of ik ōaṅkār, the Universal God. Sikhism advocates the pursuit of salvation through disciplined, personal meditation on the name and message of God. A key distinctive feature of Sikhism is a non-anthropomorphic concept of God, to the extent that one can interpret God as the Universe itself. The followers of Sikhism are ordained to follow the teachings of the ten Sikh gurus, or enlightened leaders, as well as the holy scripture entitled the Gurū Granth Sāhib, which, along with the writings of six of the ten Sikh Gurus, includes selected works of many devotees from diverse socio-economic and religious backgrounds. The text was decreed by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth guru, as the final guru of the Khalsa Panth. Sikhism's traditions and teachings are distinctively associated with the history, society and culture of the Punjab. Adherents of Sikhism are known as Sikhs (students or disciples) and number over 23 million across the world. Most Sikhs live in Punjab in India and, until India's partition, millions of Sikhs lived in what is now Pakistani Punjab.[5]
The origins of Sikhism lie in the teachings of Guru Nanak and his successors. The essence of Sikh teaching is summed up by Nanak in these words: "Realisation of Truth is higher than all else. Higher still is truthful living".[6] Sikhism believes in equality of all humans and rejects discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, and gender. Sikhism also does not attach any importance to asceticism as a means to attain salvation, but stresses on the need of leading life as a householder.
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion.[7][8] In Sikhism, God—termed Vāhigurū—is shapeless, timeless, and sightless: niraṅkār, akāl, and alakh. The beginning of the first composition of Sikh scripture is the figure "1"—signifying the universality of God. It states that God is omnipresent and infinite, and is signified by the term ēk ōaṅkār.[9] Sikhs believe that before creation, all that existed was God and Its hukam (will or order).[10] When God willed, the entire cosmos was created. From these beginnings, God nurtured "enticement and attachment" to māyā, or the human perception of reality.[11]
While a full understanding of God is beyond human beings,[9] Nanak described God as not wholly unknowable. God is omnipresent (sarav viāpak) in all creation and visible everywhere to the spiritually awakened. Nanak stressed that God must be seen from "the inward eye", or the "heart", of a human being: devotees must meditate to progress towards enlightenment. Guru Nanak Dev emphasized the revelation through meditation, as its rigorous application permits the existence of communication between God and human beings.[9] God has no gender in Sikhism, (though translations may incorrectly present a male God); indeed Sikhism teaches that God is "Nirankar" [Niran meaning "without" and kar meaning "form", hence "without form"]. In addition, Nanak wrote that there are many worlds on which God has created life.[12]
[edit] Pursuing salvation and khalsa
A Sikh man at the Harimandir Sahib
Nanak's teachings are founded not on a final destination of heaven or hell, but on a spiritual union with God which results in salvation.[13] The chief obstacles to the attainment of salvation are social conflicts and an attachment to worldly pursuits, which commit men and women to an endless cycle of birth—a concept known as reincarnation.
Māyā—defined as illusion or "unreality"—is one of the core deviations from the pursuit of God and salvation: people are distracted from devotion by worldly attractions which give only illusive satisfaction. However, Nanak emphasised māyā as not a reference to the unreality of the world, but of its values. In Sikhism, the influences of ego, anger, greed, attachment, and lust—known as the Five Evils—are believed to be particularly pernicious. The fate of people vulnerable to the Five Evils is separation from God, and the situation may be remedied only after intensive and relentless devotion.[14]
Nanak described God's revelation—the path to salvation—with terms such as nām (the divine Name) and śabad (the divine Word) to emphasise the totality of the revelation. Nanak designated the word guru (meaning teacher) as the voice of God and the source and guide for knowledge and salvation.[15] Salvation can be reached only through rigorous and disciplined devotion to God. Nanak distinctly emphasised the irrelevance of outward observations such as rites, pilgrimages, or asceticism. He stressed that devotion must take place through the heart, with the spirit and the soul.
A key practice to be pursued is nām: remembrance of the divine Name. The verbal repetition of the name of God or a sacred syllable is an established practice in religious traditions in India, but Nanak's interpretation emphasized inward, personal observance. Nanak's ideal is the total exposure of one's being to the divine Name and a total conforming to Dharma or the "Divine Order". Nanak described the result of the disciplined application of nām simraṇ as a "growing towards and into God" through a gradual process of five stages. The last of these is sac khaṇḍ (The Realm of Truth)—the final union of the spirit with God.[15]
Nanak stressed now kirat karō: that a Sikh should balance work, worship, and charity, and should defend the rights of all creatures, and in particular, fellow human beings. They are encouraged to have a chaṛdī kalā, or optimistic, view of life. Sikh teachings also stress the concept of sharing—vaṇḍ chakkō—through the distribution of free food at Sikh gurdwaras (laṅgar), giving charitable donations, and working for the good of the community and others (sēvā).
[edit] The ten gurus and religious authority
Main article: Sikh Gurus
A rare Tanjore-style painting from the late 19th century depicting the ten Sikh Gurus with Bhai Bala and Bhai Mardana.
The term guru comes from the Sanskrit gurū, meaning teacher, guide, or mentor. The traditions and philosophy of Sikhism were established by ten specific gurus from 1499 to 1708. Each guru added to and reinforced the message taught by the previous, resulting in the creation of the Sikh religion. Nanak was the first guru and appointed a disciple as successor. Gobind Singh was the final guru in human form. Before his death, Gobind Singh decreed that the Gurū Granth Sāhib would be the final and perpetual guru of the Sikhs.[16] The Sikhs believe that the spirit of Nanak was passed from one guru to the next, " just as the light of one lamp, which lights another and does not diminish ",[17] and is also mentioned in their holy book.
After Nanak's passing, the most important phase in the development of Sikhism came with the third successor, Amar Das. Nanak's teachings emphasised the pursuit of salvation; Amar Das began building a cohesive community of followers with initiatives such as sanctioning distinctive ceremonies for birth, marriage, and death. Amar Das also established the manji (comparable to a diocese) system of clerical supervision.[15]
The interior of the Akal Takht
Amar Das's successor and son-in-law Ram Das founded the city of Amritsar, which is home of the Harimandir Sahib and regarded widely as the holiest city for all Sikhs. When Ram Das's youngest son Arjan succeeded him, the line of male gurus from the Sodhi Khatri family was established: all succeeding gurus were direct descendants of this line. Arjun Mathur was responsible for compiling the Sikh scriptures. Guru Arjan Sahib was captured by Mughal authorities who were suspicious and hostile to the religious order he was developing.[18] His persecution and death inspired his successors to promote a military and political organization of Sikh communities to defend themselves against the attacks of Mughal forces.
The Sikh gurus established a mechanism which allowed the Sikh religion to react as a community to changing circumstances. The sixth guru, Har Gobind, was responsible for the creation of the concept of Akal Takht (throne of the timeless one), which serves as the supreme decision-making centre of Sikhdom and sits opposite the Darbar Sahib. The Sarbat Ḵẖālsā (a representative portion of the Khalsa Panth) historically gathers at the Akal Takht on special festivals such as Vaisakhi or Diwali and when there is a need to discuss matters that affect the entire Sikh nation. A gurmatā (literally, guru's intention) is an order passed by the Sarbat Ḵẖālsā in the presence of the Gurū Granth Sāhib. A gurmatā may only be passed on a subject that affects the fundamental principles of Sikh religion; it is binding upon all Sikhs.[19] The term hukamnāmā (literally, edict or royal order) is often used interchangeably with the term gurmatā. However, a hukamnāmā formally refers to a hymn from the Gurū Granth Sāhib which is given as an order to Sikhs.
[edit] History
Main article: History of Sikhism
Nanak (1469–1538), the founder of Sikhism, was born in the village of Rāi Bhōi dī Talwandī, now called Nankana Sahib (in present-day Pakistan).[20] His father, Mehta Kalu was a Patwari, an accountant of land revenue in the employment of Rai Bular Bhatti, the area landlord. Nanak's mother was Tripta Devi and he had one older sister, Nanaki. His parents were Khatri Hindus of the Bedi clan. As a boy, Nanak was fascinated by religion, and his desire to explore the mysteries of life eventually led him to leave home and take missionary journeys.
In his early teens, Nanak caught the attention of the local landlord Rai Bular Bhatti, who was moved by his intellect and divine qualities. Rai Bular was witness to many incidents in which Nanak enchanted him and as a result Rai Bular and Nanak's sister Bibi Nanki, became the first persons to recognise the divine qualities in Nanak. Both of them then encouraged and supported Nanak to study and travel. Sikh tradition states that at the age of thirty, Nanak went missing and was presumed to have drowned after going for one of his morning baths to a local stream called the Kali Bein. One day, he declared: "There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim" (in Punjabi, "nā kōi hindū nā kōi musalmān"). It was from this moment that Nanak would begin to spread the teachings of what was then the beginning of Sikhism.[21] Although the exact account of his itinerary is disputed, he is widely acknowledged to have made four major journeys, spanning thousands of kilometres, the first tour being east towards Bengal and Assam, the second south towards Tamil Nadu, the third north towards Kashmir, Ladakh, and Tibet, and the final tour west towards Baghdad and Mecca.[22]
Nanak was married to Sulakhni, the daughter of Moolchand Chona, a rice trader from the town of Bakala. They had two sons. The elder son, Sri Chand, was an ascetic, and he came to have a considerable following of his own, known as the Udasis. The younger son, Lakshmi Das, on the other hand, was totally immersed in worldly life. To Nanak, who believed in the ideal of rāj maiṁ jōg (detachment in civic life), both his sons were unfit to carry on the Guruship.
[edit] Growth of the Sikh community
In 1538, Nanak chose his disciple Lahiṇā, a Khatri of the Trehan clan, as a successor to the guruship rather than either of his sons. Lahiṇā was named Angad Dev and became the second guru of the Sikhs.[23] Nanak conferred his choice at the town of Kartarpur on the banks of the river Ravi, where Nanak had finally settled down after his travels. Though Sri Chand was not an ambitious man, the Udasis believed that the Guruship should have gone to him, since he was a man of pious habits in addition to being Nanak's son. They refused to accept Angad's succession. On Nanak's advice, Angad shifted from Kartarpur to Khadur, where his wife Khivi and children were living, until he was able to bridge the divide between his followers and the Udasis. Angad continued the work started by Nanak and is widely credited for standardising the Gurmukhī script as used in the sacred scripture of the Sikhs.
Amar Das, a Khatri of the Bhalla clan, became the third Sikh guru in 1552 at the age of 73. Goindval became an important centre for Sikhism during the guruship of Amar Das. He preached the principle of equality for women by prohibiting purdah and sati. Amar Das also encouraged the practice of langar and made all those who visited him attend laṅgar before they could speak to him.[24] In 1567, Emperor Akbar sat with the ordinary and poor people of Punjab to have laṅgar. Amar Das also trained 146 apostles of which 52 were women, to manage the rapid expansion of the religion.[25] Before he died in 1574 aged 95, he appointed his son-in-law Jēṭhā, a Khatri of the Sodhi clan, as the fourth Sikh guru.
Jēṭhā became Ram Das and vigorously undertook his duties as the new guru. He is responsible for the establishment of the city of Ramdaspur later to be named Amritsar. Before Ramdaspur, Amritsar was known as Guru Da Chakk. In 1581, Arjan Dev—youngest son of the fourth guru—became the fifth guru of the Sikhs. In addition to being responsible for building the Darbar/Harimandir Sahib (called the Golden Temple), he prepared the Sikh sacred text known as the Ādi Granth (literally the first book) and included the writings of the first five gurus. In 1606, for refusing to make changes to the Granth and for supporting an unsuccessful contender to the throne, he was tortured and killed by the Mughal Emperor, Jahangir.[26]
[edit] Political advancement
Hargobind, became the sixth guru of the Sikhs. He carried two swords—one for spiritual and the other for temporal reasons (known as mīrī and pīrī in Sikhism).[27] Sikhs grew as an organized community and under the 10th Guru the Sikhs developed a trained fighting force to defend their independence. In 1644, Har Rai became guru followed by Harkrishan, the boy guru, in 1661. No hymns composed by these three gurus are included in the Sikh holy book.[28]
Tegh Bahadur became guru in 1665 and led the Sikhs until 1675. Teg Bahadur was executed by Aurangzeb for helping to protect Hindus, after a delegation of Kashmiri Pandits came to him for help when the Emperor condemned them to death for failing to convert to Islam.[29] He was succeeded by his son, Gobind Rai who was just nine years old at the time of his father's death. Gobind Rai further militarised his followers, and was baptised by the Pañj Piārē when he formed the Khalsa on 13 April 1699. From here on in he was known as Gobind Singh.
From the time of Nanak, when it was a loose collection of followers who focused entirely on the attainment of salvation and God, the Sikh community had significantly transformed. Even though the core Sikh religious philosophy was never affected, the followers now began to develop a political identity. Conflict with Mughal authorities escalated during the lifetime of Teg Bahadur and Gobind Singh. The latter founded the Khalsa in 1699. The Khalsa is a disciplined community that combines its religious purpose and goals with political and military duties.[30] After Aurangzeb killed four of his sons, Gobind Singh sent Aurangzeb the Zafarnamah (Notification/Epistle of Victory).
Shortly before his death, Gobind Singh ordered that the Gurū Granth Sāhib (the Sikh Holy Scripture), would be the ultimate spiritual authority for the Sikhs and temporal authority would be vested in the Khalsa Panth—the Sikh Nation/Community.[16] The first scripture was compiled and edited by the fifth guru, Arjan Dev, in 1604.
A former ascetic was charged by Gobind Singh with the duty of punishing those who had persecuted the Sikhs. After the guru's death, Baba Banda Singh Bahadur became the leader of the Sikh army and was responsible for several attacks on the Mughal empire. He was executed by the emperor Jahandar Shah after refusing the offer of a pardon if he converted to Islam.[31]
The Sikh community's embrace of military and political organisation made it a considerable regional force in medieval India and it continued to evolve after the demise of the gurus. After the death of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, a Sikh Confederacy of Sikh warrior bands known as misls formed. With the decline of the Mughal empire, a Sikh Empire arose in the Punjab under Maharaja Ranjit Singh, with its capital in Lahore and limits reaching the Khyber Pass and the borders of China. The order, traditions and discipline developed over centuries culminated at the time of Ranjit Singh to give rise to the common religious and social identity that the term "Sikhism" describes.[32]
After the death of Ranjit Singh, the Sikh Empire fell into disorder and was eventually annexed by the United Kingdom after the hard-fought Anglo-Sikh Wars. This brought the Punjab under the British Raj. Sikhs formed the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee and the Shiromani Akali Dal to preserve Sikhs' religious and political organization a quarter of a century later. With the partition of India in 1947, thousands of Sikhs were killed in violence and millions were forced to leave their ancestral homes in West Punjab.[33] Sikhs faced initial opposition from the Government in forming a linguistic state that other states in India were afforded. The Akali Dal started a non-violence movement for Sikh and Punjabi rights. Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale emerged as a leader of the Bhindran-Mehta Jatha—which assumed the name of Damdami Taksal in 1977 to promote a peaceful solution of the problem. In June 1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered the Indian army to launch Operation Blue Star to remove Bhindranwale and his followers from the Darbar Sahib. Bhindranwale, and a large number of innocent pilgrims were killed during the army's operations. In October, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards. The assassination was followed by the 1984 Anti-Sikh riots massacre[34] and Hindu-Sikh conflicts in Punjab, as a reaction to the assassination and Operation Blue Star.
[edit] Scripture
There are two primary sources of scripture for the Sikhs: the Gurū Granth Sāhib and the Dasam Granth. The Gurū Granth Sāhib may be referred to as the Ādi Granth—literally, The First Volume—and the two terms are often used synonymously. Here, however, the Ādi Granth refers to the version of the scripture created by Arjan Dev in 1604. The Gurū Granth Sāhib refers to the final version of the scripture created by Gobind Singh.
[edit] Adi Granth
Main article: Ādi Granth
The Ādi Granth was compiled primarily by Bhai Gurdas under the supervision of Arjan Dev between the years 1603 and 1604.[35] It is written in the Gurmukhī script, which is a descendant of the Laṇḍā script used in the Punjab at that time.[36] The Gurmukhī script was standardised by Angad Dev, the second guru of the Sikhs, for use in the Sikh scriptures and is thought to have been influenced by the Śāradā and Devanāgarī scripts. An authoritative scripture was created to protect the integrity of hymns and teachings of the Sikh gurus and selected bhagats. At the time, Arjan Sahib tried to prevent undue influence from the followers of Prithi Chand, the guru's older brother and rival.[37]
The original version of the Ādi Granth is known as the kartārpur bīṛ and is claimed to be held by the Sodhi family of Kartarpur.[citation needed] (In fact the original volume was burned by Ahmad Shah Durrani's army in 1757 when they burned the whole town of Kartarpur.)[citation needed]
[edit] Guru Granth Sahib
Gurū Granth Sāhib folio with Mūl Mantra
Main article: Gurū Granth Sāhib
The final version of the Gurū Granth Sāhib was compiled by Gobind Singh in 1678. It consists of the original Ādi Granth with the addition of Teg Bahadur's hymns. It was decreed by Gobind Singh that the Granth was to be considered the eternal guru of all Sikhs; however, this tradition is not mentioned either in 'Guru Granth Sahib' or in 'Dasam Granth'.
Punjabi: ਸੱਬ ਸਿੱਖਣ ਕੋ ਹੁਕਮ ਹੈ ਗੁਰੂ ਮਾਨਯੋ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ।
Transliteration: Sabb sikkhaṇ kō hukam hai gurū mānyō granth.
English: All Sikhs are commanded to take the Granth as Guru.
It contains compositions by the first five gurus, Teg Bahadur and just one śalōk (couplet) from Gobind Singh.[38] It also contains the traditions and teachings of sants (saints) such as Kabir, Namdev, Ravidas, and Sheikh Farid along with several others.[32]
The bulk of the scripture is classified into rāgs, with each rāg subdivided according to length and author. There are 31 main rāgs within the Gurū Granth Sāhib. In addition to the rāgs, there are clear references to the folk music of Punjab. The main language used in the scripture is known as Sant Bhāṣā, a language related to both Punjabi and Hindi and used extensively across medieval northern India by proponents of popular devotional religion.[30] The text further comprises over 5000 śabads, or hymns, which are poetically constructed and set to classical form of music rendition, can be set to predetermined musical tāl, or rhythmic beats.
A group of Sikh musicians at the Golden Temple complex
The Granth begins with the Mūl Mantra, an iconic verse created by Nanak:
Punjabi: ੴ ਸਤਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਕਰਤਾ ਪੁਰਖੁ ਨਿਰਭਉ ਨਿਰਵੈਰੁ ਅਕਾਲ ਮੂਰਤਿ ਅਜੂਨੀ ਸੈਭੰ ਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ॥
ISO 15919 transliteration: Ika ōaṅkāra sati nāmu karatā purakhu nirabha'u niravairu akāla mūrati ajūnī saibhaṅ gura prasādi.
Simplified transliteration: Ik ōaṅkār sat nām kartā purkh nirbha'u nirvair akāl mūrat ajūnī saibhaṅ gur prasād.
English: One Universal Creator God, The Name Is Truth, Creative Being Personified, No Fear, No Hatred, Image Of The Timeless One, Beyond Birth, Self Existent, By Guru's Grace.
All text within the Granth is known as gurbānī. Gurbānī, according to Nanak, was revealed by God directly, and the authors wrote it down for the followers. The status accorded to the scripture is defined by the evolving interpretation of the concept of gurū. In the Sant tradition of Nanak, the guru was literally the word of God. The Sikh community soon transferred the role to a line of men who gave authoritative and practical expression to religious teachings and traditions, in addition to taking socio-political leadership of Sikh adherents. Gobind Singh declared an end of the line of human gurus, and now the Gurū Granth Sāhib serves as the eternal guru, with its interpretation vested with the community.[30]
[edit] Dasam Granth
Main article: Dasam Granth
A frontispiece to the Dasam Granth
The Dasam Granth (formally dasvēṁ pātśāh kī granth or The Book of the Tenth Master) is an eighteenth-century collection of poems by Gobind Singh. It was compiled in the shape of a book (granth) by Bhai Mani Singh some 13 to 26 years after Guru Gobind Singh Ji left this world for his heavenly abode.
From 1895 to 1897, different scholars and theologians assembled at the Akal Takht, Amritsar, to study the 32 printed Dasam Granths and prepare the authoritative version. They met at the Akal Takhat at Amritsar, and held formal discussions in a series of meetings between 13 June 1895 and 16 February 1896. A preliminary report entitled Report Sodhak (revision) Committee Dasam Patshah de Granth Sahib Di was sent to Sikh scholars and institutions, inviting their opinion. A second document, Report Dasam Granth di Sudhai Di was brought out on 11 February 1898. Basing its conclusions on a study of the old handwritten copies of the Dasam Granth preserved at Sri Takht Sahib at Patna and in other Sikh gurudwaras, this report affirmed that the Holy Volume was compiled at Anandpur Sahib in 1698[3] . Further re-examinations and reviews took place in 1931, under the aegis of the Darbar Sahib Committee of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee. They, too, vindicated the earlier conclusion (agreeing that it was indeed the work of the Guru) and its findings have since been published.
[edit] Janamsakhis
Main article: Janamsākhīs
The Janamsākhīs (literally birth stories), are writings which profess to be biographies of Nanak. Although not scripture in the strictest sense, they provide an interesting look at Nanak's life and the early start of Sikhism. There are several—often contradictory and sometimes unreliable—Janamsākhīs and they are not held in the same regard as other sources of scriptural knowledge.
[edit] Observances
Observant Sikhs adhere to long-standing practices and traditions to strengthen and express their faith. The daily recitation from memory of specific passages from the Gurū Granth Sāhib, especially the Japu (or Japjī, literally chant) hymns is recommended immediately after rising and bathing. Family customs include both reading passages from the scripture and attending the gurdwara (also gurduārā, meaning the doorway to God; sometimes transliterated as gurudwara). There are many gurdwaras prominently constructed and maintained across India, as well as in almost every nation where Sikhs reside. Gurdwaras are open to all, regardless of religion, background, caste, or race.
Worship in a gurdwara consists chiefly of singing of passages from the scripture. Sikhs will commonly enter the temple, touch the ground before the holy scripture with their foreheads, and make an offering. The recitation of the eighteenth century ardās is also customary for attending Sikhs. The ardās recalls past sufferings and glories of the community, invoking divine grace for all humanity.[39]
The most sacred shrine is the Harimandir Sahib in Amritsar, famously known as the Golden Temple. Groups of Sikhs regularly visit and congregate at the Harimandir Sahib. On specific occasions, groups of Sikhs are permitted to undertake a pilgrimage to Sikh shrines in the province of Punjab in Pakistan, especially at Nankana Sahib and other Gurdwaras. Other places of interest to Sikhism in Pakistan includes the samādhī (place of cremation) of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Lahore.
[edit] Sikh festivals
Festivals in Sikhism mostly centre around the lives of the Gurus and Sikh martyrs. The SGPC, the Sikh organisation in charge of upkeep of the gurdwaras, organises celebrations based on the new Nanakshahi calendar. This calendar is highly controversial among Sikhs and is not universally accepted. Several festivals (Hola Mohalla, Diwali, and Nanak's birthday) continue to be celebrated using the Hindu calendar. Sikh festivals include the following:
* Gurpurabs are celebrations or commemorations based on the lives of the Sikh gurus. They tend to be either birthdays or celebrations of Sikh martyrdom. All ten Gurus have Gurpurabs on the Nanakshahi calendar, but it is Guru Nanak Dev and Guru Gobind Singh who have a gurpurab that is widely celebrated in Gurdwaras and Sikh homes. The martyrdoms are also known as a shaheedi Gurpurab, which mark the martyrdom anniversary of Guru Arjan Dev and Guru Tegh Bahadur.
* Vaisakhi or Baisakhi normally occurs on 13 April and marks the beginning of the new spring year and the end of the harvest. Sikhs celebrate it because on Vaisakhi in 1699, the tenth guru, Gobind Singh, laid down the Foundation of the Khalsa an Independent Sikh Identity.
* Bandi Chhor Divas or Diwali celebrates Hargobind's release from the Gwalior Fort, with several innocent Hindu kings who were also imprisoned by Jahangir, on 26 October, 1619.
* Hola Mohalla occurs the day after Holi and is when the Khalsa Panth gather at Anandpur and display their warrior skills, including fighting and riding.
[edit] Ceremonies and customs
The anand kāraj (Sikh marriage) ceremony
Nanak taught that rituals, religious ceremonies, or idol worship is of little use and Sikhs are discouraged from fasting or going on pilgrimages.[40] However, during the period of the later gurus, and owing to increased institutionalisation of the religion, some ceremonies and rites did arise. Sikhism is not a proselytizing religion and most Sikhs do not make active attempts to gain converts. However, converts to Sikhism are welcomed, although there is no formal conversion ceremony. The morning and evening prayers take about two hours a day, starting in the very early morning hours. The first morning prayer is Guru Nanak's Jap Ji. Jap, meaning "recitation", refers to the use of sound, as the best way of approaching the divine. Like combing hair, hearing and reciting the sacred word is used as a way to comb all negative thoughts out of the mind. The second morning prayer is Guru Gobind Singh's universal Jaap Sahib. The Guru addresses God as having no form, no country, and no religion but as the seed of seeds, sun of suns, and the song of songs. The Jaap Sahib asserts that God is the cause of conflict as well as peace, and of destruction as well as creation. Devotees learn that there is nothing outside of God's presence, nothing outside of God's control. Devout Sikhs are encouraged to begin the day with private meditations on the name of God.
Upon a child's birth, the Guru Granth Sāhib is opened at a random point and the child is named using the first letter on the top left-hand corner of the left page. All boys are given the middle name or surname Singh, and all girls are given the middle name or surname Kaur.[41] Sikhs are joined in wedlock through the anand kāraj ceremony. Sikhs are required to marry when they are of a sufficient age (child marriage is taboo), and without regard for the future spouse's caste or descent. The marriage ceremony is performed in the company of the Guru Granth Sāhib; around which the couple circles four times. After the ceremony is complete, the husband and wife are considered "a single soul in two bodies."[42]
According to Sikh religious rites, neither husband nor wife is permitted to divorce. A Sikh couple that wishes to divorce may be able to do so in a civil court—but this is not condoned.[43] Upon death, the body of a Sikh is usually cremated. If this is not possible, any means of disposing the body may be employed. The kīrtan sōhilā and ardās prayers are performed during the funeral ceremony (known as antim sanskār).[44]
[edit] Baptism and the Khalsa
A kaṛā, kaṅghā and kirpān.
Khalsa (meaning pure) is the name given by Gobind Singh to all Sikhs who have been baptised or initiated by taking ammrit in a ceremony called ammrit sañcār. The first time that this ceremony took place was on Vaisakhi, which fell on 29 March 1698/1699 at Anandpur Sahib in Punjab. It was on that occasion that Gobind Singh baptised the Pañj Piārē who in turn baptised Gobind Singh himself.
Baptised Sikhs are bound to wear the Five Ks (in Punjabi known as pañj kakkē or pañj kakār), or articles of faith, at all times. The tenth guru, Gobind Singh, ordered these Five Ks to be worn so that a Sikh could actively use them to make a difference to their own and to others' spirituality. The 5 items are: kēs (uncut hair), kaṅghā (small comb), kaṛā (circular iron bracelet), kirpān (dagger), and kacchā (special undergarment). The Five Ks have both practical and symbolic purposes.[45]
[edit] Sikh people
Main article: Sikh
Further information: Sikhism by country
Punjabi Sikh family from Punjab, India
Worldwide, there are 25.8 million Sikhs and approximately 75% of Sikhs live in the Indian state of Punjab, where they constitute about 60% of the state's population. Even though there are a large number of Sikhs in the world, certain countries have not recognised Sikhism as a major religion and Sikhism has no relation to Hinduism. Large communities of Sikhs live in the neighboring states, and large communities of Sikhs can be found across India. However, Sikhs only make up about 2% of the Indian population.
In addition to social divisions, there is a misperception that there are a number of Sikh sectarian groups[clarification needed], such as Namdharis and Nirankaris. Nihangs tend to have little difference in practice and are considered the army of Sikhism. There is also a sect known as Udasi, founded by Sri Chand who were initially part of Sikhism but later developed into a monastic order.
Sikh Migration beginning from the 19th century led to the creation of significant communities in Canada (predominantly in Brampton, along with Malton in Ontario and Surrey in British Columbia), East Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, the United Kingdom and more recently, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Western Europe. Smaller populations of Sikhs are found in Mauritius, Malaysia, Fiji, Nepal, China, Pakistan, Afganistan, Iraq and many other countries
Entitled: Peking mission school children at play, the dragon's head [1902] CH Graves (but likely H Ponting) [RESTORED] I retouched out some minor spot and scratches, adjusted the tone and contrast, and finally added a sepia tone. The image is from the right of a stereoscope pair. The originals, two in this case, are attributed to both CH Graves in 1902, and another to Keystone. The later one was presumably reprinted under a new title when Keystone View Co took possession of Graves collection (as a part of their Underwood acquisition); it listed only the title without any attribution at all. The original CH Graves image listed the Peking location and attests to a missionary school there.
The US Library of Congress lists this picture under two Reproduction Numbers, LC-USZ62-103632 for the Keystone attributed image, and LC-USZ62-52359 for the slightly poorer quality CH Graves print.
Carlton Harlow Graves was the owner of CH Graves Company (one of his many business titles), another one of several stereoscope picture view companies that imaged the world extensively in the hopes of bringing esoteric views to jaded westerners. He eventually sold out to Underwood & Co. in 1910, and it is presumed that his work then went to Keystone View when Underwood itself was later sold to them. CH Graves Company also used the work of other paid photographers, and Herbert Ponting is suspected of being Graves' actual source of all it's China images, including this one.
I simply love this picture. Early 1900s Chinese children were hardly ever at ease enough to unabashedly play in front of a western photographer. They're either too scared, shy, or mesmerized by the photographer's operation to ever engage in what they would otherwise do normally if the westerner wasn't present. Like all kids one would expect them to be playing, and this rare image successfully captures that. In a collaborative effort, five boys acrobatically form the head of a dragon. This provides ample evidence that traditional folklore and myth was already inculcated into the Chinese psyche at an early age, enough that Children use the imagery from such tales to acrobatically create imaginary creatures during their frolic and gambol.
From my set entitled “Roses”
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/sets/72157607214064416/
In my collection entitled “The Garden”
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/collections/7215760718...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A rose is a perennial flowering shrub or vine of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae, that contains over 100 species. The species form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp thorns. Most are native to Asia, with smaller numbers of species native to Europe, North America, and northwest Africa. Natives, cultivars and hybrids are all widely grown for their beauty and fragrance. [1]
The leaves are alternate and pinnately compound, with sharply toothed oval-shaped leaflets. The plants fleshy edible fruit is called a rose hip. Rose plants range in size from tiny, miniature roses, to climbers that can reach 20 metres in height. Species from different parts of the world easily hybridize, which has given rise to the many types of garden roses.
The name originates from Latin rosa, borrowed through Oscan from colonial Greek in southern Italy: rhodon (Aeolic form: wrodon), from Aramaic wurrdā, from Assyrian wurtinnu, from Old Iranian *warda (cf. Armenian vard, Avestan warda, Sogdian ward, Parthian wâr).[2][3]
Attar of rose is the steam-extracted essential oil from rose flowers that has been used in perfumes for centuries. Rose water, made from the rose oil, is widely used in Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine. Rose hips are occasionally made into jam, jelly, and marmalade, or are brewed for tea, primarily for their high Vitamin C content. They are also pressed and filtered to make rose hip syrup. Rose hips are also used to produce Rose hip seed oil, which is used in skin products.
The leaves of most species are 5–15 centimetres long, pinnate, with (3–) 5–9 (–13) leaflets and basal stipules; the leaflets usually have a serrated margin, and often a few small prickles on the underside of the stem. The vast majority of roses are deciduous, but a few (particularly in Southeast Asia) are evergreen or nearly so.
The flowers of most species roses have five petals, with the exception of Rosa sericea, which usually has only four. Each petal is divided into two distinct lobes and is usually white or pink, though in a few species yellow or red. Beneath the petals are five sepals (or in the case of some Rosa sericea, four). These may be long enough to be visible when viewed from above and appear as green points alternating with the rounded petals. The ovary is inferior, developing below the petals and sepals.
The aggregate fruit of the rose is a berry-like structure called a rose hip. Rose species that produce open-faced flowers are attractive to pollinating bees and other insects, thus more apt to produce hips. Many of the domestic cultivars are so tightly petalled that they do not provide access for pollination. The hips of most species are red, but a few (e.g. Rosa pimpinellifolia) have dark purple to black hips. Each hip comprises an outer fleshy layer, the hypanthium, which contains 5–160 "seeds" (technically dry single-seeded fruits called achenes) embedded in a matrix of fine, but stiff, hairs. Rose hips of some species, especially the Dog Rose (Rosa canina) and Rugosa Rose (Rosa rugosa), are very rich in vitamin C, among the richest sources of any plant. The hips are eaten by fruit-eating birds such as thrushes and waxwings, which then disperse the seeds in their droppings. Some birds, particularly finches, also eat the seeds.
While the sharp objects along a rose stem are commonly called "thorns", they are actually prickles — outgrowths of the epidermis (the outer layer of tissue of the stem). True thorns, as produced by e.g. Citrus or Pyracantha, are modified stems, which always originate at a node and which have nodes and internodes along the length of the thorn itself. Rose prickles are typically sickle-shaped hooks, which aid the rose in hanging onto other vegetation when growing over it. Some species such as Rosa rugosa and R. pimpinellifolia have densely packed straight spines, probably an adaptation to reduce browsing by animals, but also possibly an adaptation to trap wind-blown sand and so reduce erosion and protect their roots (both of these species grow naturally on coastal sand dunes). Despite the presence of prickles, roses are frequently browsed by deer. A few species of roses only have vestigial prickles that have no points.
Roses are popular garden shrubs, as well as the most popular and commonly sold florists' flowers. In addition to their great economic importance as a florists crop, roses are also of great value to the perfume industry.
Many thousands of rose hybrids and cultivars have been bred and selected for garden use; most are double-flowered with many or all of the stamens having mutated into additional petals. As long ago as 1840 a collection numbering over one thousand different cultivars, varieties and species was possible when a rosarium was planted by Loddiges nursery for Abney Park Cemetery, an early Victorian garden cemetery and arboretum in England.
Twentieth-century rose breeders generally emphasized size and colour, producing large, attractive blooms with little or no scent. Many wild and "old-fashioned" roses, by contrast, have a strong sweet scent.
Roses thrive in temperate climates, though certain species and cultivars can flourish in sub-tropical and even tropical climates, especially when grafted onto appropriate rootstock.
Rose pruning, sometimes regarded as a horticultural art form, is largely dependent on the type of rose to be pruned, the reason for pruning, and the time of year it is at the time of the desired pruning.
Most Old Garden Roses of strict European heritage (albas, damasks, gallicas, etc.) are shrubs that bloom once yearly, in late spring or early summer, on two-year-old (or older) canes. As such, their pruning requirements are quite minimal, and are overall similar to any other analogous shrub, such as lilac or forsythia. Generally, only old, spindly canes should be pruned away, to make room for new canes. One-year-old canes should never be pruned because doing so will remove next year's flower buds. The shrubs can also be pruned back lightly, immediately after the blooms fade, to reduce the overall height or width of the plant. In general, pruning requirements for OGRs are much less laborious and regimented than for Modern hybrids.
Modern hybrids, including the hybrid teas, floribundas, grandifloras, modern miniatures, and English roses, have a complex genetic background that almost always includes China roses (R. chinensis). China roses were evergrowing, everblooming roses from humid subtropical regions that bloomed constantly on any new vegetative growth produced during the growing season. Their modern hybrid descendants exhibit similar habits: Unlike Old Garden Roses, modern hybrids bloom continuously (until stopped by frost) on any new canes produced during the growing season. They therefore require pruning away of any spent flowering stem, in order to divert the plant's energy into producing new growth and thence new flowers.
Additionally, Modern Hybrids planted in cold-winter climates will almost universally require a "hard" annual pruning (reducing all canes to 8"–12" in height) in early spring. Again, because of their complex China rose background, Modern Hybrids are typically not as cold-hardy as European OGRs, and low winter temperatures often desiccate or kill exposed canes. In spring, if left unpruned, these damanged canes will often die back all the way to the shrub's root zone, resulting in a weakened, disfigured plant. The annual "hard" pruning of hybrid teas, floribundas, etc. should generally be done in early spring; most gardeners coincide this pruning with the blooming of forsythia shrubs. Canes should be cut about 1/2" above a vegetative bud (identifiable as a point on a cane where a leaf once grew).
For both Old Garden Roses and Modern Hybrids, any weak, damaged or diseased growth should be pruned away completely, regardless of the time of year. Any pruning of any rose should also be done so that the cut is made at a forty five degree angle above a vegetative bud. This helps the pruned stem callus over more quickly, and also mitigates moisture buildup over the cut, which can lead to disease problems.
For all general rose pruning (including cutting flowers for arrangements), sharp secateurs (hand-held, sickle-bladed pruners) should be used to cut any growth 1/2" or less in diameter. For canes of a thickness greater than 1/2", pole loppers or a small handsaw are generally more effective; secateurs may be damaged or broken in such instances.
Deadheading is the simple practice of manually removing any spent, faded, withered, or discoloured flowers from rose shrubs over the course of the blooming season. The purpose of deadheading is to encourage the plant to focus its energy and resources on forming new offshoots and blooms, rather than in fruit production. Deadheading may also be perfomed, if spent flowers are unsightly, for aethestic purposes. Roses are particularly responsive to deadheading.
Deadheading causes different effects on different varieties of roses. For continual blooming varieties, whether Old Garden roses or more modern hybrid varieties, deadheading allows the rose plant to continue forming new shoots, leaves, and blooms. For "once-blooming" varieties (that bloom only once each season), deadheading has the effect of causing the plant to form new green growth, even though new blooms will not form until the next blooming season.
For most rose gardeners, deadheading is used to refresh the growth of the rose plants to keep the rose plants strong, vibrant, and productive.
The rose has always been valued for its beauty and has a long history of symbolism. The ancient Greeks and Romans identified the rose with their goddesses of love referred to as Aphrodite and Venus. In Rome a wild rose would be placed on the door of a room where secret or confidential matters were discussed. The phrase sub rosa, or "under the rose", means to keep a secret — derived from this ancient Roman practice.
Early Christians identified the five petals of the rose with the five wounds of Christ. Despite this interpretation, their leaders were hesitant to adopt it because of its association with Roman excesses and pagan ritual. The red rose was eventually adopted as a symbol of the blood of the Christian martyrs. Roses also later came to be associated with the Virgin Mary.
Rose culture came into its own in Europe in the 1800s with the introduction of perpetual blooming roses from China. There are currently thousands of varieties of roses developed for bloom shape, size, fragrance and even for lack of prickles.
Roses are ancient symbols of love and beauty. The rose was sacred to a number of goddesses (including Isis and Aphrodite), and is often used as a symbol of the Virgin Mary. 'Rose' means pink or red in a variety of languages (such as Romance languages, Greek, and Polish).
The rose is the national flower of England and the United States[4], as well as being the symbol of England Rugby, and of the Rugby Football Union. It is also the provincial flower of Yorkshire and Lancashire in England (the white rose and red rose respectively) and of Alberta (the wild rose), and the state flower of four US states: Iowa and North Dakota (R. arkansana), Georgia (R. laevigata), and New York[5] (Rosa generally). Portland, Oregon counts "City of Roses" among its nicknames, and holds an annual Rose Festival.
Roses are occasionally the basis of design for rose windows, such windows comprising five or ten segments (the five petals and five sepals of a rose) or multiples thereof; however most Gothic rose windows are much more elaborate and were probably based originally on the wheel and other symbolism.
A red rose (often held in a hand) is a symbol of socialism or social democracy; it is also used as a symbol by the British and Irish Labour Parties, as well as by the French, Spanish (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), Portuguese, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Brazilian, Dutch (Partij van de Arbeid) and European socialist parties. This originated when the red rose was used as a badge by the marchers in the May 1968 street protests in Paris. White Rose was a World War II non violent resistance group in Germany.
Roses are often portrayed by artists. The French artist Pierre-Joseph Redouté produced some of the most detailed paintings of roses.
Henri Fantin-Latour was also a prolific painter of still life, particularly flowers including roses. The Rose 'Fantin-Latour' was named after the artist.
Other impressionists including Claude Monet and Paul Cézanne have paintings of roses among their works.
Rose perfumes are made from attar of roses or rose oil, which is a mixture of volatile essential oils obtained by steam distilling the crushed petals of roses. The technique originated in Persia (the word Rose itself is from Persian) then spread through Arabia and India, but nowadays about 70% to 80% of production is in the Rose Valley near Kazanluk in Bulgaria, with some production in Qamsar in Iran and Germany.[citation needed]
The Kaaba in Mecca is annually washed by the Iranian rose water from Qamsar. In Bulgaria, Iran and Germany, damask roses (Rosa damascena 'Trigintipetala') are used. In the French rose oil industry Rosa centifolia is used. The oil, pale yellow or yellow-grey in color, is sometimes called 'Rose Absolute' oil to distinguish it from diluted versions. The weight of oil extracted is about one three-thousandth to one six-thousandth of the weight of the flowers; for example, about two thousand flowers are required to produce one gram of oil.
The main constituents of attar of roses are the fragrant alcohols geraniol and l-citronellol; and rose camphor, an odourless paraffin. β-Damascenone is also a significant contributor to the scent.
Quotes
What's in a name? That which we call a rose/By any other name would smell as sweet. — William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet act II, sc. ii
O, my love's like a red, red rose/That's newly sprung in June — Robert Burns, A Red, Red Rose
Information appears to stew out of me naturally, like the precious ottar of roses out of the otter. Mark Twain, Roughing It
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses. — James Oppenheim, "Bread and Roses"
Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose — Gertrude Stein, Sacred Emily (1913), a poem included in Geography and Plays.
I was going to entitle this "Sunrise At Low Tide," but according to the official charts, the sun rose at 5:45 a.m., which was more than an hour earlier, so this doesn't even qualify as golden hour. It was a gray, overcast day, and a sliver of sunlight managed to break through the clouds in the east. As for the tides, low tide at Little Neck Bay was 7:18 a.m. that day so it went a little lower than this before reversing. Normally, I wouldn't even be out and about this early, but I was headed for the COVID-19 "special senior hours" at the local Stop 'N Shop; freshly stocked shelves and fewer, more compliant customers. One photo a day. (129/366) Bayside, Queens, NYC -- May 8, 2020