AFTR the Fact Couture SL
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I took this photo for the theme "A look in the mirror" of the Smile on Saturday group. The sewing items are usually stored in a box and haven't seen the light of day in a long time as sewing isn't exactly one of my talents. In fact I hardly manage to sew on a button. At least they have been useful for a photo now. HSoS !
#macromondays
#highkey
Late in the game again with a photo that is a pure act of desperation. Really. I didn't want to skip "High Key", because it is pretty much out of my comfort zone so I wanted to meet this challenge. But I wasn't sure what to photograph. At the end (which means today) a tiny, shiny miniature crown that once graced a pencil bought at the museum shop of the Deutsches Historisches Museum (I've already used this crown in another photo which you can find in the first comment) and another watch (a Casio which you might have already guessed) came to the rescue. But does this image make any sense? I don't think so. Except maybe for the fact that a tiny crown is reflected in the glass of a digital watch that doesn't have a crown, only pushers. Oh dear ;)
OK, so let's skip my unsuccessful attempt at trying to make sense of an image that doesn't make any sense and get to the technicalities: The glass of this watch is double-coated (on the outside and on the inside). Seen at the right angle (light from above aka sunshine works best) it lets the dial shimmer in lovely pastel rainbow colours. But the glass also works as a mirror. So I simply placed the crown in front of it, illuminated the glass with a single LED light so the rainbow colour coating would work its irresistible iridescent magic on the crown's reflection, and took a single handheld shot. Which had to do, because I was running out of time. The bokeh in the lower right corner is the golden crown itself. Processed in DXO PL6, Color Efex, and Viveza.
HMM, Everyone, and have a nice week ahead!
I am not generally that successful at bird photography even when I have consciously gone out to see birds. This shot of the chaffinch was pure luck. Mary and I were on a walk recently I had taken a shot or two of some wild flowers . I spotted the bird and took a couple of shots without changing settings not really expecting anything reasonable. In fact I am quite pleased with this one I know it could be sharper but for a grab shot its not too bad . It is very heavily cropped
Hope you are all managing to cope in this strange New World we are living in . Of course I hope you and yours remain well and safe
THANKS FOR YOUR VISITING BUT CAN I ASK YOU NOT TO FAVE AN IMAGE WITHOUT ALSO MAKING A COMMENT. MANY THANKS KEITH. ANYONE MAKING MULTIPLE FAVES WITHOUT COMMENTS WILL SIMPLY BE BLOCKED
For those who are interested, an extract from this afternoon's Journal entry.
"At 5 o'clock we were back on the road to Sousousvlei for the afternoon drive, along the way we saw Oryx and Ostriches. We stopped at dune number 45, I gave Ruby my Panasonic camera and she went off to take photos of wild flowers. I took close up shots of the sand dune and its environment.
Next we drove to dune number 47; this was a stunning landscape, especially in the afternoon light. We watched the sun set at dune 47, Ruby took photos of the sunset with one of my cameras, while I used another. Neither of us was interested in sharing drinks and nibbles, we were civil but an impossible gulf had opened between us.
I asked about taking a hot air balloon or a sightseeing flight the next morning. Ruby said I'd never get into the balloon basket and besides the next morning would be windy and unsuitable for ballooning. She was no longer interested in anything I wanted if I wasn’t interested in what she wanted me to do. She had also lost sight of the fact I was the client and she the guide. Her message was loud and clear.
Back at the camp we had Orix kebabs for dinner, tough as old leather and not at all tasty."
I must say, I was shocked when I saw how nighttime changes an owl's face. While they become fearsome predators at night, they also become much more adorable to us humans, who have evolved to perceive large eyes as captivating and innocent.
In an effort to find area barred owls, I set out to a local park before sunrise and came upon this Eastern Screech Owl (Megascops asio) in the dark. This darkness was so inky and thick, in fact, that I could not see if he was in his hole or not, so trained my tripoded camera on the hole, manually focused, and finally saw him in the preview window! Shocked for sure by those massive pupils staring down at me, a frog (which he swallowed greedily prior to this photo and while I watched) in his talons!
Interestingly, owl eyeballs are not balls at all, but so well evolved for night vision that they have elongated into eye cones. For this reason, they cannot move their eyes in their sockets, and have evolved wildly-flexible necks. With their highly acute retinas replete with rods (the light and movement sensing eye bits), there wasn't much room for cones, and so most owls see limited or no color!
reading fingers have left almost invisible traces on the letters. the story is very old.
what is readable, what can we know...just some shades and hints of the forgotten lives.
Wishing my dear friend, Suzy (bulldog1), a very happy birthday! Unfortunately, the forecast for the weather where Suzy lives is to be cold, cloudy, and maybe rainy on Friday, February 9th, which is Suzy's birthday. If that is, in fact, your weather today, Suzy, I hope this image will brighten up your day. You and your beautiful photos and delightful photo stories have certainly brightened up a lot of my days! Happy Birthday, Suzy! Wishing you a wonderful day and hoping that the coming year is a happy, healthy one for you and Jazzy JJ. Love and hugs!
Who doesn't have hundreds of pictures of these in La Jolla?
Something about this one just worked for me. I like the fact that the lighter fur on the front have of the subject's body stood out, almost as if spotlighted. The sky is pretty overcast with marine layer, which is dull in color, but in monochrome it almost seems as though she has a ray of light on her.
Congrats on Explore!
#88 ⭐ June 30, 2023
Recognition:
Accepted for Display - JAN 2023 by Darkroomers Photographic Club, San Diego, CA.
The Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) is is a communal bird in the winter months, when upwards of ten or more may be spotted searching the same field for mousy treats. These stunning and gregarious owls benefited greatly from mankind's agricultural revolution, as they adore hunts on such fields. In fact, whenever such a field exists, they'll even sleep in them during the day, nestled away in tall grasses. Sure, short-ears will roost in trees when absolutely necessary, but only begrudgingly when thick blankets of snow have stolen their grassy hillocks. Interestingly, their hoots have always sounded a bit like a cross between dog barking and cat mewling to me!
Interesting fact: House Wrens are fiercely territorial, they have been known to destroy bluebird and other cavity nester's eggs by piercing them, and then often removing the eggs from the nest.
If you like this and some of my other images, I invite you to take a look at my wildlife/birding blog, which I try to update every few days. ... grenfell.weebly.com and my web page at www.tekfx.ca
I appreciate your feedback and comments! so feel free to contact me for any reason. I can be reached at billm@tekfx.ca or on Flickrmail
All images are copyright. Please don't use this, or any other of my, images, on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit written permission © All rights reserved
Interesting Fact: During the long Arctic night, Redpolls are known to sleep in snow tunnels to preserve body heat.
If you like this and some of my other images, I invite you to take a look at my wildlife/birding blog, which I try to update every few days. ... grenfell.weebly.com and my web page at www.tekfx.ca
I appreciate your feedback and comments! so feel free to contact me for any reason. I can be reached at billm@tekfx.ca or on Flickrmail
All images are copyright. Please don't use this, or any other of my, images, on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit written permission © All rights reserved
I spent some time on our beach (at the end of my street) yesterday evening, and decided that I really must do it more often. It's not what you'd call a busy place.... very peaceful, in fact.
Anyway, it seemed to be a good time to give my wonderful contacts a break from all of those macro flower shots I keep uploading (not that I've actually stopped taking them... lol... cos I just can't resist them!!).
And she looks fagged out! In fact, she seems to be losing her grip on things! (ツ)
This picture has a note
View in lightbox and zoom in while on full screen (F11), of course!
The gear! Shh!!! Mum's the word!
Take care and many thanks for calling,
Colin ... (ツ)
★ Food for thought :
The bee is fast becoming an endangered species in many parts of the world. In France, the newly arrived Asian hornet is just another nail in the coffin. Without the bee, we too could well become an endangered species! :-(( - Love thy neighbour and thy bee however small and insignificant it may appear to be.
"If the Bee Disappeared Off the Face of the Earth, Man Would Only Have Four Years Left To Live" - Albert Einstein
God slay the Asian queens and save our noble bees!
(ironically, to the tune of "God Save the Queen")
Back to photo page : Christmastime is here again!
The Rosette Nebula (also known as NGC 2237 and C 49) is a large, roughly circular H II region located on the edge of a giant molecular nebula in the constellation Unicorn. The nebula has an angular diameter of 1.3° and is located at a distance of 1600 parsecs (about 5200 light years) from the solar system; it is approximately 100 light-years in size. At the center of the Rosette Nebula is a bright open cluster known as NGC 2244; the blue stars of the cluster, forming part of the OB association known as Monoceros OB2, emit ultraviolet radiation, which excites the gas of the nebula leading it to emit red light. The stellar wind from the O and B group of stars is thought to exert pressure on the interstellar cloud causing compression, followed by star formation; in fact, many Bok globules have been observed in the region, believed to be the site of star formation.
Año Nuevo Chino 2026, Fort Pienc, Barcelona.
La celebración del año nuevo chino se celebra desde hace ya diez años y ha arraigado con fuerza en la ciudad, donde viven más de 20.200 personas de origen chino. La china, es de hecho la cuarta nacionalidad más grande residente en la ciudad de Barcelona. El dinamismo de su tejido asociativo y el componente intercultural de la celebración del año nuevo, que comparten numerosas entidades de los barrios de la ciudad, lo ha convertido en una cita muy señalada en el calendario festivo barcelonés.
The celebration of the Chinese New Year has been celebrated for ten years and has become firmly established in the city, where more than 20,200 people of Chinese origin live. Chinese is in fact the fourth largest nationality residing in the city of Barcelona. The dynamism of its associative fabric and the intercultural component of the New Year celebration, which is shared by numerous entities in the city's neighborhoods, has made it a very important event in the Barcelona festive calendar.
Hydro electricity would be a great way to go in Iceland, but then there is so much geothermal activity on the Island that I suppose it doesn't matter how you do it. Energy is abundant in this part of the world, from natural renewable sources. This is one of millions of waterfalls on this island. In fact after visiting Iceland all other waterfalls have paled in comparison. It the type of place to go if you love waterfalls as there are so many that most in the backcountry go unmarked unless they are monstrous. This is an unmarked waterfall in the backcountry. Many of the most beautiful places in Iceland require a jeep capable of being submerged around 3 feet deep in a river. Some places more. I have a new found respect for the capabilities of modern automobiles after visiting this place.
Recent storms have fallen several trees along the trail. Most have been removed. A branch has been cut off this tree but the remaining is not blocking the trail and is in fact, still well rooted in the ground.
Picture, if you will, having breakfast on the courtyard lawn of the Suryagarh hotel I just showed you. The air is still cool. So cool you almost forget you're in a desert.
It is a peaceful morning. Then the haunting sound of flute music begins to fill the air. It sounds like it is from a distant land far away. In fact, the flutist is sitting behind a lattice work window on the highest floor of the hotel.
As breakfast arrives, the peacocks are released to roam the courtyard. They strut about, but are very well-behaved. There was never any doubt that they would be tempted to beg for crumbs.
Forget the other hotels that say they offer unforgettable ambiance. Most are referring to snobbish gold plated adornments. The mornings at this hotel in the desert re-enacted the glorious days when trading caravans came passing through selling priceless exotic goods from all over the world.
ursus arctos
length: 1 to 2.8 m
weight: 139 kg (male), 95 kg (female)
lifespan: 20 to 30 years
predators: humans
habitat: boreal forest, mountain alpine, arctic tundra
yukon population estimate: 6,000-7,000
they breed for the first time around their 8th year and reproduce every 3 to 4 years
bears routinely distinguish between threatening and non-threatening human behaviour
bears are not mean or malicious; they are very gentle, curious, and tolerant animals
shih shòh (gwich’in)
shär cho (hän)
dlēze (kaska)
srà cho (northern tutchone)
akłaq (inuvialuit)
atsìá sho (big grandpa) (southern tutchone)
shash chō (tagish)
shüh choh (upper tanana)
xóots or xûts (tlingit)
In my garden. La Ceja, Colombia; 2.300 meters above sea level.
Dione moneta
(The Mexican Silverspot / Pasionaria Mexicana)
Dione moneta occurrs from the southern USA to Peru, Bolivia and northern Argentina.
This species is migratory in behaviour so can be found in almost any habitat, and at any altitude from 0-3500 metres. It is most frequent between 1800-2800m and is most often encountered in open sunny areas - these typically include riverbanks, rocky slopes, pastures and roadsides - in fact anywhere where there is an abundance of nectar sources. Both sexes nectar at a wide variety of flowers.
www.learnaboutbutterflies.com/Andes - Dione moneta.htm
A combination of moments,
light and shadows.
Lines and dots.
All inconspicuous and at the same time quite clear.
La funivia da Laveno al Monte Sasso del Ferro, inaugurata nella primavera del 1963, è affettuosamente conosciuta come il "il secchio ascensore", per il fatto che le cabine per due persone sono aperte e assomigliano secchi giganti.
Il viaggio su per la montagna dura 16 minuti e porta ad oltre 1000 metri (3484ft)
Le 80 cabine ospitano due persone, con una portata oraria di 284 persone. Una volta arrivati sulla terrazza detta di “Poggio S.Elsa”, si gode di un paesaggio a 360 gradi sulla pianura padanae sul lago Maggiore, fino all'inconfondibile massiccio del Monte Rosa, perfetto e maestoso.
The cable car from Laveno to Monte Sasso del Ferro, inaugurated in the spring of 1963, is affectionately known as the "bucket lift", due to the fact that the cabins for two people are open and resemble giant buckets.
The trip up the mountain lasts 16 minutes and leads to more than 1000 meters (3.484ft)
The 80 cabins accommodate two people, with an hourly capacity of 284 people. Once arrived on the terrace called "Poggio S.Elsa", you can enjoy a 360-degree landscape on Po Valley above Lake Maggiore up to the unmistakable Mount Rosa, perfect and majestic.
Zanda Earth Forest (or Zanda Tulin). Zanda County, Ngari Prefecture, Xizang Autonomous Region, China. March 2022.
Squonk - Genesis / A Trick of the Tail, 1976
Now listen here, listen to me, don't you run away now. I am a friend, I'd really like to play with you, making noises my little furry friend would make. I'll trick him, then I'll kick him into my sack. You better watch out, you better watch out. I've got you, I've got you, you'll never get away. Walking home that night, the sack across my back, the sound of sobbing on my shoulder, when suddenly it stopped. I opened up the sack, all that I had a pool of bubbles and tears, just a pool of tears. Just a pool of tears. All in all you are a very dying race, placing trust upon a cruel world. You never had the things you thought you should have had and you'll not get them now. And all the while in perfect time... your tears are falling on the ground.
.....
When I heard the Genesis album "A Trick of the Tail," I didn't understand the song "Squonk." I didn't understand what it was explaining exactly, or who the song was referring to. The neuron that fires in my brain to do something I enjoy, which is something like musical archaeology, disconnected for some reason. It stopped making synapses in my neural system, and I did nothing to find out what this song explained. A few years later, I became interested in a strange website called the Internet Archive, also known as archive.org for its internet address. This kind of digital internet library or website is established as a non-profit organization and is operated thanks to the efforts of people who volunteer their free time to make this website work. Explaining what the Internet Archive is isn't easy. It's an organization and a website that advocates for a free and open Internet, for the free flow of information, offering free access to collections of digitized materials, software applications, music, audiovisual materials, books, printed materials, and much more. It's especially important to websites that are closing and contain old digital material that would otherwise be lost. They try to preserve Internet content in this way, functioning as a "backup" of the Internet, making it possible to recover and view web pages that have disappeared or been deleted, thus eliminating the information they contained. It's a free, open library accessible to everyone. Its objective is to preserve human culture and knowledge. It's easy to get lost in it given the vast amount of information and materials available. You often search and get lost among so much material and find things you don't even know what they're for, or you find things that surprise you. You can even find software for your first Amstrad or Atari computer, which you bought in the 1990s. I highly recommend it. Here are the updated figures from Wikipedia about what you can find on the Internet Archive: 46 million printed materials, 15 million videos, 1.3 million software programs, 14 million audio files, 5.3 million images, 279,660 concerts, and more than 946 billion web pages in its Wayback Machine (a database containing copies of a huge number of Internet pages or sites). Does that seem like too little to you? Or do you think it's a place worth diving into to search and find the strangest things you can think of or look for? It's a kind of "grandmother's trunk" that holds everything. And it's the books section that I think is the best organized, where you can find books that no longer exist, that aren't published, or that you wouldn't even find in your local municipal library. There are millions of digitized books, where I've even found books that are impossible to find elsewhere. One day, while searching the book section, I accidentally found a book by Cox titled "Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods, With a Few Desert and Mountain Beasts." The book is like a fantasy field guide written in 1910 by William Thomas Cox. It's a book about legendary and strange creatures that are part of the legends of the forests of the United States and Canada, and especially of Pennsylvania. As field guides do with their scientific names, Cox's book includes the Latin nomenclature of the strange being (I imagine invented by Cox), its habitat, morphology, customs, and behaviors. If you decide to read it, keep one important thing in mind. You won't find a literary gem, for the simple reason that Cox only wrote two or three books in his life. Cox wasn't a writer; he was a forester, a person who dedicated himself to the cultivation and care of forests. But that is precisely his great merit, as, not a writer, but a forester, he wrote a book of legends about strange beings that is so interesting to read. You can find the book for free on the Internet Archive. It was while reading this book that I came across a chapter where it talks about a strange being, a legend... the legend of the Squonk, and I remembered the Genesis song, the meaning of which I hadn't understood. Reading this chapter, I managed to understand the song. Rather than describing what a Squonk is, I'll give you an excerpt from Cox's book, so you can perhaps better understand the lyrics of Genesis's Squonk song.
Squonk (Lacrimacorpus dissolvens.)
[...] The squonk is very shy in nature and generally travels near dusk or dawn. Because of its maladjusted skin, which is covered with warts and moles, it is always sad; in fact, it is said, by those better qualified to judge, to be the most morbid of beasts. Hunters who are good at tracking are able to follow a squonk by its tear-stained trail, for the animal weeps constantly. When cornered and escape seems impossible, or when surprised and frightened, it may even dissolve itself in tears. Squonk hunters are most successful on very cold, moonlit nights, when tears fall slowly and the animal does not like to come out; it can be heard crying beneath the branches of the dark hemlock trees. Mr. J. P. Wentling, formerly of Pennsylvania, who moved to Minnesota, had a failed experience with a squonk near Monte Alto. He planned a clever capture by tricking a squonk into jumping into a satchel he was carrying home, when suddenly the load lightened and the tears stopped. Wentling opened the satchel and looked inside. There was nothing there except a pool of tears.
.....
In the Xizang Autonomous Region of China, there are so-called "tulins" or earth forests.. These are geological formations that resemble forests due to their shapes created by erosion. The best known is the Zanda Forest in Ngari Prefecture, where the largest Tertiary layer of earth forests or geologic forests in the world is found. These are important geological information for understanding the evolution of our planet. They are partly similar to the Yadan, but have a structure and formation more similar to the Badlands due to their sedimentary stratification and deep gullies and ravines. In any case, all these types of geological landscapes have in common: aridity and the absence of life. There are no plants or animals, or they are practically nonexistent except for the occasional "clueless" scorpion. They are inhospitable lands, barren lands with little life. Perhaps that's why there was no way to find a Squonk in Zanda. He must have felt too sad and scared, faced with so much loneliness, aridity, and the absence of life, walking alone at twilight in a strange and gloomy place. Possibly the sadness generated by such an inhospitable place made him start to cry, and as the legend of the Squonk says... he disappeared due to that ability that Squonks have to dissolve into their own tears when they are cornered, scared, or sad. We'll have to go somewhere else to find a Squonk, perhaps in... Los Endos. Los Endos sounds like a word reminiscent of a Mexican border town. A small Mexican town that is a refuge for an evil band of outlaws who have the entire population terrified and scared. There is no life or people in the streets; everyone is kept indoors, fearful. A place with a name typical of a spaghetti western film plot shot in Almería in the Tabernas Desert and with a soundtrack by Ennio Morricone. Soon John Wayne will appear, who always fixes everything. The word and the song Los Endos by Génesis mean nothing; it has no translation. They simply tried to use the term "End" to title the last song on the album, "A Trick of the Tail." It could be something like Spanishifying the term "End." Surely Los Endos are somewhere where the world ends, where no one has gone, where our lost Squonk cries... at the end of the world. We'll have to go find our Squonk at... Los Endos.
....
PS: If you ever get lost in life, don't hesitate to visit archive.org/. There... you're sure to find yourself... and you'll surely be in your corresponding section... well classified and labeled...
Separating fact from fantasy in Hollywood is rarely easy, and such has been the case with one of the area’s most famous landmarks, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
Site of the first Academy Awards, the old hotel in recent times had fallen from the grandeur that had attracted stars and dignitaries for decades.
Just before it closed early in January, 1984, it had an occupancy rate of 5%. Its walls were covered with graffiti. Its two-story lobby, which once awed onlookers with its tiled fountain and marble floors, was furnished with card tables and lawn chairs.
Fun fact: It's a scene you’ve probably seen countless times in movies and on TV: An eagle flies overhead and emits a rough, piercing scream. It's a classic symbol of wilderness and adventure. The only problem? Bald eagles don't make that sound. Instead, they emit a sort of high-pitched giggle or a weak scream. These noises are so unimpressive that Hollywood sound editors often dub over bald eagle calls with far more impressive sounds: the piercing, earthy screams of a smaller bird, the red-tailed hawk. (Mentalfloss.com)
“And yet what are we to do about this terribly significant business of "other people," which gets bled of the significance we think it has and takes on instead a significance that is ludicrous, so ill-equipped are we all to envision one another's interior workings and invisible aims? Is everyone to go off and lock the door and sit secluded like the lonely writers do, in a soundproof cell, summoning people out of words and then proposing that these word people are closer to the real thing than the real people that we mangle with our ignorance every day? The fact remains that getting people right is not what living is all about anyway. It's getting them wrong that is living, getting them wrong and wrong and wrong and then, on careful reconsideration, getting them wrong again. That's how we know we're alive: we're wrong.”
Philip Roth, American Pastoral
For Macro Mondays theme 'Guilty Pleasure'.
Well of course my guilty pleasure would be snail photography, hence the reason for incorporating a lens in the composition. In fact it was Macro Mondays back in 2016 that started me on my snail whispering journey (see first comment box).
I do feel rather guilty as all you proper photographers likely wonder why I spend so much time on snails - well, it's fun to work with such engaging little creatures and I enjoy the challenge of getting them to perform. Every week I really do try to come up with an idea that doesn't involve them, but I might as well face it, I'm addicted to snails...
The title for the image is taken from the 1950 film Sunset Boulevard in which Gloria Swanson in her role as Norma Desmond, an aging delusional silent film star, utters the iconic line.
No snails were harmed in the making of this photograph.
A dusting of fresh snow looked like powdered sugar on the frozen icefalls along the lower Coquihalla Highway where the temperature had warmed up to +1 C. In fact, by the time we arrived back at our Vancouver home it was +8C
All of the drive by images in this series were captured and posted with my iPhone.
Due to the fact that the wind comes almost from West, the waves become the same direction, from W to E, and wash the sand away
To stop/make less this washout effect, to break the stronght of the waves - that's the reason of this pillars. In the northern part of Zeeland there are beaches , many km long, and there are this pillars, always two lines together, repeating so about 500m. Depending from tide/low tide you can see 2,0m or nothing from them.
...from the summer garden
I have just enjoyed 'Orwell's Roses' by Rebecca Solnit, who stresses that her book is not another biography of George Orwell but: "a series of forays from one starting point, that gesture whereby one writer planted several roses. As such it's also a book about roses..."
The book is dense with facts, one to dip into again, impossible to remember all. I already knew some of George Orwell's work - notably 'Animal Farm' read at school - but little about his personal life. Interesting that he took his pen name from the River Orwell in my native Suffolk and that his parents lived at Southwold, a beautiful coastal resort in that county.
Outside of his work, Orwell was a keen gardener, planting roses in 1936 at his cottage home in Wallington. In the latter years of his life, he retreated to Jura, a remote Scottish island, where he created and tended the garden of an isolated farmhouse. In late summer 1948 he wrote this in his domestic diary: "roses, poppies, sweet williams, marigolds full out, lupins still with some flowers...."
Rebecca Solnit inevitably often introduces quotes from Orwell's work. This one has just made me stop and think: "Our job is to make life worth living on this earth, which is the only earth we have."
this post for December 28th, 2022
p.s. sincerest thanks for visits, comments and faves today on this post
In fact the whole village is named after the Saviour. Sotira in Greek means Saviour. Sotira is a well-known village in the Ammochostos (Famagusta) area of Cyprus and plenty of old churches have survived in the village centre. The "Church of the Metamorphosis/Transfiguration of Christ" is currently closed. There is archaeological work going on, but the building was too small anyway and, in the 20th century, had been replaced by the "Church of the Metamorphosis/Transfiguration of Jesus". I'll come back to this interesting change of title. This old church here goes back to the 13th century, back to the time of the crusades and the French occupation of Cyprus. The building began as a simple barrel roof construction. In Venetian times, the dome was added, and the spire, also in Venetian style, is a 19th century product (still built during the Ottoman occupation). The archaeological dig showed that this church is resting on foundations of a fifth century Christian basilica. So, the question of who the Saviour is, has always been central to this village. Metamorphosis or Transfiguration denotes the visible appearance of Jesus, not as man, but as God. But "Christ"? Christ is already a title presupposing divinity, no need to transfigure here. That is why, I would guess, that in the 20th century the title was changed to transfiguration of Jesus. It makes more sense. Sense is, of course, in the eye of the beholder. If, as Christian doctrine has it, Jesus Christ was one person, but had two natures (God and Man), and if the Trinity consist of three persons, but having only on nature, there is trouble if you apply Aristotelian logic. Things are made not easier by the gospel of John which stipulates that Christ was always there with God and, therefore, had pre-existence. If you find this difficult, it only means that your mind is working. The question of who the Saviour is is not a puzzle the mind can resolve. But if you sing the question, turn it into sound, or into vision, you may be on a different path. Fuji X-Pro3.
Happy 'RoidWeek Spring 2014! Day 4
She thought I had treats. I did not. She soon figured that fact out, but waited patiently just long enough to pose for a couple of shots.
Check out these cool cardinal facts:
Cardinals are early nesters.
Both male and female cardinal birds sing.
Some people put birdseed outside to keep cardinals as “pets.”
In many cultures, bird lovers have a special place in their hearts for cardinals.
Many people associate cardinals with pleasant memories or the idea that a deceased loved one is present.
Perhaps the cardinal’s comforting, beautiful, and cheerful song invokes pleasant memories from the past.
Or maybe the bold red color speaks to us; red is the color of blood, which gives us life.
For many, cardinals symbolically represent joy and hope.
When single people encounter cardinals, they believe the bird’s presence represents an omen that new romantic relationships are on the verge of manifesting.
In the United States, when people see cardinals in winter, they feel encouraged to look forward to springtime.
I have never lived with a forest, in fact many forests, so close. Fort Steilacoom Park is just a couple of miles from me and the forest is large with lots of trails and trails within trails. It's fantastic!
I'd love to know the name of this plant/tree/flower - if you know it please post it in a comment - thank you!!
Taken with the ancient Nikon Micro 55mm f/3.5 manual lens mounted on the FTZ adapter
Making a very noisy arrival.....
Black-headed Gull
Chroicocephalus ridibundus
Not really a black-headed bird, the Black-headed Gull's head is more chocolate-brown. In fact, for much of the year, it has a white head. It's most commonly found almost anywhere inland. Black-headed Gulls are sociable, quarrelsome, noisy birds, usually seen in small groups or flocks, often gathering into larger parties where there is plenty of food, or when they are roosting.
Fun Fact - A giraffe's tongue can be 18 to 20 inches long.
This is Arnieta at Brookfield Zoo.
What a lucky shot. She was walking across the exhibit with her tongue hanging out.
Arnieta was born to Franny and Dusti at Brookfield Zoo and will turn 10 yrs old this coming January.
You can see Arnieta at Habitat Africa, Savannah along with Potoka 3, Jasiri 11 (Potoka's mom), and Mithra, 26
EXPLORE
Some interesting facts about probably the cutest world's rodents (Sciurus vulgaris):
- They do not hibernate;
- They hide nuts and seeds in the ground, which contributes to the growth of the tree population;
- Front teeth grow throughout life;
- They have a multifunctional tail - it helps to keep balance, brake, and even serves as an umbrella;
- If they look anxious, nervously jumping on the branches making high-pitched whistles (and there is no particular threat), it means that in 6-10 hours it will probably rain;
- If they hide in a hollow and their activity decreases, it means that a storm is coming.
Kilka interesujących faktów o tych jakże pociesznych gryzoniach (Sciurus vulgaris):
- Nie zapadają w sen zimowy;
- Ukrywają w ziemi orzechy i nasiona, co przyczynia się do wzrostu populacji drzew;
- Przednie zęby rosną przez całe życie;
- Mają wielofunkcyjny ogon - pomaga utrzymać równowagę, hamować, a nawet bywa parasolem;
- Jeśli wyglądają na zaniepokojone, nerwowo skaczą po gałęziach wydając wysokie gwizdy (a nie widać szczególnego zagrożenia), to znaczy, że prawdopodobnie za 6-10 godzin wystąpią opady;
- Jeśli chowają się w dziupli, a ich aktywność się obniża, to znaczy, że nadejdzie burza.
back from summer vacation...
The fact that the island of Tenerife is so diverse is probably most known to Europeans. For those who don't know this island yet, maybe I can arouse their interest with this series.
theodor — summer wind ♫
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Straight from us to you. No yolk.
Shot for Our Daily Challenge :”The Chicken and the Egg” (In fact there are five challenges in this one picture.)
For a while, you can’t quite believe this thing has happened. The absolute horror of it was something there were no words for. It seemed utterly impossible, like a natural disaster that lasts for multiple years that was somehow chosen again purposefully or like a whole country choosing an abuser and giving him ultimate power over all of us.
I didn’t know if I was ever going to even post a photo again. I didn’t sleep on the night of the election and I still had to go to work the next day. I have to be stronger than I actually am. I have to at least pretend in a way that might garner an Oscar performance as the main protagonist in the ongoing story of my life. Because, I feel like I am falling apart. The first student I saw on Wednesday morning was a fifth grader who I know was very hopeful Kamala would win. I couldn’t speak because I was so emotional but gave her a hug instead. Now, she’s growing up in a world where she will have no body autonomy. It is so hard to process the election when you are in front of others and have to function as if the world is still in a full state of rotation.
I took two Ibuprofen PM on Wednesday night so that I could fall asleep and, on Thursday, when I initially woke up, it was like my brain was in a bit of a fog and forgot all about what happened. As if, maybe it was all just a passing night terror. And then, it hit me all over again and it was somehow even worse that day. Like, when you find yourself distracted by something beautiful and then you quickly remember the overall reality right now that you are faced with. I managed to put my clothes on and then started weeping into my coffee before biking to work.
I feel sorry for my students the most. For the past few yeas, I have felt so terrible about climate change in the world and how it is changing and now we have someone in office who will do far more damage in this and other respects. His first plans are to abolish the Department of Education and the FDA. Environmental protections will fall by the wayside. Medicare will be privatized. Money for people with disabilities will be cut or eliminated and birth control will either be eliminated or very expensive and hard to get depending on where you live. Forget about human rights for those who are transitioning genders or who are nonbinary. He is of a limited mind and feels strongly that there are only two genders in existence (despite many centuries across the world of multiple genders). He plans on even deporting the citizens who may have voted for him. These are his actual plans in writing and he controls all three branches of our government *and* has declared he now has a mandate. So, I really don’t feel I am over-reacting. In fact, I was told I was over-reacting the first time he was in office and that Roe v. Wade would never be overturned. So, I guess maybe my fears are pretty realistic. I also want to be clear that I will not entertain any right wing, pro-Trump fascist comments on here. If you are in that category, your viewpoints are harmful to people I care about and now you are the ones in power. When you have respect for others, that means you don’t wish for policies that do extreme damage to their lives and vote for politicians to act out all of your fears, hatred, and ignorance. If you voted for Trump, I already know what your opinions are and they are responsible for destroying my county. We’ve let a group of famous billionaires (we all knew enough about to be cautious) join forces to define policies that will control us and I doubt the price of groceries will go down any time, either.
I’m going to try to write a little bit each day on my life experiences from now on. I don’t expect others to care or read it. If you do, that’s ok. If you don’t, you’re busy. Some days, it might be more about a film I’ve watched, a book I’m reading, a dream I’ve had or what music I have been listening to and how that is affecting me. Other days, it might just be a poem. There might be days I am just too devastated to lift my head up and navigate an unwieldy language around incomprehensible things. I have been encouraged by someone in my family to figure out a way to fly under the radar so to speak in terms of my strong opinions. This is the opposite of that and I carry this forward with a sense of anxiety yet also human responsibility. I have been so depressed I am not sure there is anything left in this world worth living for but I am definitely not going to live out whatever time I have left being silent.
Note: the above title is from a Mission of Burma song that you can listen to here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvU5XEJmn0A
The lyrics seem very relevant:
genius.com/Mission-of-burma-fame-and-fortune-lyrics
The fortune cookie saying was from one of my favorite restaurants in Chicago called Yummy Yummy in Lakeview. The restaurant has a Vegetarian menu and many delicious options and is not as expensive as so many others these days.
***All words and photos are copyrighted**
🐂🏆🐎[Green Acres]🐂🏆🐎
We bring conclusion to my events at the 1st Annual Green Acres Rodeo! Time to dust off, pack it up & head down road to see what adventures await!
Fun Fact: I have owned 5 Ford Pick Ups in my life time, This is a fine example! (see how I did the product placement)
For all the fans of the Rodeo, I will leave the build for a month or so for you all to enjoy!
"That's why I eat a cheeseburger, drink a six-pack
Take a Darvon to kill the pain
Pay thirty-two fifty just to take a fall
I live through it just to talk about it all
I'm a ro-de-o de-o de-o de cowboy
Bordering on the insane."
Peace Out ☮️
Kidd
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🏁 [777 Motors ] Hauler] 🏁
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🎶[Ro-Deo-Deo Cowboy(Jerry Jeff Walker)] 🎶
Yeah, I work all week just to make a draw,
Sometimes I don't ride 'em at all.
But I'm hooked in and I got to ride that train.
When I get down in that chute,
I can't keep from thinkin' about all that loot,
I'm a ro-do-o de-o de-o cowboy
Bordering on the insane.
That's why I drink a cheeseburger, eat a six-pack
Take a Darvon to kill the pain.
Pay thirty-two fifty just to take a fall,
I live through it to tell you 'bout it all.
I'm a ro-de-o de-o de-o de cowboy
Bordering on the insane.
Now, relax and take a deep breath or two
It's a one time shot and then you're through
Hang on, boy, and someday you'll have fame.
When they open up that gate
The bull takes off like a runaway freight
And you're a ro-de-o de-o de-o de cowboy
Bordering on the insane.
That's why I eat a cheeseburger, drink a six-pack
Take a Darvon to kill the pain
Pay thirty-two fifty just to take a fall
I live through it just to talk about it all
I'm a ro-de-o de-o de-o de cowboy
Bordering on the insane.
The cobwebs sure are thick, what's goin' on?
I feel like all my circuits are blown.
I can't remember my number or name.
Gimme a beer or two and I'll feel fine,
'Least it's worked every other time
'cause I'm a rodeo de-o de-o de cowboy
Bordering on the insane.
- Jerry Jeff Walker / Chris Wall
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🐕 💝 1095 Days 💝 🐈
💗 Hope 💗
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It's Not A Debate of Policy, It Is A Question Of Morality
Only You Can Prevent Fascism!
I woke one morning to see I live in police state
FYI I will not go quietly go into the darkness
Day 220..........1240 Days Of Suck To Go ......
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I got this shot in the Keyhutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Preserve in British Columbia. It is accessible only by boat. While the image looks as though I am standing right in front of the bear, I am in fact on a boat pointing my lens at this bear that has come down to the shore to eat the protein rich grass during the time before the salmon begin to run.