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Fritillaria meleagris is a Eurasian species of flowering plant in the lily family Liliaceae. Its common names include snake's head fritillary, snake's head (the original English name), chess flower, frog-cup, guinea-hen flower, guinea flower, leper lily (because its shape resembled the bell once carried by lepers), Lazarus bell, chequered lily, chequered daffodil, drooping tulip or, in the British Isles, simply fritillary.
The plant is native to the flood river plains of Europe where it grows in abundance.
Source: Wiki
Humbled to be selected by Morningstar at Bikers & Bikes in SL for making my image their group cover.
In my humble opinion, every place has its own kind of light. And this light changes throughout the year.
I find the light in late February and early March especially fascinating. The sun is still low in the sky here in the Northern Hemisphere, but the light already gains strength and clarity.
There are only two or three weeks when this kind of light appears—strong and clear, while the trees are still bare. It’s a short moment when you can capture the forest without the fresh green of spring.
Strong shadows and bright highlights create a challenging contrast. It’s similar to the feeling of standing in warm sunlight while a cold wind, still holding onto winter, brushes your face.
This photo was taken on a volcanic cone in the Vulkaneifel region, Germany,
The security guard leaning against one of the 12 main pillars of Karnak gives a good sense of scale. Being amongst giant and ancient monuments is a humbling experience. You feel the weight of the history contained there and it makes you feel insignificant. Not in a bad way though.
Most people are more afraid of a bumblebee than a honey bee simply because a bumblebee can sting multiple times. But I have learned some things about bumblebees that has altered my mind toward them.
Here’s a few facts about our yellow and black friends:
Only the female has a stinger but they are quite docile and you have to work at getting them to sting you. Bumblebees are much less likely to sting you than honeybees, hornets or yellow jackets.
Bumblebees pollinate up to one-third of all the plants humans eat. Bumblebees are the only known pollinators of potatoes throughout the world.
They live in colonies, sometimes as small as five bees as well as larger ones up to 500 compared to honeybees where a hive can contain up to 50,000 bees.
In the fall as the temps drop, the entire colony of bumblebees die except for the queen who hibernates underground during the winter and starts a new colony up in the spring.
When you think of the millions of dollars that are now spent on political campaigns, it's hard to imagine this small building was Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign headquarters.
Have you ever wondered what the ancients thought when they watched the night sky? Awe, fear, humbleness or something totally different?
This image gives no answer to the question, but it may give an impression of the view the artist had who chiseled these petroglyphs into the volcanic rock 8800 years ago.
As the symbols have never been deciphered, it is open to anybodies imagination to guess their meaning. Whatever it is, I think the unusual skyward orientation of the signs and the effort that was necessary to make them, shows the deep connection the ancients had with the starry sphere above them.
Despite beeing pretty busy during my nightscape sessions, I often feel this connection too, especially when I am alone in a remote place and unsurprisingly, the felling was especially strong in this place.
Prints available: ralf-rohner.pixels.com
EXIF
Canon EOS 6D, astro-modified
Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8 @ 15mm$
iOptron Skytracker Pro
Sky:
Panorama of 2 panels, each a stack of 6 x 60s @ ISO 3200, tracked
Foreground:
Focus stack of 7 images, each a stack of 6 x 60s @ ISO 6400
I'm really pleased with this composition especially the close up perspective of the water. Next time I'd focus even more on the composition and attempt to lead the waterfall in a diagonal across the image, making it slightly more interesting than just straight up.
This past weekend I had the good fortune to visit San Diego again for business and was able to connect with my dear friend, Beachscooter, who drove down from LA. We made the most of the time we had and took in the sights~ Balboa Park, La Jolla, San Diego Safari Park, and Temecula Wine Country.
The San Diego Safari Park was amazing. The conservation effort there is first and foremost and they obviously are huge advocates for the animals. We were completely in awe.
Textures by the amazing Rentedochan~ www.flickr.com/photos/renquedochan/4273361215/in/set-7215...
95/365 Photo Manipulation Project
Portrait of an elerly man (India).
NFTs: linktr.ee/roberto_pazzi
Thank you for your visit, comment or fave, all are much appreciated.
This photo is not authorized for use on your blogs, pin boards, websites or use in any other way.
Photos and textures used are my own. Just one blue texture added to change the colour and contrast
This year we end the Seven Days of Thanksgiving series in Paprihaven on the day after. Why? While it is wonderful to have a day set aside specifically to acknowledge our impossible debt to God by expressing our gratitude, every day should truly be a day of thanksgiving. After the amazing celebration at the Simmons,* the girls are back at Tracy's house.
Tracy: Wow. So tired. What a great time. Thank you, God.
Buckley: I'm so stuffed! I'll sleep on this bench if I can't make it upstairs.
Tracy: Who said you're staying here??
Buckley: You gotta be responsible, Trace! You can't let me drive home in this condition.
Briar: HAHAHA!
Tracy: You're not drunk! You don't even drink!
Buckley: I'm loaded with tryptophan. I can't make it. I'm DONE FOR, offissaaAAaa!
Briar: HAHA! What's 'trippafan'?
Tracy: It's an amino acid in turkey that people say makes you sleepy. I think what happened is we all just ate too much.
Briar: I ate sooooo much! I looooved that corn casserole! Who made that?
Tracy: I think Honor did.
Buckley: Ooohhh, I'm gonna pop. Let's just all get in bed, under the covers, and tell stories til we fall asleep.
Briar: That's FUN!
Buckley: But y'all GOTTA CARRY ME UUUUUUP!
Briar: HAHAHA!
Tracy: Oh, good grief. I'm stuck with both of you tonight. Are you sure you even have homes? You're always here.
Buckley: Oh! Haha! On Paprichat, Sheila Harper posted a video of her poodle grabbing a piece of turkey from the table!
Briar: I want to see that!
Tracy: Can you not be on your phone for like two seconds? And, I want to see too. And, who's Sheila Harper?
Buckley: She's got that pretty green Jaguar? Always real shiny? **
Tracy: Oh, yes.
Briar: I wanna see the video!
Buckley: Then come over here.
Briar: Can't move. You come over here.
Buckley: Uh uh.
Briar: BuuUUUUCK!!!
Buckley: You're outta luck, kid.
*WOOF!*
Briar: Hey, Biff!
Buckley: The Biffster!
Tracy: Wow, what a great day. And now we're just chilling. Peace. Joy. Love. God is good.
Buckley: All the TIME!
Briar: All the time!
Tracy: And, all the time...
Buckley: God is GOOD!
Briar: God is good!
Tracy: Bible challenge, then we somehow struggle upstairs. God's loving kindness. Psalm 117:2, "For His lovingkindness is great toward us, and the truth of the Lord is everlasting. Praise the Lord!"
Briar: Psalm 63:3, "Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, my lips will praise You."
...
Tracy: Buckley...
Buckley: Um... What's the one? "Please answer me God because you are loving and kind... and compassionate?"
Tracy: Close enough! Psalm 69:16, "Answer me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good; According to the greatness of Your compassion, turn to me." Okay, upstairs! Up!
•───────────︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵────────────•
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
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God wants you to give thanks.
Well, Thanksgiving came and went. Did your gratitude last beyond your afternoon nap? For many, that’s the extent of their thanksgiving—a one-time, get-it-out-of-the-way holiday that reminds them to reflect on how blessed they are. Too often and too quickly, people resort back to being ingrates. But God wills us to be thankful all the time, in all things. That’s the point of 1 Thessalonians 5:18 where Paul says, “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” So if you’re saved, Spirit-filled, sanctified, submissive, and suffering, you have one thing left to do in order to follow God’s will—be saying thanks.
Paul’s simple, direct command—in everything give thanks—allows believers no excuse for harboring ingratitude. In everything carries an unlimited requirement. It refers to everything that occurs in life. With the obvious exception of personal sin, we are to express thanks for everything. No matter what struggles or trials, God commands us to find reasons for thanking Him always (Acts 5:41; James 1:2-3; 1 Peter 1:6-9). That’s His will.
If you’re not obeying that command, you’re not following God’s will. Think of it like this: If gratitude doesn’t come easy for you, neither will finding God’s will. Or to put it another way, if you struggle with being thankful, you’ll struggle with following God’s will. Need some motivation? Here are some reasons God wills you to be thankful:
God commands it:
Gratitude should come naturally to believers in response to all God has done on their behalf, but because of our hardness of heart, God enjoins us to thanksgiving with commands (Philippians 4:6; Colossians 2:7; 1 Thessalonians 5:18). Therefore, all forms of ingratitude are sinful. Paul commanded the Colossians, “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful” (Colossians 3:15).
When Paul describes the believer’s Spirit-filled life, he writes, “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father” (Ephesians 5:20). God doesn’t merely command those expressions of gratitude and leave believers helpless to comply. He enables us to articulate them (Philippians 2:13), and is pleased when we do.
Joni Eareckson Tada, who was involved in an accident that left her paralyzed from the neck down, writes, “Giving thanks is not a matter of feeling thankful, it's a matter of obedience.”
Thankfulness acknowledges God’s sovereignty:
The single, greatest act of worship you can render to God is to thank Him. It’s the epitome of worship because through gratitude, we affirm God as the ultimate source of both trial and blessing—and acknowledge our humble acceptance of both.
With a thankful heart, you can say in the midst of anything, “God be praised.” That kind of attitude looks beyond the circumstance to the plan of God. It sees beyond the pain to the sovereignty of God. It remembers, “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). An attitude of thankfulness enables us to deal with those who wrong us, saying with Joseph, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20). Those who are thankful see the providential hand of God everywhere and say, “God, I thank You for the peaceful times as well as the hard times—a difficult marriage, a challenging job, a severe illness—because I know You will use those things for my good and Your glory.”
The grateful Christian remembers that suffering perfects, confirms, strengthens, and establishes him (1 Peter 5:10). God wills that kind of thankfulness.
God judges ingratitude:
William Shakespeare wrote, “How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child. Ingratitude thou marble hearted fiend.” If Shakespeare understood the hostile attitude behind thanklessness, imagine what God must think about it.
Ingratitude is the very essence of an unregenerate heart, ranking among the most intolerable sins in Scripture. The apostle Paul identified unbelievers as ungrateful: “For even though they knew God [through conscience and general revelation], they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened” (Romans 1:21). Because man in his pride fails to honor and glorify God as Creator, he also refuses to thank Him for His gracious provision. Ingratitude betrays unbelief, and both sins bring about God’s judgment.
Although God is the source of every good thing that men possess—giving life, breath, rain, sunshine, and other natural blessings to the just and unjust alike (Matthew 5:45; Acts 14:15–17)—the natural man refuses to thank Him. In his fallen mind, to thank God is to acknowledge his own obligation to worship Him.
In summary, God wills our being thankful in all things because gratitude is the ultimate expression of a transformed heart. But thanklessness can infest and destroy a church, marriage, family and home. So cultivate a heart of gratitude. Be thankful for all things and in all circumstances. That’s God’s will. Are you following it?
- John MacArthur, adapted from God Wants You To Give Thanks
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* As seen yesterday!
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/54950920265
** As seen in BP 2021 Day 107!
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51121244013/
Previous Days of Thanksgiving on Paprihaven:
2015:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/22949342829/
2016:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31221411415/
2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/37886668344/
2018:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31063953947/
2019:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49137396007/
2020:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50649209702/
2021:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51704094592/
2022:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/52521485290/
2023:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/53349976036/
2024: