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The hatchling starts out bald but gains tan down within a few days of hatching. Within two weeks the tan down has been replaced by white down. The chicks reside in the nest for about 3 weeks but if threatened, they are able to drop into the water and swim away, later climbing out of the water and back into the nest. They fledge at about 6 weeks of age, but stay with their parents for several more weeks before becoming independent. Copyright © Kim Toews/All Rights Reserved.
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Monday June 15th 1998
I could possibly be fading
Or have something more to gain
I could feel myself growing colder
I could feel myself under your fate
Well first let me start off by saying this entry was written on Tuesday morning. I was too pissed off, depressed and emotionally drained to take the time last night. I guess you could say I am in a bit of a tailspin right now - headed propeller first into the ground. I’ll get to it eventually…but first…yesterday was incredible (to begin with). I spent the whole day just hiking, walking and driving around the canyon. Then I sat at Mather Point for nearly six hours staring and thinking…Replaying the last eight years in my head - trying to understand how I got here. Then the sunset came. I didn’t think that it could get any better than the night before, but it did. With each minute and passing second the canyon shadows and colors changed - and the clouds refracted each new kaleidoscope of color. As the sun sank lower in the sky, the clouds grew dark and gray. It almost looked like rain was coming. The clouds were everything from fire red, to ocean blue, to deep purple - fading to gray. I am almost tempted to stay a few more days - but I know now that the time has come to move on.
After that amazing display of mother nature I headed towards the nearest pay phone to call N. Let the engines start sputtering…Well I called her and she was really, really happy to hear from me. So we got to talking and I could tell something was wrong - then she asked me. She wanted to know if I would be willing to accept her company on the rest of my trip if she would hop a greyhound and meet me in San Fran. At first I was all for it. I would love to have N.’s company on the road.
Then the conversation progressed. The “problem” I talked about earlier surfaced. It seems that she got a little drunk at a party this weekend and saw her ex there…at first she completely tore him apart screaming and yelling at him for the way that he has treated her - however by the end of it they took a walk together. Shit happened. And now I feel like I have been slapped across the face from 5000 miles away. I really wasn’t expecting that. So, I stayed up late last night thinking, actually laying on the hood of the Jeep staring up at the sky. If she loves her ex (which she confessed on the phone last night), then why the hell does she want to come out and join me? To escape? I don’t know. We talked last night about things that have been said between us in the past and it is confusing ground on which we stand. This all leaves me with a new dilemma. Basically, there is nothing to really return to back in Cold Spring. The glimmer of hope and happiness that I had back there is quickly fading into dust. - so what next? I’ve been considering stopping and looking for work and a place to stay in one of the small towns along the way. At least for a few months until I get things sorted out in my head.
After much thought on the prospect of having N. join me out here - I have decided no. I will not be a fallback or someone else’s escape. I am alone, but that’s fine. I have been alone for a long time and am too much of a lone soul to change that now. I feel like just driving for days or sitting here in the woods away from everything for a long while. It’s just a strange world - one minute I am staring into the Grand Canyon - the next I find myself down in the biggest hole of my life.
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If your wondering what the heck this is all about, go here.
To keep track of progress on a map - here.
In the biblical narrative of the Books of Samuel, David is described as a young shepherd and harpist whose heart is devoted to Yahweh, the one true God. He gains fame and becomes a hero by killing Goliath. He becomes a favorite of Saul, the first king of Israel, but is forced to go into hiding when Saul suspects David of plotting to take his throne. After Saul and his son Jonathan are killed in battle, David is anointed king by the tribe of Judah and eventually all the tribes of Israel. He conquers Jerusalem, makes it the capital of a united Israel, and brings the Ark of the Covenant to the city. He commits adultery with Bathsheba and arranges the death of her husband, Uriah the Hittite. David's son Absalom later tries to overthrow him, but David returns to Jerusalem after Absalom's death to continue his reign. David desires to build a temple to Yahweh, but is denied because of the bloodshed of his reign. He dies at age 70 and chooses Solomon, his son with Bathsheba, as his successor instead of his eldest son Adonijah. David is honored as an ideal king and the forefather of the future Hebrew Messiah in Jewish prophetic literature, and many psalms are attributed to him.
See also: flic.kr/p/2qg8BQj
У біблійній розповіді Книг Самуїла Давид описаний як молодий пастух і арфіст, чиє серце віддане Ягве, єдиному правдивому Богу. Він отримує славу і стає героєм, убивши Голіафа. Він стає фаворитом Саула, першого царя Ізраїлю, але змушений ховатися, коли Саул підозрює Давида в змові зайняти його трон. Після того, як Саул і його син Йонатан були вбиті в битві, плем’я Юди, а згодом і всі племена Ізраїля, помазали Давида на царство. Він завойовує Єрусалим, робить його столицею об’єднаного Ізраїлю та приносить до міста Ковчег Завіту. Він вчиняє перелюб із Вірсавією та організовує смерть її чоловіка, хетта Урії. Пізніше син Давида Авесалом намагається повалити його, але після смерті Авесалома Давид повертається до Єрусалиму, щоб продовжити своє правління. Давид хоче побудувати храм Ягве, але йому відмовляють через кровопролиття під час його правління. Він помирає у віці 70 років і обирає Соломона, свого сина з Вірсавією, своїм наступником замість свого старшого сина Адонії. У єврейській пророчій літературі Давида вшановують як ідеального царя та праотця майбутнього єврейського Месії, йому приписують багато псалмів.
He had been there before. "Newton by the sea", he chuckled to himself. "Haha!" he could bellow, for no one would hear him. He was alone. Castaway. He might walk the beach as the tide came in, gently, under a setting sun, but still he was trapped, in this lonely place. Still, the sea was calm and the old gold light shimmered on the sand as the ebb of the wave withdrew to gain strength for another push up the beach.
There was nothing interesting today. He had seen six dolphins pass by the evening before but until the wind gathered out on the ocean to create some drama the waves would not find anything apart from fragments of seaweed to litter the beach with; no driftwood to gather for his fire, no floating rubbish to show that there were humans over the horizon, no sails on the skyline to lift his hopes of rescue.
He looked to the clouds as he walked, their edges tinted with the same yellowy gold as the sand and water. With disappointment he realised it would be calm again tomorrow and so many hopes he had would be postponed yet another day. His mood wavered, like a sulk, and his chin dropped so that his eyes looked towards the sand just a few yards ahead. Life would go on, but not with the joy and happiness he could still remember from before. He sank into himself.
But a bright sparkle ahead pierced the darkness in his mind and he focused them ahead to the point on the beach the light shone from. Quickening his pace, he marched forward curious to see what lay on the shoreline.
Nearing it, he could see it was a bottle....a lone bottle cast up on the beach. The sunlight glinted on it. But a few paces on, his eagerness evaporated into intense sadness.
He bent to pick it up, savouring its feel in his palm. Smooth and cool. He could see there was a note inside it, a message in the bottle. It didn't interest him. He already knew what it said. Between thumb and two fingers he pulled up on the stopper, adding a twist to the action to pull it off. Slowly he raised the opened neck of the bottle. When it was just below his nose he inhaled softly. Immediately his eyes closed and his mouth softened and curved into a smile. "Hmmm", he sighed as he caught a last, tiny hint of whisky escape the bottle. He knew it's scent. But it had been a long time since he last caught that fragrance. A hint of Superstition. A Jura whisky.
It was a moment that calmed and soothed him and he sat on the sand, the world about him, his alone. He clutched the bottle close, like it was his friend. For, in a way it was. He already knew, exactly 941 days ago, he had last launched this same bottle onto a wave to carry his SOS message across the sea: his only means of communication. And now his friend had returned instead of disappear forever.
He shook his head, and forced another smile at his fortune. "Things could always be worse" he thought. He was still optimistic he would be rescued.
The Iris Nebula or NGC 7023, is a bright reflection nebula in the located in the constellation of Cepheus. The designation NGC 7023 refers to the open cluster within the larger reflection nebula designated LBN 487. The nebula is illuminated by a magnitude +7.4 star designated SAO 19158 and lies 1,300 light years distant.
This image is compiled using data captured with 2 different telescopes and the same camera. My SW190mm MN, TSAPO130Q and QHY183M cooled CMOS mono-camera, with gain set at 11.
Baader LRGB 36mm filter set
TSAPO130Q: 10 x 180sec subs RGB
20 x 180sec subs Lum
SW 190mm MN: 20 x 180sec subs RGB
77 x 120sec subs Lum
Total acquisition time 8hrs04min.
Processed using RegiStar, Pixinsight and Photoshop.
Returning home for Christmas break, I had no idea what would show up and what wouldn't. Having seen numerous posts about SD70s returning to the Q116/E251 trains, I became hopeful that I could acquire one during my break. Getting word IC 1034 was leading CN Q116 to Flat Rock prompted a late-night flash chase on the CN Holly Sub. Here we see Q116 rolling by the historic Grand Trunk Western depot in Gaines, MI, in the early morning hours just a few days after Christmas.
I am investing a great part of my domestic quarantine in rummaging through my archives to unearth some forgotten, hopefully worthwhile shot to process. When this bracketing resurfaced from a stray nook of my hard disk, it struck some chords deep in my soul (most assuredly my brain was somehow performing an on-the-fly processing of those rather flattish, unassuming untouched RAW files). For a fleeting, precious moment I felt strongly the heartwarming sensation to be free to hug and cuddle again my wife, Laura, albeit at some indefinite time when Covid-19 will allow us to relish such an invaluable moment. Please do not ask me why on Earth this specific scene stirred this specific emotion inside me, so I will not be forced to admit that I have not the faintest idea. Rather, allow yourself the freedom to feel whatever emotion this scene will stir in your soul. I have got my own gift. I hope that this picture will gift you with the emotion you need most.
This picture comes from a sunrise session at the beautiful meanders of the river Adda, just a handful kilometers downstream the Eastern arm of Lake Como, dating from April 2016. That morning I arrived at the location a lot earlier than the earliest hints of dawn, so I took shooting the river by night - admittedly a whole bunch of utterly worthless bracketings, at least until proven otherwise (never say never). And I did a thing I do only in exceedingly rare occasions: I raised my sensor gain to a maddening 640 ISO. Of course, being used to shoot at a constant 100 ISO, I foolishly forgot to restore the usual setting as the light was growing and took my precious exposure bracketings at such high ISO till 8:00 AM. As a result of this sloppy attitude I had to fight a monster amount of chroma noise (I viscerally hate it)*. I found no way to get decently rid of that noise by using the rich armoury of denoising tools offered by Darktable - quite possibly because of my qualified failure to set them properly in such a demanding situation. Luckily, by mere trial and error, I got an almost decent denoising using DFine 2 and blending the denoised images with the original ones by the LCh Lightness mode (hope that my memory is not deceiving me); this, rather suprisingly, allowed me to retain most of the details while taking the greatest possible advantage of the denoising itself.
Incidentally, this picture has a closely related fellow image in my photostream, Awakenings: the same location, the same morning, just taken some 10 minutes after this one, some 20 meters downstream - ah, and one of the handful of bracketings of that session taken at 100 ISO, after I realized my mistake ;-)
* I am afraid I am being a bit unfair here, because the worthy sensor of my Nikon D5100 is quite less noisy than those of many other APS-x sensor cameras (and the in-camera management of thermal noise on long exposures is really good). The problem is, the less light you get from your subject, the more noise you get in the sensor data, the ISO gain magnifying an unfavourable signal-to-noise ratio. Of course an early, partly cloudy morning shooting session neatly falls into that sort of context.
I have obtained this picture by blending an exposure bracketing [-1.7/0/+1.7 EV] by luminosity masks in the Gimp (EXIF data, as usual, refer to the "normal exposure" shot), then I added some final touches with Nik Color Efex Pro 4 and a selective bit of Orton effect as a final garnish to get the desired ambiance. RAW files has been processed with Darktable. Denoising has been a vexing issue; I got the best results by courtesy of good old DFine 2 and the Gimp.
Mindfulness, a practice rooted in ancient meditation traditions, is gaining traction in modern society as a powerful tool for mental clarity and well-being. This technique involves maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and the surrounding environment through a gentle, nurturing lens.
By fostering a heightened state of consciousness, individuals can break free from the autopilot mode often induced by the fast-paced nature of contemporary life.
Recent studies underscore the myriad benefits of mindfulness, which range from reduced stress and anxiety to improved focus and emotional regulation. Advocates argue that incorporating mindfulness into daily routines can lead to enhanced overall health, promoting a more balanced and fulfilling life.
As the practice continues to garner mainstream attention, its potential as a remedy for the mental health challenges of our time becomes increasingly apparent.
Be in the moment, embrace the calm and just breathe.
Canon EOS 5D
Canon EF100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM
Photographed in May in beech forest. The plant has no chlorophyll, gaining its nutrients not from photosynthesis but by attaching its roots to a mycorrhizal fungus below the leaf litter. The fungus in turn obtains its sustenance from the tree roots. Being the colour of dead leaves, the bird's nest orchid is often difficult to spot among the fallen foliage. The vernacular name comes from the unusual nest-like structure of the roots. From a slide.
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DBC class 66/0 No. 66206 rolls into Lostwithiel, where it will run round to gain access to the Fowey branch, working 6G06, the 07:39 Goonbarrow Junction to Fowey Docks, on 10th August 2017.
This lovely lady darted across the shower floor when I pulled back the curtain one July evening. This was of course her signal that she wanted to be a model and gain internet fame! I'm surprised to see that she's the same species I posted yesterday, found in Florida, but BugGuide shows their range includes the whole southeastern quadrant of the US, up through MD.
8 Arachtober 2024
Wolf Spider, Tigrosa annexa
Alexandria, VA • 14 July 2023
You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along." . . . You must do the thing you think you cannot do - Eleanor_Roosevelt
A few more tweaks - changed lens to Nikon 50mm f1.4 but big gain has been arranging some left over York paving stones with gaps between to hide the food snippets and badger & fox nuts. This allowed longer visits to the focus area.
But a new issue has been getting a clearly focussed shot of the cubs because they dart around quickly are pretty small and their fur is very soft anyway.
But I have a limited around 500mm depth of field and have to fix the focus before each session so don't have the luxury of auto-focus.
Gazza kindly pointed this out in the previous shot the cub moved too quickly and as is a bit soft in focus.
Catch 22 is I cannot increase the shutter speed as the Yongnuo triggers for the flash are fine for 1/200 but not so good at 1/250 shutter speed, but it might be worth a try. Do not want to increase the ISO really from 1600 to 2000 but these are both options. Increasing the flash output might disturb the foxes is also not feasible.
Camera info:-
Nikon D750 at 1.8 metres from subject {on manual}
Nikon 50mm f/1.4 @ f/6.3,
ISO 1600,
Shutter 1/200,
Focal length 50 mm.
Camera shutter triggered by very long cable release.
Nikon SB900 flash lights, Yongnuo 602's to fire Nikon strobes.
A. Nikon SB900 flash light "A" bare head, 8 metres at 45 degrees to the right of shed, on 1/16 power and 1.8 metres high on light stand to light shed and greenery.
B. Nikon SB 900 "B" key light, on the right at 1 metre high, 3.6 metres from subject and at 45 degrees on 1/32 power with a fine grid on front.
C. Nikon SB900 "C" fill light on the left at 45 degrees to fill in light - low setting of 1/64 power, fine grid on front, on manual, 3metres from subject.
Though not the oldest stock on the DLR, the B2K Stock dates from 2001. When the earliest P86 and P89 Stock were retired, the B2Ks gained the earlier numbers, hence this unit being No.4
Gain access to games and experiences via the beautiful Portal Park.
Visit this location at Haunted Halloween Tour in Second Life
Baie de la Somme vers le Hourdel.
Handheld from a dancing Zodiac. 600mm equivalent.
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DEAR FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES; THANK YOU FOR VIEWING, FAVING AND COMMENTING MY DIGITAL OBSERVATIONS.
From Dmitry Kokh at the BC Royal Museum Wildlife Photographer Exhibition
Dmitry has gained global recognition for his photographs of polar bears on Kolyuchin Island
Back in Fontainebleau after years away and delighted to see our favourite patisseries are still doing fine and still absolutely delicious. I'm going to gain 50kg on this trip...
CN 5246. a warn and faded SD40-2W, leads CN L514 south with intermodal in tow for Moterm in Ferndale, Michigan on the Holly Subdivision.
We will miss you Leonard.
Alexandra Leaving
Suddenly the night has grown colder.
The God of love preparing to depart.
Alexandra hoisted on his shoulder,
They slip between the sentries of the heart.
Upheld by the simplicities of pleasure,
They gain the light, they formlessly entwine;
And radiant beyond your widest measure
They fall among the voices and the wine.
It's not a trick, your senses all deceiving,
A fitful dream, the morning will exhaust Ёc
Say goodbye to alexandra leaving.
Then say goodbye to alexandra lost.
Even though she sleeps upon your satin;
Even though she wakes you with a kiss.
Do not say the moment was imagined;
Do not stoop to strategies like this.
As someone long prepared for this to happen,
Go firmly to the window. Drink it in.
Exquisite music. Alexandra laughing.
Your firm commitments tangible again.
And you who had the honor of her evening,
And by the honor had your own restored Ёc
Say goodbye to alexandra leaving;
Alexandra leaving with her lord.
Even though she sleeps upon your satin;
Even though she wakes you with a kiss.
Do not say the moment was imagined;
Do not stoop to strategies like this.
As someone long prepared for the occasion;
In full command of every plan you wrecked Ёc
Do not choose a coward's explanation
That hides behind the cause and the effect.
And you who were bewildered by a meaning;
Whose code was broken, crucifix uncrossed Ёc
Say goodbye to alexandra leaving.
Then say goodbye to alexandra lost.
Say goodbye to alexandra leaving.
Then say goodbye to alexandra lost.
The Heart Lake Trail continues to gain elevation above the lake. I had spent much of the previous three days among the hills in the distance, known informally as the Snake River highlands.
Yellowstone National Park.
To gain access to California and the Pacific, Santa Fe predecessor Atlantic and Pacific Railroad purchased a route from The Needles to Mojave just completed by Southern Pacific. An extension from San Bernardino north through Cajon Pass was built to provide access to Southern California and intersect the former Southern Pacific in the high desert at Waterman Junction. Once under control by the A&P that location was quickly renamed Barstow after the current president of the Santa Fe, William Barstow Strong.
Barstow’s name adorns the stone facade of the the 1911 Spanish Renaissance Casa Del Desierto (House of the Desert) Santa Fe Station and Harvey House to this day. Red clay barrel roof tiles give some relief inside from the heat of the constant desert sun.
For more information see:flic.kr/p/2r7RAHe