View allAll Photos Tagged Maintained
Lake Bachalpsee
First, Bernese Oberland, Switzerland/strong>
Thanks for your views, favs, and comments! Constructive criticism is always more than welcome!
Email: Mark@MarkWillardPhotography.com
Full Portfolio and Prints | Blog (Tumblr) | 500px | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Old Flickr (no longer active/maintained)
Serving the popular tourist suburb of Arashiyama in western Kyoto is the Hankyu Railway's Arashiyama Line. This short local line connects Katsura Station with the namesake city and is served by these 1970's era 6000 Series EMU's every 10 minutes. Another aspect of this line that is noticeable is not just how well maintained and clean their trains are, but their lineside infrastructure as well. Silver riveted catenary gantries and silver signals with finials; how retro!
The "Handsome Railway" living up to its name, that's for sure.
Hankyu Electric Railway; Arashiyama Line
Hankyu 6000 Series
Arashiyama Hinokamicho, Nishikyo Ward, Kyoto
This house looks like it has good bones and likely would have been saved had someone maintained the windows and roof.
Sad to see these go, but I get it. Someone owns the land, the house is no longer desireable because "hey, I can get a mcmansion from a builder that does 300 a summer all the same, so why would I want this old house that is well built?"
It's a different time. Shiny over substance. Our forefathers would weep.
PANCHET Dam Maintained by DAMODAR VALLEY CORPORATION (DVC) over DAMODAR River During the Winter Season in a Bright Afternoon. Tourists Visit the Dam Situated in WEST BENGAL (PURULIA) - JHARKHAND (DHANBAD) Border Mostly in Monsoon and Winter. Though scenes of Water release from Dam during Monsoon Attracts more than Winter. Tourists Enjoy Boating Ride Facility on the River Which is Exquisite.
In this digital watercolor rendition derived from one of my photographs, the essence of Bruges, Belgium, comes to life along a tranquil canal. The scene masterfully captures the captivating beauty of the city's historic architecture, with a deliberate emphasis on the charming buildings that grace the canal's edge.
Soft, pastel hues delicately wash over the canvas, replicating the gentle play of sunlight on the aged facades. The architectural gems lining the canal are rendered with intricate detail, their centuries-old stories told through the meticulous strokes of the digital brush. The buildings showcase a harmonious blend of Gothic and Renaissance styles, with the warm tones of the brick facades complemented by the subtle interplay of shadows and highlights.
The reflection of these architectural wonders is hinted at in the calm waters of the canal, but the focus remains steadfast on the majestic structures rising proudly above the waterline. Each building boasts unique features—pointed arches, ornate stonework, and stepped gables—all contributing to the city's timeless allure. The digital watercolor technique adds a touch of ethereal beauty, creating a dreamlike quality that transports viewers to a place where history and art seamlessly converge.
The composition carefully balances the elements, drawing the viewer's eye to the intricate details of the buildings while maintaining the tranquility of the canal setting. As a result, the scene becomes a digital masterpiece that not only preserves the architectural splendor of Bruges but also infuses it with a sense of artistic interpretation and contemplative beauty.
20220609_RX_05427_BRUJAS
Montana Rail Link westbound freight "LM" (Laurel to Missoula) awaits departure from yard. The time is 6:05 in the evening of a successful day, spent in both directions to and from Helena. My friend who had provided the ride and expertise for the day was a signal maintainer with his headquarters in the well-kept depot built by Northern Pacific. The MRL restored the depot clock to working condition.
Southampton has become a real fishing port. I counted 3 fishing tugs in the little harbour. Benjamin-Charles is just one. On this day there were men maintaining their tug. Winter layup is the perfect time to do maintenance.
esterday we visited Railway Museum in Chennai.Very first impression of me is that takes me to my age of 10 to 20 years.
It took me 5 minutes to recover back to normal position as I gone back many years and was travelling from TPJ to Egmore on seeing the locomotives in the picture.
All the trains from south had been pulled by the YP or YG class Steam Locomotives up to Villuppuram then by Electric Locomotives to Chennai.
The 6.25-acre museum has technical and heritage exhibits, with a sizable collection of steam engines from the British period to Indian made.
It is impressive to note that the museum is well maintained one adorned with old beauties in showroom conditions.
One should not forget to appreciate Sathis kumar. S.K Section Engineer and in charge of the museum, also photo artist and trekker by passion, for his dedicated service making the museum more attractive and interesting with gardening and cleanliness.
I have been growing strawberries since last year. It 's very easy to maintain. I am pleasantly surprised that it has come back to bear fruits this year. And the ripe strawberries are more vivid than ever. All I need is a bottle of champagne to celebrate.
Lens: Meyer Optik Gorlitz Trioplan II 100mm F2.8, Nikon M2 extension tube.
Explore #197, May 8th, 2020
Of the maintained gorges in the area, Havana Glen is one of the shortest, with about 1-2 minutes hike on the trail leading to this waterfall. What I especially like about this falls is that, unlike places like Buttermilk Falls and Watkins Glen, the end of the trail at the falls leaves you free to explore where to set up. You aren't stuck with one composition by angry signs and stone walls. This was also definitely one of the more graceful and elegant falls in the area.
The high retail value of saffron is maintained on world markets because of labour-intensive harvesting methods, which require some 440,000 hand-picked saffron stigmas per kilogram (200,000 stigmas/lb) – equivalently, 150,000 crocus flowers per kilogram (70,000 flowers/lb). Forty hours of labour are needed to pick 150,000 flowers.
One freshly picked crocus flower yields on average 30 mg of fresh saffron or 7 mg dried; roughly 150 flowers yield 1 g (1⁄32 oz) of dry saffron threads; to produce 12 g (7⁄16 oz) of dried saffron, 450 g (1 lb) of flowers are needed; the yield of dried spice from fresh saffron is only 13 g/kg (0.2 oz/lb).
An outstanding attendant maintains a graceful demeanor at any and all times.
☆Cerberus Featured Items☆
For those of you who are as smitten with Victoria Housekeeping Co.'s fuzziest personal attendant as I am, rejoice! For Cerberus has released a Von Lycaon set for all of us to enjoy! The set comes with custom hair, ears, tail, muzzle and skin to complete your sophisticated look. Buy the full set ☆HERE☆!
Note: The muzzle only fits the masc neck variant of the Puppo Head from SugarCult, which can be found ☆HERE☆!
City of trams, beautiful gardens, clean streets. Lots of people out enjoying the warm weather, eating & drinking in the many outdoor restaurants. A really nice city.
The garden at Sissinghurst Castle in the Weald of Kent, in England at Sissinghurst village, is owned and maintained by the National Trust. It is among the most famous gardens in England and is grade I listed.
Sissinghurst's garden was created in the 1930s by Vita Sackville-West, poet and gardening writer, and her husband Harold Nicolson, author and diplomat. Sackville-West was a writer on the fringes of the Bloomsbury Group who found her greatest popularity in the weekly columns she contributed as gardening correspondent of The Observer, which incidentally—for she never touted it—made her own garden famous. The garden itself is designed as a series of 'rooms', each with a different character of colour and/or theme, the walls being high clipped hedges and many pink brick walls. The rooms and 'doors' are so arranged that, as one enjoys the beauty in a given room, one suddenly discovers a new vista into another part of the garden, making a walk a series of discoveries that keeps leading one into yet another area of the garden. Nicolson spent his efforts coming up with interesting new interconnections, while Sackville-West focused on making the flowers in the interior of each room exciting.
For Sackville-West, Sissinghurst and its garden rooms came to be a poignant and romantic substitute for Knole, reputedly the largest house in Britain, which as the only child of Lionel, the 3rd Lord Sackville she would have inherited had she been a male, but which had passed to her cousin as the male heir.
The site is ancient; "hurst" is the Saxon term for an enclosed wood. A manor house with a three-armed moat was built here in the Middle Ages. In 1305, King Edward I spent a night here. It was long thought that in 1490 Thomas Baker, a man from Cranbrook, purchased Sissinghurst, although there is no evidence for it. What is certain is that the house was given a new brick gatehouse in the 1530s by Sir John Baker, one of Henry VIII's Privy Councillors, and greatly enlarged in the 1560s by his son Sir Richard Baker, when it became the centre of a 700-acre (2.8 km2) deer park. In August 1573 Queen Elizabeth I spent three nights at Sissinghurst.
After the collapse of the Baker family in the late 17th century, the building had many uses: as a prisoner-of-war camp during the Seven Years' War; as the workhouse for the Cranbrook Union; after which it became homes for farm labourers.
Sackville-West and Nicolson found Sissinghurst in 1930 after concern that their property Long Barn, near Sevenoaks, Kent, was close to development over which they had no control. Although Sissinghurst was derelict, they purchased the ruins and the farm around it and began constructing the garden we know today. The layout by Nicolson and planting by Sackville-West were both strongly influenced by the gardens of Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens; by the earlier Cothay Manor in Somerset, laid out by Nicolson's friend Reginald Cooper, and described by one garden writer as the "Sissinghurst of the West Country"; and by Hidcote Manor Garden, designed and owned by Lawrence Johnston, which Sackville-West helped to preserve. Sissinghurst was first opened to the public in 1938.
The National Trust took over the whole of Sissinghurst, its garden, farm and buildings, in 1967. The garden epitomises the English garden of the mid-20th century. It is now very popular and can be crowded in peak holiday periods. In 2009, BBC Four broadcast an eight-part television documentary series called Sissinghurst, describing the house and garden and the attempts by Adam Nicolson and his wife Sarah Raven, who are 'Resident Donors', to restore a form of traditional Wealden agriculture to the Castle Farm. Their plan is to use the land to grow ingredients for lunches in the Sissinghurst restaurant. A fuller version of the story can be found in Nicolson's book, Sissinghurst: An Unfinished History (2008).
For further information please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sissinghurst_Castle_Garden and www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sissinghurst-castle-garden
The New Salem Baptist Church is located in Sevierville and Sevier County it Tennessee. This 1886 brick church stands as a fine example of vernacular Gothic detailing as interpreted by Isaac Dockery, a Black craftsman from the county. The historic church is located in a floodplain along Middle Creek. The well-maintained and little-altered place of worship has served the Black community and other congregations for nearly 125 years.
The New Salem Baptist Church, built in 1886, was originally named the New Salem Union Church. It was built for the use of Black worshippers of all denominations. Before the construction of the church building, services were held in a log house overlooking Middle Creek and also at a school near Pleasant View Cemetery. The Trustees of the church obtained land for the church from Squire Bob Henderson. Oral history states that Henderson and Isaac Dockery, the builder of the church, were good friends and neighbors. When Dockery asked the Squire for land for the future church, he cordially agreed and gave permission to use the adjoining land for the brick kiln as well. It remained New Salem Union Church for eleven years and was renamed New Salem Baptist Church on October 11,1897.
From the time of its construction, the New Salem Baptist Church has been the focal point of the Black community serving not only the community's religious needs but its social and educational needs as well. Juanita Burden Lundy, a Sevierville native and descendant of the church founders, states, "Any type of entertainment, education, worship or funeral service was located and centered around the Church." Until 1922, for example, Black children were educated either in their homes or at the New Salem Baptist Church where classes were taught for 26 years. In 1922, education stopped at the church and began at Pleasant View School, which was constructed with Rosenwald school funds. However, this church building is significant not only for its connection to Sevierville's Black community, but also for its builder, Isaac Dockery. Dockery (1832-1910) was a master brick mason who began his career in Sevier County during the 1860's. He first tried his hand at framing and chimney work on homes around the county. As the years passed and Dockery obtained more experience, he progressed to larger projects including the Murphy College Building (1891), Sevierville Masonic Lodge (1893, NRHP 2/7/80), and the Sevier County Courthouse (1896, NRHP 3/24/71). Although these and other buildings throughout the county were fashioned by his hands, the New Salem Baptist Church (1886) is regarded as his most significant work, representing the beginning of his career as well as his talent and legacy.
For all of its significance, the New Salem Baptist Church was itself added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 24, 2003. All of the information above (and much more) was found on the original documents submitted for listing consideration and can be viewed here:
npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/AssetDetail/49a8ae33-4c2d-47fc-bf4...
Three bracketed photos were taken with a handheld Nikon D7200 and combined with Photomatix Pro to create this HDR image. Additional adjustments were made in Photoshop CS6.
"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11
The best way to view my photostream is through Flickriver with the following link: www.flickriver.com/photos/photojourney57/
Maintaining track speed, WAMX 4174 leads the pack as T6 sweeps through photogenic downtown Edgerton.
Edgerton, WI
2022.06.24
This garden, maintained by the City of Toronto is just across from the Humber Bay Lighthouse and I have photographed it many times.
Thanks for visiting, stay healthy and hopeful. #BeKind
"Peacetime" during the Cold War still has the Empire keeping on the watch and having many military units maintaining ships, weapons, and droids. Ready for whenever the Republic breaks the treaty bringing in another war.
Took me like, 3 weeks to finish this simple build. Procrastinating and such plus with the new SWtOR expansion and Battlefront which had my attention for a while. I finally felt like finishing and adding finale touches to it.
Enjoy!(?)
Photographed at the Poppoff Sparrow Patch, Yakima Greenway, Union Gap. Thank you Kevin for maintaining this site. I hope to see and photograph a White-throated Sparrow soon. Yesterday I enjoyed a small group of Greater Yellowlegs as the flew overhead. There are many Yellow-rumped Warblers, American Robins, White-crowned Sparrows, Northern Flickers and many other birds in fewer numbers in the area right now. I didn't count the Wood Ducks in the ponds but there must have been more than 50 along with a few American Wigeon. IMG_5334
Trev, Zak and I went to Kingsbury Water Park on this beautiful, warm, springlike day. From there, we walked uphill to Kingsbury Parish Church, a beautiful, ancient building. The churchyard was wonderful - the best I've ever seen, so well maintained. The churchyard's maintenance man is in hospital - GET WELL SOON!. This Cedar of Lebanon was a wonderful sight. Couldn't resist taking a photo. So stately and magnificent.
The name Kingsbury is derived from the Saxon 'Chinesburie' meaning 'royal fortified house' or 'Kings Fort'. The 'bury' part of the name means 'fort' or 'defensive work'. The location of the church and remains of a medieval home (Kingsbury Hall) above the river suggest a good location for a 'defensive' work. Kingsbury Hall (or Bracebridge Hall as it was their family home for many years) is now only part lived in as a farmhouse. It was a fortified manor house and the remains of a curtain wall can still be seen. Kingsbury was founded by the same Angles tribe that established Curdworth and Minworth.
The village is mentioned in the Domesday survey. Two priests are recorded, so the church must have existed. So is Hemlingford Mill, which still exists. It was originally a water mill, used for many purposes including milling corn into flour and grinding gun barrels for muskets during the Napoleonic Wars. Later it was used as a garden centre. A bridge was built across the River Tame near to the mill in 1783. This was single carriageway so traffic lights were installed later on, until it was bypassed by a new road to serve the oil terminal in the 1960s. The centre section of the old bridge was swept away by a flash flood in the early 1980s and was replaced with modern concrete. It is now used for pedestrians only.
In 1473-4 during the Wars of the Roses there was a family dispute involving the Bracebridges and their distant relations, the Ardens (William Shakespeare's maternal ancestors) of Park Hall in Castle Bromwich. John Arden had fallen in love with Alice Bracebridge. John's father, Sir Walter, did not approve. John was kidnapped and taken to Bracebridge Hall. Sir Walter appealed to King Edward IV, who appointed Sir Simon de Montford of Coleshill and Sir Richard Bingham of Middleton to arbitrate. John and Alice were married in February 1474. In 1502 John inherited Park Hall in Castle Bromwich, while his younger brother Thomas settled at Wilmcote near Stratford upon Avon. Thomas had a son Robert, who was the father of Mary Arden, William Shakespeare's mother.
The stones of the church porch show evidence of arrow-sharpening grooves, sometimes said to have been done by soldiers but more probably by hunting parties or locals waiting their turn for the nearby village butts, as all males had to be proficient with a longbow.
Until the 19th century Kingsbury was a small hamlet, and the main landowner in the area was the Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel. The Birmingham and Derby Railway was built through Kingsbury in 1839 and industry was soon established, most notably coal mining and gravel extraction, which fuelled the expansion of the village.
The Prop of Ythsie (pronounced “Icy”) is a striking local landmark which stands on the Hill of Ysthie just east of the village of Tarves. The stone tower is visible from many points in the surrounding area of Formartine, including from parts of the Estate. It was built by the tenantry of Haddo in memory of the 4th Earl of Aberdeen, paying tribute to the extensive improvement works he carried out on the Estate for the local residents. It is still in family ownership, though it is maintained by Aberdeenshire Council for the benefit of its numerous visitors. In years gone by a flag was flown from the top of the Ythsie Tower to herald the beginning of the curling season at the Haddo House Curling Club. haddoestate.com/history/heritage/prop-of-ythsie/
Dubai’s most abundant natural resource — sand — is free and prime for exploitation along the emirate’s expansive, well-maintained public beaches - JBR Beach, Dubai Marina, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
As I approached a small car show in my area, I was immediately captured by this beautifully maintained 1967 Mustang Fastback.
The owner of this fine looking classic muscle car told me that he has owned this car for 43 years. It had begun life as a six-cylinder - it now sports a 302c.i. V-8 taken out of a 85’GT Mustang. Power/torque to the rear wheels/tires is handled by a nine-inch Detroit locker differential. Amenities include; A/C, cruise control and a tilt steering wheel. Rack and pinion steering along with power disk front brakes compliment the steering and braking. Under the hood the 302 is fed by a Holly Sniper EFI with matching distributor. An aluminum radiator and electric cooling fan keep this little pony running efficiently.
I was told that originally, the car was yellow but now, as everyone can see, it's dressed in a striking rich, flawless red paint. A real “eye catcher”.
Hope ya’all enjoy ……………….
Btw- I also have front end views of this fine car that I may be posting later.
Note: I would love to have the opportunity to shoot these cars on location (a "location of my choosing") but this doesn't seem to be in the cards so I have to deal with the cards I am dealt with.
For Smile on Saturday!
Theme:"Clothes pegs".
Poème loufoque.
"Pince à linge, outil anodin.
Deux petites jambes en plastique
Ou en bois blanc, c’est plus ancien !
Mise en accroche cœur éclectique
Bien commode pour la jouvencelle
Mèche qu’elle maintiendra avec zèle
En lutte contre épi contrarié.
Pince à linge, outil anodin.
Ferme le « pif » du despotique
Refusant odeur même nouvelle
Nez qu’elle maintiendra avec zèle
En lutte contre vents de cassoulet
Pince à linge, outil anodin.
Arme de coquin, très impudique
Quand elle pince une partie charnelle
Fesse qu’elle martyrisera avec zèle
En lutte contre un courroux justifié
Pince à linge, outil anodin.
Rappelle aux critiques aux cyniques
Qui, en jeux, l’utilisent comme machin
Être pince à linge, c’est une éthique !
Pince à linge, outil anodin.
Deux petites jambes en plastique
Ou en bois blanc, c’est plus ancien !
Accrochée sur fil archaïque
Danse la gigue au doux soleil
Elle attend le linge parfumé
Qu’elle maintiendra avec zèle
En lutte contre vents et marées.
Parbleu ! Voilà son rôle." Y.D.
"Clothespin, a harmless tool.
Two little plastic legs
Or in white wood, it’s older!
Eclectic heart hook
Very convenient for the young lady
Wick that she will maintain with zeal
Fighting against upset ear.
Clothespin, a harmless tool.
Shut the despotic’s “sniff”
Refusing same new smell
Nose that she will maintain with zeal
Fighting against winds of cassoulet
Clothespin, a harmless tool.
Naughty weapon, very shameless
When she pinches a carnal part
Buttock that she will martyr with zeal
Fighting against justified wrath
Clothespin, a harmless tool.
Reminds Critics of Cynics
Who, in games, use it as a thing
Being a clothespin is ethical!
Clothespin, a harmless tool.
Two little plastic legs
Or in white wood, it’s older!
Hanging on archaic wire
Dance the jig in the sweet sun
She is waiting for the scented linen
Which she will maintain with zeal
Fighting against all odds.
Parbleu! This is his role." Y.D
Un grand merci pour vos favoris, commentaires et encouragements toujours très appréciés.
Many thanks for your much appreciated favorites and comments.
Cape Elizabeth, Maine.
Portland Head Light is a historic lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The light station sits on a head of land at the entrance of the primary shipping channel into Portland Harbor, which is within Casco Bay in the Gulf of Maine. Completed in 1791, it is the oldest lighthouse in Maine. The light station is automated, and the tower, beacon, and foghorn are maintained by the United States Coast Guard, while the former lighthouse keepers' house is a maritime museum within Fort Williams Park.
Construction began in 1787 at the directive of George Washington, and was completed on January 10, 1791, using a fund of $1,500, established by him. Whale oil lamps were originally used for illumination. In 1855, following formation of the Lighthouse Board, a fourth-order Fresnel lens was installed; that lens was replaced by a second-order Fresnel lens, which was replaced later by an aerobeacon in 1958. That lens was updated with a DCB-224 aerobeacon in 1991 (Wikipedia.)
PLEASE, NO GRAPHICS, BADGES, OR AWARDS IN COMMENTS. They will be deleted.
The garden at Sissinghurst Castle in the Weald of Kent, in England at Sissinghurst village, is owned and maintained by the National Trust. It is among the most famous gardens in England and is grade I listed.
Sissinghurst's garden was created in the 1930s by Vita Sackville-West, poet and gardening writer, and her husband Harold Nicolson, author and diplomat. Sackville-West was a writer on the fringes of the Bloomsbury Group who found her greatest popularity in the weekly columns she contributed as gardening correspondent of The Observer, which incidentally—for she never touted it—made her own garden famous. The garden itself is designed as a series of 'rooms', each with a different character of colour and/or theme, the walls being high clipped hedges and many pink brick walls. The rooms and 'doors' are so arranged that, as one enjoys the beauty in a given room, one suddenly discovers a new vista into another part of the garden, making a walk a series of discoveries that keeps leading one into yet another area of the garden. Nicolson spent his efforts coming up with interesting new interconnections, while Sackville-West focused on making the flowers in the interior of each room exciting.
For Sackville-West, Sissinghurst and its garden rooms came to be a poignant and romantic substitute for Knole, reputedly the largest house in Britain, which as the only child of Lionel, the 3rd Lord Sackville she would have inherited had she been a male, but which had passed to her cousin as the male heir.
The site is ancient; "hurst" is the Saxon term for an enclosed wood. A manor house with a three-armed moat was built here in the Middle Ages. In 1305, King Edward I spent a night here. It was long thought that in 1490 Thomas Baker, a man from Cranbrook, purchased Sissinghurst, although there is no evidence for it. What is certain is that the house was given a new brick gatehouse in the 1530s by Sir John Baker, one of Henry VIII's Privy Councillors, and greatly enlarged in the 1560s by his son Sir Richard Baker, when it became the centre of a 700-acre (2.8 km2) deer park. In August 1573 Queen Elizabeth I spent three nights at Sissinghurst.
After the collapse of the Baker family in the late 17th century, the building had many uses: as a prisoner-of-war camp during the Seven Years' War; as the workhouse for the Cranbrook Union; after which it became homes for farm labourers.
Sackville-West and Nicolson found Sissinghurst in 1930 after concern that their property Long Barn, near Sevenoaks, Kent, was close to development over which they had no control. Although Sissinghurst was derelict, they purchased the ruins and the farm around it and began constructing the garden we know today. The layout by Nicolson and planting by Sackville-West were both strongly influenced by the gardens of Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens; by the earlier Cothay Manor in Somerset, laid out by Nicolson's friend Reginald Cooper, and described by one garden writer as the "Sissinghurst of the West Country"; and by Hidcote Manor Garden, designed and owned by Lawrence Johnston, which Sackville-West helped to preserve. Sissinghurst was first opened to the public in 1938.
The National Trust took over the whole of Sissinghurst, its garden, farm and buildings, in 1967. The garden epitomises the English garden of the mid-20th century. It is now very popular and can be crowded in peak holiday periods. In 2009, BBC Four broadcast an eight-part television documentary series called Sissinghurst, describing the house and garden and the attempts by Adam Nicolson and his wife Sarah Raven, who are 'Resident Donors', to restore a form of traditional Wealden agriculture to the Castle Farm. Their plan is to use the land to grow ingredients for lunches in the Sissinghurst restaurant. A fuller version of the story can be found in Nicolson's book, Sissinghurst: An Unfinished History (2008).
For further information please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sissinghurst_Castle_Garden and www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sissinghurst-castle-garden
The Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (Italian pronunciation: [katteˈdraːle di ˈsanta maˈriːa del ˈfjoːre]; in English "Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flowers") is the main church of Florence, Italy. Il Duomo di Firenze, as it is ordinarily called, was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style with the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. The exterior of the basilica is faced with polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white and has an elaborate 19th-century Gothic Revival façade by Emilio De Fabris.
The cathedral complex, located in Piazza del Duomo, includes the Baptistery and Giotto's Campanile. These three buildings are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site covering the historic centre of Florence and are a major attraction to tourists visiting Tuscany. The basilica is one of Italy's largest churches, and until development of new structural materials in the modern era, the dome was the largest in the world. It remains the largest brick dome ever constructed.
The cathedral is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Florence, whose archbishop is currently Giuseppe Betori.
Santa Maria del Fiore was built on the site of an earlier cathedral dedicated to Saint Reparata. The ancient structure, founded in the early 5th century and having undergone many repairs, was crumbling with age, according to the 14th-century Nuova Cronica of Giovanni Villani, and was no longer large enough to serve the growing population of the city. Other major Tuscan cities had undertaken ambitious reconstructions of their cathedrals during the Late Medieval period, such as Pisa and particularly Siena where the enormous proposed extensions were never completed.
Giotto's bell tower (campanile)
The new church was designed by Arnolfo di Cambio and approved by city council in 1294. Di Cambio was also architect of the church of Santa Croce and the Palazzo Vecchio. He designed three wide naves ending under the octagonal dome, with the middle nave covering the area of Santa Reparata. The first stone was laid on September 9, 1296, by Cardinal Valeriana, the first papal legate ever sent to Florence. The building of this vast project was to last 140 years; Arnolfo's plan for the eastern end, although maintained in concept, was greatly expanded in size.
After Arnolfo died in 1310, work on the cathedral slowed for thirty years. When the relics of Saint Zenobius were discovered in 1330 in Santa Reparata, the project gained a new impetus. In 1331, the Arte della Lana, the guild of wool merchants, took over patronage for the construction of the cathedral and in 1334 appointed Giotto to oversee the work. Assisted by Andrea Pisano, Giotto continued di Cambio's design. His major accomplishment was the building of the campanile. When Giotto died in 1337, Andrea Pisano continued the building until work was halted due to the Black Death in 1348.
In 1349, work resumed on the cathedral under a series of architects, starting with Francesco Talenti, who finished the campanile and enlarged the overall project to include the apse and the side chapels. In 1359, Talenti was succeeded by Giovanni di Lapo Ghini (1360–1369) who divided the center nave in four square bays. Other architects were Alberto Arnoldi, Giovanni d'Ambrogio, Neri di Fioravante and Andrea Orcagna. By 1375, the old church Santa Reparata was pulled down. The nave was finished by 1380, and by 1418, only the dome remained incomplete.
On 18 August 1418, the Arte della Lana announced an architectural design competition for erecting Neri's dome. The two main competitors were two master goldsmiths, Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi, the latter of whom was supported by Cosimo de Medici. Ghiberti had been the winner of a competition for a pair of bronze doors for the Baptistery in 1401 and lifelong competition between the two remained sharp. Brunelleschi won and received the commission.
Ghiberti, appointed coadjutator, drew a salary equal to Brunelleschi's and, though neither was awarded the announced prize of 200 florins, was promised equal credit, although he spent most of his time on other projects. When Brunelleschi became ill, or feigned illness, the project was briefly in the hands of Ghiberti. But Ghiberti soon had to admit that the whole project was beyond him. In 1423, Brunelleschi was back in charge and took over sole responsibility.
Work started on the dome in 1420 and was completed in 1436. The cathedral was consecrated by Pope Eugene IV on March 25, 1436, (the first day of the year according to the Florentine calendar). It was the first 'octagonal' dome in history to be built without a temporary wooden supporting frame. It was one of the most impressive projects of the Renaissance. During the consecration in 1436, Guillaume Dufay's motet Nuper rosarum flores was performed. The structure of this motet was strongly influenced by the structure of the dome.
The decoration of the exterior of the cathedral, begun in the 14th century, was not completed until 1887, when the polychrome marble façade was completed with the design of Emilio De Fabris. The floor of the church was relaid in marble tiles in the 16th century.
The exterior walls are faced in alternate vertical and horizontal bands of polychrome marble from Carrara (white), Prato (green), Siena (red), Lavenza and a few other places. These marble bands had to repeat the already existing bands on the walls of the earlier adjacent baptistery the Battistero di San Giovanni and Giotto's Bell Tower. There are two side doors: the Doors of the Canonici (south side) and the Door of the Mandorla (north side) with sculptures by Nanni di Banco, Donatello, and Jacopo della Quercia. The six side windows, notable for their delicate tracery and ornaments, are separated by pilasters. Only the four windows closest to the transept admit light; the other two are merely ornamental. The clerestory windows are round, a common feature in Italian Gothic.
During its long history, this cathedral has been the seat of the Council of Florence (1439), heard the preachings of Girolamo Savonarola and witnessed the murder of Giuliano di Piero de' Medici on Sunday, 26 April 1478 (with Lorenzo Il Magnifico barely escaping death), in the Pazzi conspiracy.
For further information please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piazza_del_Duomo,_Florence
Florence (/ˈflɒrəns/ FLOR-əns; Italian: Firenze [fiˈrɛntse] ( listen)) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the Metropolitan City of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 382,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1,520,000 in the metropolitan area.
Florence was a centre of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities of the time, is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, and has been called "the Athens of the Middle Ages". A turbulent political history includes periods of rule by the powerful Medici family, and numerous religious and republican revolutions. From 1865 to 1871 the city was the capital of the recently established Kingdom of Italy.
The Historic Centre of Florence attracts 13 millions of tourists each year, and Euromonitor International ranked the city as the world's 89th most visited in 2012, with 1.8 million visitors. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture and monuments. The city also contains numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics. Due to Florence's artistic and architectural heritage, it has been ranked by Forbes as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
Florence is an important city in Italian fashion, being ranked in the top 51 fashion capitals of the world; furthermore, it is a major national economic centre, as well as a tourist and industrial hub. In 2008, the city had the 17th highest average income in Italy.
For further information please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence
The Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Farm is located approximately 7km south-east of Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, in the Northern Thames Estuary. It consists of two phases, Gunfleet Sands 1 with 30 turbines and Gunfleet Sands 2 with 18 turbines. Total capacity of Gunfleet Sands Offshore Wind Farm is 172MW corresponding to the consumption of up to 100,000 British households. The wind farm is operated and maintained from the town of Brightlingsea only 35 minutes away by vessel.
The jaguar (Panthera onca) is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest and most powerful feline in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Mexico across much of Central America and south to Paraguay and northern Argentina. Apart from a known and possibly breeding population in Arizona (southeast of Tucson), the cat has largely been extirpated from the United States since the early 1900s.
This spotted cat most closely resembles the leopard physically, although it is usually larger and of sturdier build and its behavioral and habitat characteristics are closer to those of the tiger. While dense rainforest is its preferred habitat, the jaguar will range across a variety of forested and open terrain. It is strongly associated with the presence of water and is notable, along with the tiger, as a feline that enjoys swimming. The jaguar is a largely solitary, stalk-and-ambush predator, and is opportunistic in prey selection. It is also an apex and keystone predator, playing an important role in stabilizing ecosystems and regulating the populations of prey species. The jaguar has an exceptionally powerful bite, even relative to the other big cats.[3] This allows it to pierce the shells of armoured reptiles[4] and to employ an unusual killing method: it bites directly through the skull of prey between the ears to deliver a fatal bite to the brain.[5]
The jaguar is a near threatened species and its numbers are declining. Threats include habitat loss and fragmentation. While international trade in jaguars or their parts is prohibited, the cat is still regularly killed by humans, particularly in conflicts with ranchers and farmers in South America. Although reduced, its range remains large; given its historical distribution, the jaguar has featured prominently in the mythology of numerous indigenous American cultures, including that of the Maya and Aztec.
Etymology
A jaguar at the Milwaukee County Zoological GardensThe word jaguar is pronounced /ˈdʒæɡwɑr/ or, in British English, /ˈdʒæɡjuː.ər/. It comes to English from one of the Tupi-Guarani languages, presumably the Amazonian trade language Tupinambá, via Portuguese jaguar.[6] The Tupian word, yaguara "beast", sometimes translated as "dog",[7][8] is used for any carnivorous mammal.[9] The specific word for jaguar is yaguareté, with the suffix -eté meaning "real" or "true".[6][9][10]
The first component of its taxonomic designation, Panthera, is Latin, from the Greek word for leopard, πάνθηρ, the type species for the genus. This has been said to derive from the παν- "all" and θήρ from θηρευτής "predator", meaning "predator of all" (animals), though this may be a folk etymology[11]—it may instead be ultimately of Sanskrit origin, from pundarikam, the Sanskrit word for "tiger".[12]
Onca is the Portuguese onça, with the cedilla dropped for typographical reasons, found in English as ounce for the Snow Leopard, Uncia uncia. It derives from the Latin lyncea lynx, with the letter L confused with the definite article (Italian lonza, Old French l'once).[13]
In many Central and South American countries, the cat is referred to as el tigre ("the tiger")
Taxonomy
The jaguar, Panthera onca, is the only extant New World member of the Panthera genus. DNA evidence shows that the lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar, snow leopard, and clouded leopard share a common ancestor and that this group is between six and ten million years old;[14] the fossil record points to the emergence of Panthera just two to 3.8 million years ago.[14][15] Phylogenetic studies generally have shown that the clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) is basal to this group.[14][16][17][18] The position of the remaining species varies between studies and is effectively unresolved.
Based on morphological evidence, British zoologist Reginald Pocock concluded that the jaguar is most closely related to the leopard.[18] However, DNA evidence is inconclusive and the position of the jaguar relative to the other species varies between studies.[14][16][17][18] Fossils of extinct Panthera species, such as the European Jaguar (Panthera gombaszoegensis) and the American Lion (Panthera atrox), show characteristics of both the lion and the jaguar.[18] Analysis of jaguar mitochondrial DNA has dated the species lineage to between 280,000 and 510,000 years ago, later than suggested by fossil records.[19Geographical variation
While numerous subspecies of the jaguar have been recognized, recent research suggests just three. Geographical barriers, such as the Amazon river, limit gene flow within the species.The last taxonomic delineation of the jaguar subspecies was performed by Pocock in 1939. Based on geographic origins and skull morphology, he recognized eight subspecies. However, he did not have access to sufficient specimens to critically evaluate all subspecies, and he expressed doubt about the status of several. Later consideration of his work suggested only three subspecies should be recognized.[20]
Recent studies have also failed to find evidence for well defined subspecies, and are no longer recognized.[21] Larson (1997) studied the morphological variation in the jaguar and showed that there is clinal north–south variation, but also that the differentiation within the supposed subspecies is larger than that between them and thus does not warrant subspecies subdivision.[22] A genetic study by Eizirik and coworkers in 2001 confirmed the absence of a clear geographical subspecies structure, although they found that major geographical barriers such as the Amazon River limited the exchange of genes between the different populations.[19] A subsequent, more detailed, study confirmed the predicted population structure within the Colombian jaguars.[23]
Pocock's subspecies divisions are still regularly listed in general descriptions of the cat.[24] Seymour grouped these in three subspecies.[20]
Panthera onca onca: Venezuela through the Amazon, including
P. onca peruviana (Peruvian Jaguar): Coastal Peru
P. onca hernandesii (Mexican Jaguar): Western Mexico – including
P. onca centralis (Central American Jaguar): El Salvador to Colombia
P. onca arizonensis (Arizonan Jaguar): Southern Arizona to Sonora, Mexico
P. onca veraecrucis: Central Texas to Southeastern Mexico
P. onca goldmani (Goldman's Jaguar): Yucatán Peninsula to Belize and Guatemala
P. onca palustris (the largest subspecies, weighing more than 135 kg or 300 lb):[25] The Pantanal regions of Mato Grosso & Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, along the Paraguay River into Paraguay and northeastern Argentina.
Physical characteristics
The jaguar is a compact and well-muscled animal. There are significant variations in size and weight: weights are normally in the range of 56–96 kilograms (124–211 lb). Larger males have been recorded at 160 kilograms (350 lb)[26] (roughly matching a tigress or lioness), and smaller ones have extremely low weights of 36 kilograms (80 lb). Females are typically 10–20% smaller than males. The length of the cat varies from 1.62–1.83 metres (5.3–6 ft), and its tail may add a further 75 centimeters (30 in). It stands about 67–76 centimeters (27–30 in) tall at the shoulders.[27]
The head of the jaguar is robust and the jaw extremely powerful. The size of jaguars tends to increase the farther south they are located.
Jaguar skull and jawboneFurther variations in size have been observed across regions and habitats, with size tending to increase from the north to south. A study of the jaguar in the Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve on the Mexican Pacific coast, showed ranges of just 30–50 kilograms (66–110 lb), about the size of the cougar.[28] By contrast, a study of the Jaguar in the Brazilian Pantanal region found average weights of 100 kilograms (220 lb) and weights of 300 lb or more are not uncommon in old males.[29] Forest jaguars are frequently darker and considerably smaller than those found in open areas (the Pantanal is an open wetland basin), possibly due to the smaller numbers of large herbivorous prey in forest areas.[30]
A short and stocky limb structure makes the jaguar adept at climbing, crawling and swimming.[27] The head is robust and the jaw extremely powerful. The jaguar has the strongest bite of all felids capable of biting down with 2000 lbs of force twice the strength of a lion, and the second strongest of all mammals after the spotted hyena; this strength is an adaptation that allows the jaguar to pierce turtle shells.[4] A comparative study of bite force adjusted for body size ranked it as the top felid, alongside the clouded leopard and ahead of the lion and tiger.[31] It has been reported that "an individual jaguar can drag a 360 kg (800 lb) bull 8 m (25 ft) in its jaws and pulverize the heaviest bones".[32] The jaguar hunts wild animals weighing up to 300 kilograms (660 lb) in dense jungle, and its short and sturdy physique is thus an adaptation to its prey and environment.
A melanistic jaguar. Melanism is the result of a dominant allele but remains relatively rare in jaguars.The base coat of the jaguar is generally a tawny yellow, but can range to reddish-brown and black. The cat is covered in rosettes for camouflage in its jungle habitat. The spots vary over individual coats and between individual Jaguars: rosettes may include one or several dots, and the shape of the dots varies. The spots on the head and neck are generally solid, as are those on the tail, where they may merge to form a band. The underbelly, throat and outer surface of the legs and lower flanks are white.[27]
A condition known as melanism occurs in the species. The melanistic form is less common than the spotted form (it occurs at about six percent of the population)[33] of jaguars and is the result of a dominant allele.[34] Jaguars with melanism appear entirely black, although their spots are still visible on close examination. Melanistic Jaguars are informally known as black panthers, but do not form a separate species. Rare albino individuals, sometimes called white panthers, also occur among jaguars, as with the other big cats.[30]
While the jaguar closely resembles the leopard, it is sturdier and heavier, and the two animals can be distinguished by their rosettes: the rosettes on a jaguar's coat are larger, fewer in number, usually darker, and have thicker lines and small spots in the middle that the leopard lacks. Jaguars also have rounder heads and shorter, stockier limbs compared to leopards.[35
[edit] Reproduction and life cycle
Jaguar females reach sexual maturity at about two years of age, and males at three or four. The cat is believed to mate throughout the year in the wild, although births may increase when prey is plentiful.[36] Research on captive male jaguars supports the year-round mating hypothesis, with no seasonal variation in semen traits and ejaculatory quality; low reproductive success has also been observed in captivity.[37] Female estrous is 6–17 days out of a full 37-day cycle, and females will advertise fertility with urinary scent marks and increased vocalization.[36] Both sexes will range more widely than usual during courtship.
Mother about to pick up a cub by the neckMating pairs separate after the act, and females provide all parenting. The gestation period lasts 93–105 days; females give birth to up to four cubs, and most commonly to two. The mother will not tolerate the presence of males after the birth of cubs, given a risk of infanticide; this behaviour is also found in the tiger.[38]
The young are born blind, gaining sight after two weeks. Cubs are weaned at three months but remain in the birth den for six months before leaving to accompany their mother on hunts.[39] They will continue in their mother's company for one to two years before leaving to establish a territory for themselves. Young males are at first nomadic, jostling with their older counterparts until they succeed in claiming a territory. Typical lifespan in the wild is estimated at around 12–15 years; in captivity, the jaguar lives up to 23 years, placing it among the longest-lived cats.[29]
Social activity
Like most cats, the jaguar is solitary outside mother-cub groups. Adults generally meet only to court and mate (though limited non-courting socialization has been observed anecdotally[38]) and carve out large territories for themselves. Female territories, which range from 25 to 40 square kilometers in size, may overlap, but the animals generally avoid one another. Male ranges cover roughly twice as much area, varying in size with the availability of game and space, and do not overlap.[38][40] The jaguar uses scrape marks, urine, and feces to mark its territory.[41]
Like the other big cats, the jaguar is capable of roaring (the male more powerfully) and does so to warn territorial and mating competitors away; intensive bouts of counter-calling between individuals have been observed in the wild.[42] Their roar often resembles a repetitive cough, and they may also vocalize mews and grunts.[29] Mating fights between males occur, but are rare, and aggression avoidance behaviour has been observed in the wild.[41] When it occurs, conflict is typically over territory: a male's range may encompass that of two or three females, and he will not tolerate intrusions by other adult males.[38]
The jaguar is often described as nocturnal, but is more specifically crepuscular (peak activity around dawn and dusk). Both sexes hunt, but males travel further each day than females, befitting their larger territories. The jaguar may hunt during the day if game is available and is a relatively energetic feline, spending as much as 50–60% of its time active.[30] The jaguar's elusive nature and the inaccessibility of much of its preferred habitat make it a difficult animal to sight, let alone study.
Hunting and diet
Illustration of a jaguar battling a boa constrictor
Illustration of a jaguar killing a tapirLike all cats, the jaguar is an obligate carnivore, feeding only on meat. It is an opportunistic hunter and its diet encompasses 87 species.[30] The jaguar prefers large prey and will take adult caiman, deer, capybara, tapirs, peccaries, dogs, foxes, and sometimes even anacondas . However, the cat will eat any small species that can be caught, including frogs, mice, birds, fish, sloths, monkeys, and turtles; a study conducted in Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary in Belize, for example, revealed that jaguars there had a diet that consisted primarily of armadillos and pacas.[41] Some jaguars will also take domestic livestock, including adult cattle and horses.[43]
The jaguar has an exceptionally powerful bite, even relative to the other big cats. It is an adaptation that allows it to pierce the shells of armoured reptiles.While the jaguar employs the deep-throat bite-and-suffocation technique typical among Panthera, it prefers a killing method unique amongst cats: it pierces directly through the temporal bones of the skull between the ears of prey (especially the Capybara) with its canine teeth, piercing the brain.[44] This may be an adaptation to "cracking open" turtle shells; following the late Pleistocene extinctions, armoured reptiles such as turtles would have formed an abundant prey base for the jaguar.[30][42] The skull bite is employed with mammals in particular; with reptiles such as caiman, the jaguar may leap on to the back of the prey and sever the cervical vertebrae, immobilizing the target. While capable of cracking turtle shells, the jaguar may simply reach into the shell and scoop out the flesh.[38] With prey such as smaller dogs, a paw swipe to the skull may be sufficient in killing it.
The jaguar is a stalk-and-ambush rather than a chase predator. The cat will walk slowly down forest paths, listening for and stalking prey before rushing or ambushing. The jaguar attacks from cover and usually from a target's blind spot with a quick pounce; the species' ambushing abilities are considered nearly peerless in the animal kingdom by both indigenous people and field researchers, and are probably a product of its role as an apex predator in several different environments. The ambush may include leaping into water after prey, as a jaguar is quite capable of carrying a large kill while swimming; its strength is such that carcasses as large as a heifer can be hauled up a tree to avoid flood levels.[38]
On killing prey, the jaguar will drag the carcass to a thicket or other secluded spot. It begins eating at the neck and chest, rather than the midsection. The heart and lungs are consumed, followed by the shoulders.[38] The daily food requirement of a 34 kilogram animal, at the extreme low end of the species' weight range, has been estimated at 1.4 kilograms.[45] For captive animals in the 50–60 kilogram range, more than 2 kilograms of meat daily is recommended.[46] In the wild, consumption is naturally more erratic; wild cats expend considerable energy in the capture and kill of prey, and may consume up to 25 kilograms of meat at one feeding, followed by periods of famine.[47] Unlike all other species in the Panthera genus, jaguars very rarely attack humans. Most of the scant cases where jaguars turn to taking a human show that the animal is either old with damaged teeth or is wounded.[48] Sometimes, if scared, jaguars in captivity may lash out at zookeepers.[49]
[edit] Ecology
[edit] Distribution and habitat
The jaguar has been attested in the fossil record for two million years[24] and it has been an American cat since crossing the Bering Land Bridge during the Pleistocene epoch; the immediate ancestor of modern animals is Panthera onca augusta, which was larger than the contemporary cat.[23] Its present range extends from Mexico, through Central America and into South America, including much of Amazonian Brazil.[50] The countries included in this range are Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica (particularly on the Osa Peninsula), Ecuador, French Guiana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, United States and Venezuela. The jaguar is now extinct in El Salvador and Uruguay.[2] It occurs in the 400 km² Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary in Belize, the 5,300 km² Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve in Mexico, the approximately 15,000 km² Manú National Park in Peru, the approximately 26,000 km² Xingu National Park in Brazil, and numerous other reserves throughout its range.
The jaguar can range across a variety of forested and open habitat, but is strongly associated with presence of water.The inclusion of the United States in the list is based on occasional sightings in the southwest, particularly in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. In the early 1900s, the jaguar's range extended as far north as the Grand Canyon, and as far west as Southern California.[45] The jaguar is a protected species in the United States under the Endangered Species Act, which has stopped the shooting of the animal for its pelt. In 2004, wildlife officials in Arizona photographed and documented jaguars in the southern part of the state. For any permanent population to thrive, protection from killing, an adequate prey base, and connectivity with Mexican populations are essential.[51] On February 25, 2009 a 118 lb Jaguar was caught, radio-collared and released in an area southwest of Tucson, Arizona; this is farther north than had previously been expected and represents a sign that there may be a permanent breeding population of Jaguars within southern Arizona. It was later confirmed that the animal is indeed the same male individual (known as 'Macho B') that was photographed in 2004 and is now the oldest known Jaguar in the wild (approximately 15 years old.)[52] On Monday March 2, 2009, Macho B, which is the only jaguar spotted in the U.S. in more than a decade, was recaptured and euthanized after he was found to be suffering from kidney failure.[53]
Completion of the United States–Mexico barrier as currently proposed will reduce the viability of any population currently residing in the United States, by reducing gene flow with Mexican populations, and prevent any further northward expansion for the species.[54]
The historic range of the species included much of the southern half of the United States, and in the south extended much farther to cover most of the South American continent. In total, its northern range has receded 1,000 kilometers southward and its southern range 2,000 km northward. Ice age fossils of the jaguar, dated between 40,000 and 11,500 years ago, have been discovered in the United States, including some at an important site as far north as Missouri. Fossil evidence shows jaguars of up to 190 kg (420 lb), much larger than the contemporary average for the animal.[55]
The habitat of the cat includes the rain forests of South and Central America, open, seasonally flooded wetlands, and dry grassland terrain. Of these habitats, the jaguar much prefers dense forest;[30] the cat has lost range most rapidly in regions of drier habitat, such as the Argentinian pampas, the arid grasslands of Mexico, and the southwestern United States.[2] The cat will range across tropical, subtropical, and dry deciduous forests (including, historically, oak forests in the United States). The jaguar is strongly associated with water and it often prefers to live by rivers, swamps, and in dense rainforest with thick cover for stalking prey. Jaguars have been found at elevations as high as 3,800 m, but they typically avoid montane forest and are not found in the high plateau of central Mexico or in the Andes.[30]
Substantial evidence exists that there is also a colony of non-native melanistic leopards or jaguars inhabiting the rainforests around Sydney, Australia. A local report compiled statements from over 450 individuals recounting their stories of sighting large black cats in the area and confidential NSW Government documents regarding the matter proved wildlife authorities were so concerned about the big cats and the danger to humans, they commissioned an expert to catch it. The three-day hunt later failed, but ecologist Johannes J. Bauer warned: "Difficult as it seems to accept, the most likely explanation is the presence of a large, feline predator. In this area, [it is] most likely a leopard, less likely a jaguar."[56]
Ecological role
The adult jaguar is an apex predator, meaning that it exists at the top of its food chain and is not preyed on in the wild. The jaguar has also been termed a keystone species, as it is assumed, through controlling the population levels of prey such as herbivorous and granivorous mammals, apex felids maintain the structural integrity of forest systems.[28][57] However, accurately determining what effect species like the jaguar have on ecosystems is difficult, because data must be compared from regions where the species is absent as well as its current habitats, while controlling for the effects of human activity. It is accepted that mid-sized prey species undergo population increases in the absence of the keystone predators and it has been hypothesized that this has cascading negative effects.[58] However, field work has shown this may be natural variability and that the population increases may not be sustained. Thus, the keystone predator hypothesis is not favoured by all scientists.[59]
The jaguar also has an effect on other predators. The jaguar and the cougar, the next largest feline of the Americas, are often sympatric (related species sharing overlapping territory) and have often been studied in conjunction. Where sympatric with the jaguar, the cougar is smaller than normal and is smaller than the local jaguars. The jaguar tends to take larger prey and the cougar smaller, reducing the latter's size.[60] This situation may be advantageous to the cougar. Its broader prey niche, including its ability to take smaller prey, may give it an advantage over the jaguar in human-altered landscapes;[28] while both are classified as near-threatened species, the cougar has a significantly larger current distribution.
[edit] Conservation status
Jaguar populations are rapidly declining. The animal is considered Near Threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources,[2] meaning it may be threatened with extinction in the near future. The loss of parts of its range, including its virtual elimination from its historic northern areas and the increasing fragmentation of the remaining range, have contributed to this status. The 1960s saw particularly significant declines, with more than 15,000 jaguar skins brought out of the Brazilian Amazon yearly; the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of 1973 brought about a sharp decline in the pelt trade.[61] Detailed work performed under the auspices of the Wildlife Conservation Society reveal that the animal has lost 37% of its historic range, with its status unknown in an additional 18%. More encouragingly, the probability of long-term survival was considered high in 70% of its remaining range, particularly in the Amazon basin and the adjoining Gran Chaco and Pantanal.[50]
The major risks to the jaguar include deforestation across its habitat, increasing competition for food with human beings,[2] poaching, hurricanes in northern parts of its range, and the behaviour of ranchers who will often kill the cat where it preys on livestock. When adapted to the prey, the jaguar has been shown to take cattle as a large portion of its diet; while land clearance for grazing is a problem for the species, the jaguar population may have increased when cattle were first introduced to South America as the animals took advantage of the new prey base. This willingness to take livestock has induced ranch owners to hire full-time jaguar hunters, and the cat is often shot on sight.[29]
The Pantanal, Brazil, seen here in flood condition, is a critical jaguar range area.The jaguar is regulated as an Appendix I species under CITES: all international trade in jaguars or their parts is prohibited. All hunting of jaguars is prohibited in Argentina, Belize, Colombia, French Guiana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, the United States (where it is listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act), Uruguay and Venezuela. Hunting of jaguars is restricted to "problem animals" in Brazil, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru, while trophy hunting is still permitted in Bolivia. The species has no legal protection in Ecuador or Guyana.[24]
Current conservation efforts often focus on educating ranch owners and promoting ecotourism.[62] The jaguar is generally defined as an umbrella species — a species whose home range and habitat requirements are sufficiently broad that, if protected, numerous other species of smaller range will also be protected.[63] Umbrella species serve as "mobile links" at the landscape scale, in the jaguar's case through predation. Conservation organizations may thus focus on providing viable, connected habitat for the jaguar, with the knowledge that other species will also benefit.[62]
Given the inaccessibility of much of the species' range—particularly the central Amazon—estimating jaguar numbers is difficult. Researchers typically focus on particular bioregions, and thus species-wide analysis is scant. In 1991, 600–1,000 (the highest total) were estimated to be living in Belize. A year earlier, 125–180 jaguars were estimated to be living in Mexico's 4,000 square kilometer (2400 mi²) Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, with another 350 in the state of Chiapas. The adjoining Maya Biosphere Reserve in Guatemala, with an area measuring 15,000 square kilometers (9,000 mi²), may have 465–550 animals.[64] Work employing GPS–telemetry in 2003 and 2004 found densities of only six to seven jaguars per 100 square kilometers in the critical Pantanal region, compared with 10 to 11 using traditional methods; this suggests that widely used sampling methods may inflate the actual numbers of cats.[65]
On 7 January 2008 United States Fish and Wildlife Service Director H. Dale Hall approved a decision by the George W. Bush Administration to abandon jaguar recovery as a federal goal under the Endangered Species Act. Some critics of the decision said that the jaguar is being sacrificed for the government's new border fence, which is to be built along many of the cat's typical crossings between the United States and Mexico.[66]
In the past, conservation of jaguars sometimes occurred through the protection of jaguar "hotspots". These hotspots were described as Jaguar Conservation Units, and were large areas populated by about 50 jaguars. However, some researchers recently determined that, in order to maintain a robust sharing of the jaguar gene pool necessary for maintaining the species, it is important that the jaguars be interconnected. To effect this, a new project, the Paseo del Jaguar, as been established to connect the jaguar hotspots.[67]
Fonte-Wikipedia.
Original Caption: Navajo Woman
U.S. National Archives’ Local Identifier: 412-DA-1828
Photographer: Eiler, Terry, 1944-
Subjects:
Shiprock (San Juan county, New Mexico, United States) inhabited place
Environmental Protection Agency
Project DOCUMERICA
Persistent URL: arcweb.archives.gov/arc/action/ExternalIdSearch?id=544321
Repository: Still Picture Records Section, Special Media Archives Services Division (NWCS-S), National Archives at College Park, 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, MD, 20740-6001.
For information about ordering reproductions of photographs held by the Still Picture Unit, visit: www.archives.gov/research/order/still-pictures.html
Reproductions may be ordered via an independent vendor. NARA maintains a list of vendors at www.archives.gov/research/order/vendors-photos-maps-dc.html
Access Restrictions: Unrestricted
Use Restrictions: Unrestricted
Another longish RP I thought I'd share, just for the watchability of the scene I felt!
It starts off with Kamy teasing Serafina (Fin) that *she* got a key /and/ a book from the Ranger cabin.. and Fin has neither of these things. Fin quickly turns the tables on her, and her aggression and jealousy amuses Kamy so much that she does the same... with Fin's boyfriend.
The first few posts are a touch edited to protect the not-so-innocent (other rp'ers ;) ).
Thanks to Phoebe for patiently teaching me how to split-screen!
++++++++
Kamy was beyond the flirtations and deviant looks at this point, at least alone when the girls could just be girls. She leaned in then and kissed her full on the lips, far more sensual then anyone would expect from the outrider, letting it pull but linger before popping happily back. "I got a fucking key to the cabin..." she snickered with the very intention of making her jealous and started off then, wiggling her hips as she silently began them on a walk through the park.
Fin kissed back, but while it started off with a sensual little lapping growl, it quickly *did* turn jealous, and she sought to *bite* her lip. Hard. Before she slipped away. Her eyes glittered and quite literally turned greener. ".. Oh yeah? How nice for you," she shoots back and falls into step to follow her through the trees, pushing limbs gently out of the way.
Kamy sunk an arm into hers so they might walk like school girls, licking where her lip had bruised from that chomp and pulling her to the bridge. Most tended to use this one sparingly, a careful step here and there. Kamy walks upon it full force, naturally taking to its bouncing sways and creaking protests without hesitation.
Fin delights in their raping of the bridge. So what if they pingponged off and flew into the river? She was filled with this dangerous rush of adrenaline and unconcern, driving her steps onto the planks all punk rock style. Hipbumps and rowdy hollers. ".. Yeah.. well.. ain't that somethin'. I don't know, man," her tune changing some. ".. I just wish they were all -around- more. I got shit to ask! You know? Th'fuck am I supposed to do?" She hopped to the other side and stretched her arms high above her head, then cracking neck to either shoulder. ".. Build a doghouse next to the cabin and be all, 'Bark Bark lemme in'?"
Kamy laughed when Fina bounced upon the bridge recklessly. She had just been walking like normal but it didn't mean she didn't appreciate the recklessness of it. She laughed when her foot nearly lost it but the book she held was clutched tight, quick to run free from its swaying surface. Would probably collapse on the next person who crossed it carefully. She reached out and took Fina by the belt, dragging her back to hook a knee between her thighs. "talk to one of the others then," she ran a nose along her jaw line, oblivious to anyone else's approach.
Serafina spun back towards Kamy by her own momentum and the Dreg's own tug of Fin's belt. Bare, dark skin *smacked* against her suspenders and covered-for-damn-good-reason skin. While that nose ran along her jawline, it drew out a loose growl, like something had just broken and was crashing down over their heads. ".. Fuck /talking/," she hissed, and yes, her legs parted, but they did so to square off, and grab Kamy by the shoulders to shove her down. Hard. Harder than she'd pulled on the woman before. Her hand would try to pin her throat, her hips, Kamy's pelvis, while her free would skate over her clothing, into bindings and straps, sensually fast. ".. I'm /taking/ ..that key."
Dylon sent his boots into the dirt to stop on the sudden appearance of the girls, it was still a chocolatey-clustery-headfuck for the guy to process. Shit, every time he thought he got a handle on the situation there it was, the diagram. The scissoring of fingers that explained how the two girls ended up, that enough was a struggle, what did you do? What the fuck were you meant to do?! Jack off? Raise that questioning brow to your girlfriend? The answer like all things in life were sometimes obvious, maybe it was Kamy's nose into Fin's face. That image alone made him think of their bed, they were going to need a bigger boat. Chin up and spark up. When he was about to raise his head to speak he stopped, why ruin the moment with a hello. Instead, the man just stood there enjoying the remains of that cigarette held between his fingers.
Kamy squealed when she went down, a very unusual noise for a Dreg to make but she was unraveling fast in the private company of Finn, her dark predatory facade that kept her fat and alive in the outpost abandoned for something far more girly. She couldn't stop laughing when Fina pinned her, hips lifting the girl off the ground with a thrust of her core, enjoying the site of those freckled swells bouncing. Kamy sighed when the girl's hands easily parted the handmade top from her chest, knuckled persed beneath leather and feathers. She nodded at the assessment. "yes good idea...I am tired of sharing you with him anyway" she stated rather boldly, unusual since she'd always liked Dylon from afar. She unbuckled Fina's pants and shimmied them down. "MY fucking key bitch...ug why don't you ever wear skirts..."
Fin squeezed her thighs so her pants could only unzip *enough*, the belt having gone unbuckled by Kamy's swift fingers. ".. I do," she snarked. "just for the men.. for you.. I make it hard." But green-eyedness wins over her again, the jealousy of Kamy having that key, and a book. Since talking hadn't gotten her far, she'd scythe through with force. ".. MINE!" she hurls at her, real anger dominating her voice, or perhaps, she's simply trying to /dominate/ her. ".. Hi Dylon.. " she singsongs between her next *firmly* growled statement. ".. MY. Fucking. ...Key." She'd try to grab Kamy's wrists, probably a battle of sorts while they scurried at her own pants. Her aim to drive them over the woman's head so she could use her free to keep searching.
Dylon sent those arms of his to fold across that chest of his, as that weight of his frame shifted from one foot to another. Just like that, something got that back of his up, a instinctual reaction to double taking on hearing Kamy's words, were they about him? and what was this fucking key?!. That figure of his turned side on then, yanking the cigarette from his lips harshly as his eyes bored down upon the air while that smoke wielding hand rested up against his chest. Maybe it was the twitch of his left cheek and the billow of smoke that was the sign of a vented thought. When that hello came from Fin that head jerked in a greeting nod before stilling.
The book was off to the side, Kamy's hand had carefully set it aside even in the collapse, perhaps indicating she had more control then she'd let on. It was her error to think Fina was only playing however, the surprise obvious when the girl snatched her wrists and pinned them to the earth. She'd lost her chance to truly resist, arms flexing with the push but only coming an inch off the grass. She snarled when the girl started searching her for real, pleased at least that Fina would have a hard time finding it considering the position. Hips popped her up again. "FINA...she gave it to me!" she looked over in surprise at Dylon, laughing despite herself. "Hey clit kicker! Mind holding her down for me?" spoken as if she hadn't even made mention of him before.
Fin let out a victorious "... HA!" when she pinned her wrists overhead. Serious, she was, was Kamy's own fault for digging at her jealousy. ".. I -know- she gave them to you that's th'fucking point," she growled, a touch smoother. As her hand roamed the woman, sliding over hip, scooping a buttock (and here, she'd grin at her, tongue held at her tooth) up, exploring behind her thigh, then her arm bands, she offered a similar suggestion. ".. Mmhm! Yes, Dylon. Why don't you help hold her down for me. And stop laughing, you're gonna make this harder," she grumbled.
It wasn't often Dylon got to break up two girl's who were getting hot and heavy over a game of hide and go fucking seek. Though as he stood there towering over both of them that look of his went to the bridge, blinking at it swayed in the light breeze. "What are you two up to?" he said with a rather strained and exhausted tone. A grimace of pain fell upon his face for a moment, sending a hand against that jacket to palm lightly the spot under his ribs. "And then part of me is just too damned scared to ask.." A breath of air was pulled in through nostrils, causing them to flare before looking back down to the pair.
Kamy was sulking HARD that her key was stolen, tempted to bash Fina upside the head and take it back which was likely the sensible thing to do. But that would just be petty, no way she was giving her the gratification of fighting for it back. Of course she'd forgotten all about taking her wrist phone. She looked around for something to take while the girl was doubled over. She looked up at Dylon as he held her, watching him with a devious sneer. She broke from his grasp with a yank, leaping up and jumping on him with intensive vertical. His weight might hold her but she'd hit him hard, knees grasping his ribs with a crushing squeeze, her lips just smashed upon his. She'd grip the back of his head, sure he'd resist at first, but an insistant roll of her head and a thrust of her tongue within his stubbled lips was downright lewdly performed. Eyes hung to the corners of her gaze,watching for Fina's reaction.
Fin gave him a wriggling eyebrow, like wasn't she just the cockiest bully, mowing down the smartass nerd as she left school with her lunch money and favorite paperback clutched to her chest. Fin was just sitting up to secure her prizes when she *gawped* at Kamy climbing on top of -her boyfriend-. She watched that slide of her tongue to his, their mouths open and grasping as if she was being treated to a close-up of a cinematic still. She gawped and then glowered, pissed off like a firecracker. ".. HEY," she bared her teeth jealously and clamored to her feet, standing next to them and hovering as she tried to think fast. "... Fine, *Elephant Ass*. You fight mean and fair. Who th'fuck am *I* supposed to kiss to piss YOU off huh?" She narrowed eyes at them both and stalked to the cliff edge, dangling the key over the river. ".. Oo, a gust of wind!" she fake-cried.
Lost balance, Dylon was too busy distracted on looking to Fin when Kamy's body launched at him. By the time that back of his hit the dirt she was already upon his ribs, her squeeze, sending that bandage around his side to tighten, ripping open the stitches to the wound that caused him to growl. Well he would of growled, if it wasn't for Kamy's tongue shoved between his lips. A arm came up to his side to try and elbow the Dreg's face out of his to at least giving him some breathing room. "..." A breath of air, a blink or two and he was trying to focus, seeing Fin then holding that key out, leaving him to perk a brow as he tried to process what the hell was going on.
Kamy's eyes lit up at the insult, not sure if the girl was just being clever or if she actually knew that elephant was one of the translations to her name. She came off gasping when he elbowed her chin off his mouth, the wet POP of their lips disconnecting leaving her just as breathless. She sat atop Dylon and glared back at her. "You could kiss people! You could kiss a lot of people!" she defended, not realizing in that moment what a whore she sounded like. In truth there weren't many she'd be jealous over, maintaining the share and share alike concept. She watched the key dangle with an unfair unf. "go ahead and drop it! I fish those waters freckle pussy!" she upped the stakes, the crack of her bum sticking out good as she sliiiid back down Dylon's waist. She'd rip those pants open with impressive skill, born from skinning animals but it worked here too. She shoved a hand down his pants, far more gentle then the kiss in grasping his shaft and trying to forcefully coax it hard and free. "I got a much bigger key anyway..."
Fin STOMPED so hard dirt kicked and coughed and she left a deep imprint. ".. GodDAMN it Kamy!" she hollered at her. "... Fine. Last thing I'm going to do is give you the satisfaction of turning me into a whining mall rat not getting her fucking ice cream cone at the food court." She'd heard about those places, course - most of them were abandoned buildings these days. She'd whirled to find her mid-pants rip... and growled. "If he gets a hardon I'm fucking you in the ass with Marsqueeze's cigar." She pauses, and crouches down to them both. She's -livid-, a boiling anger baking from her skin, breasts heaving with a racing pulse. ".. Just.. lay there, Dylon," she remarks lowly, a sneer touching her lip. Fingers snake into the back of Kamy's waistband, pull it away, and *drop* the key down her ass crack. She keeps the chesspiece though, and moves aside.
The week has just taken a turn for the strange, it was starting to feel like Dylon had dropped acid, again. In twenty four hours he had gone through the motions of violence and all the way to jealousy of seeing Kamy upon his girlfriend, his Fin. Now he was sat there, hand clutched to his side while looking to Fin, by the time it registered on what Kamy was doing her hand was around around his shaft, gripping up his length. That hard on was going to prove more than difficult, blood was already seeping through the side of his jacket, that was something no man had managed to quite maintain, shit, it was like telling your body to multi-task without having control. "Get...your..fuckin...hand...off...my...cock" Words hissed through gritted teeth. As he found himself sandwiched between the girl's power play, but what a sandwich!.
Kamy didn't feel bad for the man at all, hardly even letting him factor in. He had kicked her in the cunt after all. She felt the key slip between her butt cheeks and smiled victoriously. Hands came off his meat and she stuck them in the air in victory. She watched Fina and just found the anger pouring from the woman absolutely sexy. She reached out and tried to snatch the girl's belt as Dylon had done. This whole thing was so ridiculous and it certainly didn't escape Kamy. She'd try to pull at the back of the girl's knees while yanking her down back on top of Kamy. The arms of a wrestler would try to wrangle the angry girl in for another kiss, falling over Dylon and churning her ass upon him like a bar stool. "I win...give me my prize..."
Fin had moved off, too far away to be grabbed, and when Kamy's hand reaches for her, Fin strikes her palm with a boot, hard enough to shove her back, not hard enough to hurt. ".. I *did*. Was going to give it back anyway, asshole. With my record the rangers would be all scowly tellin' me I don't play nice. Then I'd -never- get one. What's in there, a hot-- JESUS DYLON!" she just *spins* off exasperated. ".. Just gonna FUCK her right there in'frunna me??" She's rooted in place, and pulling her bandanna away from her neck side to side.
Dylon tried to clutch for his jeans the moment Kamy's hand released from his prick. "What the fuck yo..." Those words died upon the Dreg's ass slapping over over his lap to grind over. "STOP..." Sending a heavy handed palming slap towards the girl's ass cheeks to grind her right off his lap. Once again he would try to shift himself back, a hand sliding over his jacket that came up with a smear of blood. "...She should be so fuckin lucky..." he said with a hiss as he wiped that hand of his upon the grass. "Whose dream am I in?" Either way, no alarm clock was getting him out of this one.
Kamy rolled her eyes at Fina's tantrum, climbing off Dylon with a jump and fishing the key from her ass, one eye going crooked as she had to fish deep to get it. She produced it just in time to get struck on the ass, a small leap in Fina's direction. "oh calm down...it worked did it not?" she inched the key back into her pocket and sauntered to where Fina was. "you should have seen your face..." she laughed and pranced from foot to foot, clearly teasing Fina for being so worked up with little fake boxing stances. "you think I want to fuck your boyfriend? hmm?" she asked her, waiting for that ridiculous notion to sink into the red head. She was already fucking the sister and the brother, was she going to hit the boyfriend too? "now you don't love Ka-ma-ma anymore?" she asked with a faux pout. "maybe I take you to the cabin and show you. hmm? Did you think to ask?" she had flaunted the key after all for a reason.
Fin snapped shut a plastic lighter and tossed it in the creek. She sucked a full drag of the rolled cigarette's herbal shit and cut her eyes hard to them both, him laying there even as Kamy bounds off to join her. ".. Oh god. Oh no," she mimics in a half-hearted monotone that didn't try at *all*, ".. Please stop. Please don't fuck me. Oh god. Get off. Stop." She pauses, to flick the lit cigarette towards Dylon's lap, while his pants are still undone. ".. And your cock is still out, holmes." To Kamy she shrugs. The anger's dimmed leaving her in dry unconcern. ".. Yes I still love you. And no.. I didn't ask .. thought of it yes, but they're as hard to run into like a priest in a whorehouse. Actually, no. Not that hard!" she sings faux-brightly back.
Breathed long and slow as Dylon was finally free from the pressures of Kamy's body, this would be the moment to gather yourself, instead he listened to the girl's exchange of quips at each other before that rogue cigarette of Fin's landed right into lap, hitting the open fly of his jeans to send a shower of sparks over his crotch. Never had a man stood up so fast with the self harming need of slapping his cock and balls. Ridding himself of the burning glows "....ARGH FUCK SA..." Harshly was that belt closed up, shaking out his legs as he yanked open the buttons of his jacket, shedding himself of the material to then look down his side.
Kamy choked back a laugh when she flicked the cig at Dylon's crotch, a lazy smile as she just inhaled upon the aggressive pheromones coming off the feisty girl. "Fuck you should have been a Dreg Fina...the damage we would cause..." like they weren't already causing problems for the city. She knew the girl was pissed at her but just enjoyed it all the more. She hooked thumbs from her belt and swayed beside her, annoying little hip checks popped into the girl to provoke her further. "we will go when the rangers are not around...it does not seem like such a big deal..." she lied a bit.
Fin spared him a glance. Was that smell the whistling burn of ... hair? Her narrow shoulders jump with a smirk, and she gathers her hair to the other side of her neck, rounding her long spine in a wide hipcheck in return. Thwunk. She held power in her hips and back, moreso than arms and legs, even as bony as they sometimes felt to be. ".. Don't think it would be .. " she agreed, and made the breathy noise that showed she had more to say on the subject.. but stopped herself. Instead, she glanced to Kamy, then back at Dylon. She wasn't even sure if Kamy had successfully "brought the cock home to roost", and wasn't even sure it mattered at this point. ".. So. I'm going to .. buy some birth control. For -everyone-," she adds.
Dylon kept that hand locked to his side as he looked at the pair of girls. "You know what you two are.....a big bag of fuckin troubles...." Shaking his head at them slowly. "...Fuckin hell...." A chuckle, it was rolling over his shoulders as he doubled over a bit. "Somehow Kamy....I get the impression I'm goin to have to get used to you..." That jaw of his clenched then, a throaty grunt before allowing himself to straighten up. "...wait wait....you're not on birth control now?"
"Birth control?" Kamy asked a little confused. "oooh you mean to keep from birth, I get it." she nodded. "the Dreg men blow it on the girl usually, or some use the tubes not used for the sausages" she explained casually. She eyed Dylon with a soft sneer at his comment, reaching out to hang on Fina like he was going to take a picture of them. "why you not think we make a good pair?" she asked and shook a few dreads into the red head's face. "She is too much woman for one man to handle Dylon. You should be happy there is someone like me in her life" she explained.
Fin remains unimpressed by Dylon, and though Kamy didn't get off scoff-free either, she's neither angry nor pleased with them both. There's a strange resignation she feels - she wasn't even sure she'd be the jealous type - never thought she had that kind of .... possession in her. It's there, but it rears its furious head with no warning. For now, she's just left with a dull, faint soundtrack in her mind, some rhythm in her head that's sweeping distance between her and her friends. The dreads thwapping her in the face bring a funny wincing smirk, and she moves between them, arm around either one of their backs. As close as they are, her mind is to those elsewhere thoughts and music. ".. Mm, no, not now," she murmurs. "This afternoon?" She laughs some to Kamy's remark, and bites each of their shoulders.
The dance performance "Field" takes us to the fields of captivating beauty. A journey where beauty, happiness, and joy manifest as accidental side effects of a bad situation, offering support and helping to maintain hope.
Tagged by a wonderful photographer and friend, Rhythm:
16 things about myself:
1) Thinks that Vladimir Nabokov is one of the greatest writers which English language has ever produced.
2) Until now, black is his favorite color.
3) Intermittently suffers from a short term memory loss. Has lost his bicycle several times before remembering where he left it.
4) Likes snow but not snowfall.
5) Is amazingly good at forgetting names but remembering faces.
6) Thinks bantering comes to him naturally. Once he gets to know someone (i.e. gather initial required data to start bantering), it could be fun ;-).
7) Has tried several times to start and maintain a blog but has never made it.
8) In some cultures 8 is an auspicious number. But what does this has to do with me?
9) Firmly believes that in a movie/novel, more important than a story is the manner in which it is unrolled to the viewer/reader. Take “Pulp Fiction” as an example. Well, this doesn’t apply to most Bollywood movies, since they lack both.
10) Is trying very hard to learn French. Mais, quel dommage! :-)
11) Loves Italian cuisine, apart from Indian, offcourse!
12) Firmly believes that inventor of the microwave should be laureated with a Nobel Prize. Probably a peace prize for his invention which has quelled several social unrests ;-)
13) Wada Pav and Misal Pav are two of his favorite snacks.
14) Loves to watch Roger Federer play Tennis.
15) Thinks that there’s probably no God.
16) One of his favorite lines is:
"Men have forgotten this truth," said the fox. "But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed."
Original Version:
"Les hommes ont oublié cette vérité, dit le renard. Mais tu ne dois pas l’oublier. Tu deviens responsable pour toujours de ce que tu as apprivoisé. "
-- The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint Exupéry
Królewiec Hall in the Grand Master's Palace in the Malbork castle.
The two longitudal interiors, each lit by one window, existed here already in the medieval times. There were mentioned in the Teutonic ledgers as the master's chamberand small chamber. The restoration work was co-financed by the authorities of the city of Królewiec, which is why the hall was named this way. The recent research proved that the interiors were decorated with a painted plant twig. A fragment of this old decoration has been maintained on the southern wall of the room. In the first half of the 19th century during the romantic restoration of the Castle, both interiors were reconstructed (following the example of the neighbouring refectories) into one square hall with a vault resting on one central pillar. The current furnishings of the hall are neo-Gothic furniture and graphic portraits of people associated with the work in the castle at that time.
The Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork, the largest Gothic castle complex in the world, is a 13th-century Teutonic castle and fortress located near the town of Malbork on the river Nogat in Poland. It was originally constructed by the Teutonic Knights, a German Catholic religious order of crusaders, in a form of an Ordensburg fortress. The Order named it Marienburg in honour of Mary, mother of Jesus. In 1457, during the Thirteen Years’ War, it was sold by the Bohemian mercenaries to King Casimir IV of Poland in lieu of indemnities and it since served as one of the several Polish royal residences and the seat of Polish offices and institutions, interrupted by several years of Swedish occupation, and fulfilling this function until the First Partition of Poland in 1772. From then on the castle was under German rule for over 170 years until 1945. The castle is a classic example of a medieval fortress and, on its completion in 1406, was the world's largest brick castle. UNESCO designated the "Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork" and the Malbork Castle Museum a World Heritage Site in December 1997.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sala Królewiecka w Pałacu Wielkich Mistrzów na zamku w Malborku.
W średniowieczu istniały w tym miejscu dwa podłużne pomieszczenia, oświetlone każde jednym oknem – wymieniane w krzyżackich księgach rachunkowych: izba i izdebka mistrza. Prace restauratorskie dofinansowały władze miasta Królewca, stąd nazwa sali. Ostatnie badania wykazały, że wnętrza były dekorowane malowaną wicią roślinną – fragment tej dawnej dekoracji zachowano w odkrywce na południowej ścianie sali. W pierwszej połowie XIX wieku, w trakcie restauracji zamku zwanej dziś romantyczną, istniejące tu wnętrza zostały przebudowane (podobnie do sąsiednich refektarzy) na jedno kwadratowe wnętrze o sklepieniu wspartym na centralnym filarze. Obecne wyposażenie tworzy garnitur mebli neogotyckich i graficzne portrety osób związanych z ówczesnymi pracami na zamku.
Zamek w Malborku – jeden z największych zamków na świecie, położony na prawym brzegu Nogatu, wzniesiony w kilku etapach od 1280 do poł. XV w. przez zakon krzyżacki. Początkowo konwentualna siedziba komtura, od 1309 po przeniesieniu przez Siegfrieda von Feuchtwangena stolicy zakonu do Malborka, siedziba wielkich mistrzów zakonu krzyżackiego i władz Prus Zakonnych do 1457, w latach 1457–1772 rezydencja królów Polski, od 1466 siedziba władz Prus Królewskich, od 1568 siedziba Komisji Morskiej, w 1772 zajęty przez administrację Królestwa Prus i zdewastowany w latach 1773–1804; rekonstruowany w latach 1817–1842 i 1882–1944, zniszczony w 1945, ponownie rekonstruowany od 1947; w 1949 wpisany do rejestru zabytków, w 1994 uznany za pomnik historii, w 1997 wpisany na listę światowego dziedzictwa UNESCO jako jeden z najznakomitszych przykładów średniowiecznej architektury obronno-rezydencyjnej w Europie Środkowej. Od 1961 zamek jest siedzibą Muzeum Zamkowego w Malborku.
Climbing out from Prestwick airport near Glasgow in Ayrshire Scotland is this Travis Air Air Force Base Lockheed C5 Super Galaxy.
The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft originally designed and built by Lockheed, and now maintained and upgraded by its successor, Lockheed Martin. It provides the United States Air Force (USAF) with a heavy intercontinental-range strategic airlift capability, one that can carry outsized and oversized loads, including all air-certifiable cargo.