This is just a COOL helicopter! I'm not easily impressed with any type of machine, but I do like this cargo helicopter that has been flying around Gold Beach for weeks. It carries a big water tank and presumably is involved in fighting the large wildfire in the area that has been burning since July 12.

While I was photographing it (through a fence), I got into a conversation with a gentleman who told me about the history of these helicopters being used in the Vietnam War. Instead of the water tank they would carry modular units that could be set down quickly as a field hospital. He had been a pilot.

Instead of linoleum it is a soft-cut tile

Instead of providing an overview of the Icelandic landscapes you can also choose to zoom in on it. In this case I did not add any "human objects" so you lose the feeling of how big the mountains are to get a more abstract landscape picture with the focus on the layers and it's characteristic green and black colors.

myfunandinfo.blogspot.ru/2013/09/sometimes-i-would-buy-vo...

From last year. Haven't seen any yet this year.

WELLS, Maine -- Flocks of pink flamingos are increasingly being seen around Wells and Ogunquit these days. Not the real birds, but the lawn decoration variety that some people love and others find tacky. It's all part of a fundraising drive by the Wells High School Project Graduation committee. They're encouraging that more and more people get "flocked."

"People can order a flock for someone else's yard," said committee member Dawn Valente. "They get 20 birds for three days, unless the person wants to pay money to get them removed earlier. You can buy insurance so you can't get flocked. If you do and someone tries to flock you, they get flocked instead."

The whole idea is to raise money for the 2009 Project Graduation activity. Each year, the committee develops an alcohol- and drug-free excursion on the night of the graduation ceremony for interested graduates. The money raised helps to defray costs that otherwise would be borne by the graduates and their families.

It was a cold, wet morning when we spotted this guy working some horses.

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My hard-hitting, action-packed Photography Blog:

joegrossinger.blogspot.com/

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Bere Point, Malcolm Island where the Orcas are believed to be rubbing their bodies on the pebbles on the shores. 6,7 groups of people including us were waiting at Bere point to see Orcas & Humpback Whales for about 2 hours. We kept quiet, even the children…..Shhh…. Now we all could hear the sound of Humpback Whale. We were all so thrilled and waited expectantly…more Shhh…. more wait.. Out of the blue there came this small motorboat with a cheerful fishing team chatting and dog barking :)

We didn't see any during the day but we could hear its sound at our camp till 2am

Many thanks to all those who view, fav or comment my pictures. I very much appreciate it.

.

Instead of the usual single car 153 unit we had a 2 car 156 yesterday.Not a big fan of the all white colour scheme compared with the old one livery but you could tell the difference in acceleration compared with a 153.

Instead for a paddle, a morning walk during a foggy autumn day.

eigentlich dachte ich, ich könnte das Zugspitz-Johannifeuer (Grainau) vom Starnberger See aus betrachten (nachdem Garmisch ja umfangreich wegen des G7 Gipfels abgesperrt wurde), aber dann wurde es ein noch mehr beeindruckendes himmlisches Johannifeuer!

===

I actually thought I could see the Zugspitze bonfire (Saint John's Fire) from Lake Starnberg (after Garmisch was extensively cordoned off for the G7 summit), but then it turned out to be an even more impressive celestial bonfire!

Domenico di Bartolo (1400/1404 - 1445/1447) Hospitality, education and marriage of a daughter of the hospital (1441-1442) - Hall of pilgrims of Santa Maria della Scala in Siena

Pellegrinaio di Santa Maria della Scala

La grande corsia ospedaliera, nata come pellegrinaio maschile, viene costruita nella prima metà del Trecento. Il grandioso ciclo affrescato che decora le pareti e il soffitto è invece realizzato tra gli anni Trenta e Quaranta del Quattrocento, a celebrazione dell'ospedale, delle sue funzioni e del ruolo svolto.

Tra 1441 e 1443 la committenza ospedaliera affidò inoltre la decorazione delle pareti: Lorenzo di Pietro, Domenico di Bartolo e Priamo della Quercia furono impegnati, come documentano i libri di pagamento, nella celebrazione per immagini della storia e delle funzioni ospedaliere

Hall of pilgrims of Santa Maria della Scala

The great hospital ward, born as male "pellegrinaio", is built in the first half of the fourteenth century. The grandiose fresco cycle that decorates the walls and the ceiling is instead made between the thirties and forties of the fifteenth century, in celebration of the hospital, its functions and the role performed.

Between 1441 and 1443 the hospital commission also entrusted the decoration of the walls: Lorenzo di Pietro, Domenico di Bartolo and Priamo della Quercia were involved, as documented by the payment books, in the celebration through images of the history and functions of hospital

Instead of eating in restaurants as we did in the past, we have been enjoying take out food this summer. This setting was perfect! HWW!

Instead of time having an absolute reality, imagine instead that existence is like a sound recording. Listening to an old phonograph doesn’t alter the record itself, and depending on where the needle is placed, you hear a certain piece of music. This is what we call the present. The music, before and after the song now being heard, is what we call the past and the future. Imagine, in like manner, every moment and day enduring in nature always. The record does not go away. All nows (all the songs on the vinyl record) exist simultaneously, although we can only experience the world (or the record) piece by piece. We do not experience time in which “Stardust” often plays, because we experience time linearly.

The same might be true of a photo.

Wife No 2

is from Lucknow

she makes

idli sambhar

instead of pilao

wife no 1

is the internet

she says

raising the rolling pin

her eyebrows

monsoon lover

is invited

to join us even now

surfing sorrow

only pain to browse

a burning house

of matrimony

he may help to douse

she starts calling me names

scoundrel rascal and a louse

she as given me an ultimatum

either the internet or her

she will move back

to her mothers house

wife no1 v/s wife no 2

a computer a keyboard

and a frightened mouse

nothing not even karma

my frickin good luck

can ever arouse

dedicated to my dear brother sudip da/ monsoon lover

Instead of a Christmas holiday party, MKE celebrates in January. Last year, our party theme was 'sex drugs and rock n roll.' This year? We did prom, MKE-style. There was a disco ball, wine, swanky clothes, dancing, a PHOTOBOOTH and KARAOKE!!! yay!

Check it out On Black

Celebrating one year with my first "real" camera. During the year I've taken over 34000 shots, whew! I've added a few other pieces of gear, lenses etc. There are some new words in my vocabulary, (like aperture and bokeh). And I've learned a few things. Now instead of calling myself a beginner, I call myself a beginner who has learned a few things! And best of all I've gained some new friends from around the world. Flickr has made this adventure so much fun. Thanks for all the comments, critiques, advice and great ideas you have shared with me. They are most appreciated. I'm looking forward to another year of fun!

Another shoot of the outstanding water level at Dojran Lake. Who knows if this summer the beaches will be used for snorkeling instead.

Instead of the main road, you can use a ginnel to get to Williamson Park that retraces the route used by the quarry workers in the 19th century. Unexpectedly I saw the back of the Ashton Memorial.

The Ashton Memorial is, by chance, close to the mathematical center of Great Britain, if you exclude the Isle of Man. To paraphrase a favorite actor, "not a lot of people know that."

Instead of the picture: COSTA BRAVA (Girona)

Camera: NIKON D100

Av (Aperture value): f/9

ISO Speed: 200

Lens: AF Nikkor 18-200 VR 3,5-5.6

Focal Length: 18 mm

Edited with: Photoshop CS4

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Copyright © 2011. All Rights Reserved.

No parts of this material can be published, copied, downloaded or sold

without a proper legal.

Thanks for the visit, comments, awards, invitations and favourites.

I apologize if you do not comment on your photo.

Instead of watching football last friday, I ran outside and searched in the polder for a nice field with crop. In my neighbourhood farmers don't care about leading lines, the fields are a mess but the sky compensated the lack of a good foreground.

Instead of a Christmas holiday party, MKE celebrates in January. Last year, our party theme was 'sex drugs and rock n roll.' This year? We did prom, MKE-style. There was a disco ball, wine, swanky clothes, dancing, a PHOTOBOOTH and KARAOKE!!! yay!

Statt Haus, 1979-01, 54x43 cm,

Öl auf Hartplatte.

Die Altstadt von Karlsruhe, die die Bombardierung 1944 überlebt hatte, wurde 1968 auch abgerissen. Es sollte dort ein neues großes Wohngebiet entstehen.

Hier ein fehlendes Haus. Im rechten Haus hatte ich gewohnt.

Instead of a house, 1979-01, 22x17 inch,

Oil on hardboard.

The old city of Karlsruhe, that the bombing had in 1944 survived, in 1968 demolished. There should be a new large residential area built there.

Here a missing house. In the right home I had lived.

!Actinidia kolomikta, commonly known as variegated-leaf hardy kiwi,[1] is a species of flowering plant in the family Actinidiaceae, native to temperate mixed forests of the Russian Far East, Korea, Japan and China (Eastern Asiatic Region). --

Actinidia kolomikta is an ornamental plant for gardens and a houseplant. The plant was collected by Charles Maries in Sapporo, on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, in 1878, and sent to his patrons, Veitch Nurseries, who introduced it into Western horticulture." (Wiki)

Female Chaffinch keeping a wary eye......

Chaffinch

Scientific name: Fringilla coelebs

The chaffinch is a very common, sparrow-sized finch of gardens, woodland, parks and farmland. Chaffinches build neat, bowl-shaped nests in trees and shrubs. They feed on seeds and insects and will happily visit birdtables, but do not feed openly on feeders, preferring to hop about on the ground and under hedges instead. Chaffinches are present all year-round and more than 6 million pairs breed here in summer. They have a loud, pleasant song.

This was the final view of what was supposed to be an Eclipse. Clouds came and surrounded the sun with some colourful streaks and rays, but the Eclipse never happened in Vancouver, BC, as predicted. Instead the Eclipse headed eastwards from Oregon to Wyoming and all the way to the East Coast. It was a huge disappointment for all here in Vancouver. It does appear from what I read the there were some parts of BC that had a partial Eclipse (i.e., Victoria on the Island and a part of North Vancouver).

One thing of note, however, no actual shadows were seen but a dull sky which was very, very cold as there was no heat from the visible sun. Our air is still full of smoke from the many forest fires and some days it is worse than others.

No editing done on this photo; uploaded as captured on camera.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thar Desert, Jaisalmer

Alternative quote for the modern world - “Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a tweet stating where you were last seen alive.” ;D

Instead of uploading all the photos I took to make this question, I'll show the finished composite.

The letters are from around my campus. I proposed two weeks ago (sorry, it's been a while since I've been on Flickr), and Ginger did say "yes." :)

Note: Image also known as "I dream of hotdogs"

Instead of spending my energy on trying to not catch this virus, I am concentrating on healing myself inside and out. These days have been great for introspection as I go through old photographs. I have time to look for inspiration with my camera and lens ball. It feels great to wake up and stay in my pyjamas for most of the morning and enjoy that first cup of coffee with no rush to get to work. At night I have done a few spa treatments on my face and a few epsom salt baths. I get to sleep as long as I like. There is time to cook healthy meals and what a treat to share the cooking in the kitchen with hubby. Technology allows me to facetime with family far away. Life can be good, if you really think about it.

Instead of making its way to recycling or the bin some lazy sod left it on a garden wall

I had wanted to be lower down on the beach, but the tide was in so went for this shot instead. The scene was amazing that morning, mist rising from the ocean, the light and bright orange skies of the rising sun. Opting for this wide angle shot of the pier including the gyones.

In everything we do we are challenged with the question of: Is this right? Is this good? Will this be accepted? And in all of those questions, it is easy to be tricked into thinking that the answer is what we are seeking. But I believe what the artist's soul looks for is not an answer to AM I GOOD ENOUGH, but instead a way to break the question entirely.

www.promotingpassion.com/quieting-yourself/

If I try to answer the fundamental question of "Am I good enough?", inevitably the answer is irrelevant. That the question is asked at all proves that we seek validation to what we create. In an attempt to break myself from that validation, to stop the person inside of me who would silence my more adventurous spirit, I will be creating new works. The question will not be if it is good enough, but instead, is it enough - for me.

Model: Steph Pez

47776 'Respected' is captured at Hunt's Lock, along the Weaver navigation at Northwich working 5K44 Manchester Piccadilly - Crewe empty coaching stock which, instead of working direct to Crewe took a round about route via the Mid Cheshire line and reversal at Chester. I can only think to maintain driver route knowledge?

Tug 'Clifton', operated by KD Marine UK and was working on the river with hopper barges Halton & Sutton. One of which can just about be seen in the big lock behind.

Instead of being in bed, Kilroy was doing an online parenting class.

For FGR and some Kilroy lovers.

Instead of eating from the Squirrel Feeders at Morton Lochs, this little cutie sat with his bottom inside the tub containing the food provided by the wildlife trust.

Pasque Flower / pulsatilla vulgaris. Barnack Hills and Hollows, Cambridgeshire. 11/05/17.

The Pasque Flowers seen at Barnack H&Hs were at various stages of development although the majority had reached their peak. I was pleased to find this very fresh flower bud amid a small group. Found like this the deep purple colour seems at its most intense and when light strikes at a particular angle, the flower bud looks metallic. BEST VIEWED LARGE.

Instead of hunting ghosts, Parker takes a selfie with some friendly ghosts outside of the Haunted House :-)

I hope everyone has a happy and safe Halloween. We're hiding inside this year......

The Racetrack is a playa--a dry lakebed--best known for its strange moving rocks. Located in a remote area of California's Death Valley National Park, the heavy stones appear to move across the dried lake bed known as Racetrack Playa, leaving a trail behind them in the cracked mud.

In years past, the apparent movement was blamed on everything from space aliens and magnetic fields to pranksters. But until recently no one had actually seen the rocks move, which only added to the mystery.

As noted on the National Park Service website, the mystery was finally solved in 2014 when in a paper published in the August 27, PLOS ONE, a team led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, paleobiologist Richard Norris reported on first-hand observations of the phenomenon. Because the stones can sit for a decade or more without moving, the researchers did not originally expect to see motion in person. Instead, they decided to monitor the rocks remotely by installing a high-resolution weather station capable of measuring gusts to 1 second intervals and fitting 15 rocks with custom-built, motion-activated GPS units. The experiment was set up in Winter 2011 with permission of the National Park Service. Then –in what Ralph Lorenz of the Applied Physics Laboratory at the Johns Hopkins University, one of the paper's authors, suspected would be "the most boring experiment ever" –they waited for something to happen.

But in December 2013, Norris and co-author James Norris (of Interwoof and Richard's cousin) arrived in Death Valley to discover that the playa was covered with a shallow pond no more than seven centimeters (three inches) deep. Shortly after, the rocks began moving.

Their observations show that moving the rocks requires a rare combination of events. First, the playa fills with water, which must be deep enough to allow formation of floating ice during cold winter nights but shallow enough to expose the rocks. As nighttime temperatures plummet, the pond freezes to form sheets of "windowpane" ice, which must be thin enough to move freely but thick enough to maintain strength. On sunny days, the ice begins to melt and break up into large floating panels, which light winds drive across the playa pool. The ice sheets shove rocks in front of them and the moving stones leave trails in the soft mud bed below the pool surface.

I don't know...I am still going with the space alien theory!

Due to 7470 being down for maintenance this year's annual Mass Bay RRE's 'Steam In The Snow' charter on the Conway Scenic Railroad was instead billed as 'Covered Wagons In The Snow' and it did not disappoint. Having traveled as far as the Notchland Inn where four photo runbys were performed the two original Boston and Maine F7s (4266 and 4268) owned by the 470 Railroad Club are on their way back east with the train.

This route opened in 1875 as the Portland and Ogdensburg Railway and would remain an important through freight route for succesor Maine Central until 1983, known for most of its life as the Mountain Subdivision. Shuttered for a dozen years it was purchased by the State of New Hampshire from MEC Guilford Transportation in 1994 and revived by 1996 to become a wildly popular 25 mile extension of the little Conway Scenic.

This was the only true 'must have' shot I wanted for the day, and I couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out. They are seen at Sawyers River, MP 74.8, where fom 1877 to 1928 the 8 mile long Sawyers River Railroad (a logging operation) connected, although the MEC agency at this spot was closed in 1921. Two historic structures survive to this day, the section men's car house at right and the foreman's dwelling at left, both now privately owned. To the left of the train obscured by the snow is a 21 car passing siding that once again sees use in the summer season as a run around track. One interesting fact is that the house used to also be located on the right (north) side of the mainline but was moved across in the 1950s when Route 302 was relocated. Not wanting a private grade crossing here the railroad chose to move the home instead!

I now have good shots in three of the four seasons here, and a true spring one isn't really possible as the railroad doesn't run their first regularly scheduled Mountaineer train until May 27th.

To see a green summery view here if you missed it before check out this shot:

flic.kr/p/2nDgHe7

And for a favorite fall scene this shot:

flic.kr/p/2nXPJrH

And for a 'Steam In The Rain' shot this same weekend three years ago check out this:

flic.kr/p/2iCEcxR

As for the two classic EMDs, 4266 was built in Mar. 1949 and was acquired for preservation in 1981 off the Billerica deadline. Restored a couple years later, she has called North Conway home ever since and has been operational off and on for the past four decades.

4268 was built in Oct. 1949 and ran for the very first time in almost a half century in early 2022. I'm not sure when her last run was, but I can find no photos of her in service after about July 1974. She languished for a decade behind the Billerica shops after being stripped of all major components including prime mover, main generator and traction motors. In 1986 she finally left Billerica by truck after being acquired by George Feuderer who displayed her in a field in East Swanzey, NH until acquired by the 470 Club and trucked to North Conway in October of 1991.

She received a cosmetic restoration in 1993 and had been prominently displayed at the Conway Scenic in the company of her operational sibling ever since. After years of planning, the club began restoration in earnest in 2018 with the full support of the railroad and its shop using ex New Hampshire Northcoast GP9 1757 (ex PRR) as a major parts donor for the four year long restoration project.

Addendum: thanks to Carl Byron for supplying the fascinating historical information below that I'd never read about before.

The 4268A was actually built in March, 1949 as Engineering Test Dept Locomotive #930. Used for high altitude component testing on the DRGW's Soldier Summit among other locations. It spent some of that summer masquerading as a CB&Q locomotive leading their passenger car display at the 1949 Chicago World's Fair. It was then was cleaned up, re-engined, and made into to a standard F7A and offered for sale at a "slightly used demo" price. The B&M bought it and it was renumbered and painted into the B&M livery and shipped east, so while the builders plate may well say 10/49 but it certainly had a prior interesting career.

Harts Location, New Hampshire

Saturday January 7, 2023

+3 in comments

Silly title but this is what I did instead of going to the homecoming dance. And by this I mean I punched my brother in the face and took some pictures of the outcome.

Oh no I kid :) Ever since he was very little he had random nose bleeds. This was the first in a very long time however and I couldn't resist getting the camera out. And I'm very upset I cropped out half his eyes but I wasn't thinking and grrrr. Oh well.

And his eyes are actually grey but they seem green. He has the most beautiful eyes and I don't know where he got them.

Sorry I've been gone so long, I have a couple uploads and perhaps an update post if I feel so inclined.

Re-imagined "Lone Ranger" themed hoverbike, built for the LEGO Speeder Bikes Contest 2016

This one was inspired by this "East of West" cover

www.previewsworld.com/Home/1/1/71/977?articleID=129666

... hmm... I might have to make this one my entry, instead of the "Scout"...

stripes instead of circles for a change

Take me by the hand

Take me somewhere new.

~ Avril Lavigne

LOOK! IT'S THE REAL LIFE OCEAN! That was the first time I had ever seen the ocean. I love it so much.

Thanks mom for being my human tripod!

Oh, and since Picnik is closing I thought I better make some Before and Afters of your favorite photos of mine for you before it's gone. Just tell me in the comments which pictures you would like to see a before and after of.

Tumblr. Follow me. ::::: Formspring. Ask questions or write me something. ::::: BUY PRINTS HERE!

Instead of me sneaking closer, this little guy kept getting closer to me until he was literally hanging off the waist of my sweater! He started out on the thistle feeder, then flew onto the ground, then hopped over closer to me, flew up here into the cedar tree, and then flew over and landed on the back waist of my sweater. It was so cool except I couldn't get a photo because he was on my back!! I love these guys. They have let me fill the feeders when they are on them and rarely show any fear of me. I've always wondered if I held my hand out if they would land but didn't want to frighten them. He hung on for a minute or so and then flew off. I'm still smiling.

Next day - It dawned on me that one of my thistle feeders is a white bag with black thistle. My sweater was white and black. He probably thought I was the mother lode thistle feeder. Thank goodness he didn't start pecking me!

In didn't think much of this slide when I pressed the shutter back back during the winter of 1991 when all I only wanted to do was spend time trackside instead of having to go to class. On the way to school, I always had the radio on, and heard an early morning Conrail SEMA, the new run-through Conrail-Guilford auto train from Selkirk to Ayer, even though they always carried extra freight for good measure. They had just pulled up to CP 45 in Worcester with a C32-8 6618 and 2 plain C30-7A's awaiting clearance from the P&W to head up to Barbers' and eventually to Ayer, MA. It was worth the stop, and more often than not, I was tardy but looking back, this was more important now especially on a Happy Birthday Conrail day.

.. for everybody who loves roses...

(instead of tractors or pipes)

I went out early this morning in hopes of getting an adult light morph Ferruginous Hawk my buddy photographed yesterday. As I drove down this road I passed by this very dark hawk. I flipped around and drove past it again. I didn't see a red tail. I knew at that instant I had in front of my eyes my most sought after raptor! Dark Morph Ferruginous Hawk!! I pulled up slowly and it was so close I knew I had to execute without hesitation. I shut my car off and let that shutter fly. This was taken 10 minutes after sunrise in overcast rain cloud conditions. It seemed like an eternity that he stood here. I'm glad he chose this post instead of the metal one that was to the left. The light was very dim, but it was no problem for the autofocus. Click for large view.!

Sunset on Rodeo Beach, located in the Fort Cronkhite area of the Marin Headlands, one of the most special places in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area with access to multiple trails, fantastic views, a dog-friendly beach, fascinating geology, and an interesting history. As a pocket beach, Rodeo Beach sands do not migrate up or down the coast. Instead, they are carried a short distance offshore in winter, tumble about in the surf, and then return to replenish the beach in the spring and summer. Thus, the sands of Rodeo Beach are native to the Marin Headlands and reflect the Franciscan geology of the closest hills and cliffs. This earthcache focuses on the abundant radiolarian chert and rare carnelian pebbles.

Instead of taking snowy detail shots as I normally would do a day like this, I challenged myself and only photographed perspectives and type of shots I don't practise that often. In some snowy and windy condition this man was braving the weather with his rollator to help. 16/365.