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Union Pacific DDA40X No. 6917 leads a priority piggyback train out of North Yard in Salt Lake City, Utah on July 15, 1978.
Hi all !!!
I fought for this photo. I lost my pose, which I did 3 times. But it's done !!! At the moment, I talk a lot with someone else I like a lot. And the subject of "appearing" often comes up in conversation. Look "good" but be "bad" or the opposite. This is the theme of my photo. I hope you like it.
Story : You think i'm sweet? Really... Maybe you are right, but maybe not. Angel... or Demon...?
Thanks for watching and your support !! ♡
The music : 🎵.
You can zoom for more details...
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@ Gummy Bears on my mouth: "[NoRush] Gummy Bears (works with bento)"at [N O R U S H]. Mainstore and Marketplace.
NEW @ Piercing set (nose and chain. You can EDIT them) : "Wicca's Originals - Tagan Piercing Set" at Kinky Event.and soon at Wicca's Originals.
@ Torso piercing : "Wicca's Originals - Iridas Piercing Set" at Wicca's Originals.
NEW @ Bra & thong: "ROZOREGALIA_HARITI* Brassiere&Thongs" at Kinky event and soon at :::R O Z O R E G A L I A:::.
@ Rings on right hand : "ROZOREGALIA_VISCUM*RING" at :::R O Z O R E G A L I A:::
@ Ring on left hand : "ROZOREGALIA_GYURIA*RING(The Three Graces)" at :::R O Z O R E G A L I A:::
@ Choker : "ROZOREGALIA_AQUILAGI*CHOKER( Lunar Mare )" at :::R O Z O R E G A L I A:::
@ Bracelets : "ROZOREGALIA_HAYURUZE*BRACELETS(Teardrop&Splashes&Veil)_Friends" at :::R O Z O R E G A L I A:::
NEW @ Earrings : "L'Emporio&PL::*Universe Signs *::Earrings set" at MOM - Men only Event and soon at L'Emporio Mainstore.
@ Wounds body and dirty: "A! Apocalyptic Wounds BOM" at Absinthe mainstore.
@ Cross on forehead : "-LEPUNK- My Cross +LEL EvoX+ BOM" at LePunk Mainstore.
@ Mole : "-LEPUNK- Freckles & Moles +LEL EvoX BOM" at LePunk Mainstore.
@ Sweets box : "Rokins-Sleepy sweetness" at Rokins Store.
@ Halo : "R.O.T. Studio's. - Quality 100% mesh - king halo FP (unpacked)" at R.O.T. Studio's. Mainstore and Marketplace.
A Peregrine Falcon chasing away a crow while holding on to his/her food which appeared to be a gopher.
Peregrine Falcons mainly eat birds, rarely mammals or rodents.
This is the first time I’ve witnessed a Peregrine Falcon eating a gopher.
Thank you for visiting.
Happy Holidays!
|Garden of Ku| Banzai Fierce @TMD
|OMY| Trick or Treat Candy Bowl & Candy @FLF-O-Ween
|Loki| Mei Sweatshirt & Bra @Equal10
|Bold & Beauty| Nova Skin @Mainstore
|Stealthic| Fallen @TBA October
|Apika| La Parca @Nightshade Event
|She Say Destroy| Roxy Leggings @Mainstore
Assessment, Assembly, Action. Whatever your task, you do three things. Start by assessing what you already have and what you'll face, the problem. Then you plan with those variables in mind. Take what you have, get what you need, assemble things, people. Finally, you take action. Simple.
Laying laminate in the backroom has really curtailed my photographic activity lately, in fact I’ve only ventured out of the house to walk the dogs. As a little light relief I have been going back a few years to older photos and it’s funny how photos now have appeal and they didn’t back then. Now and again you come across a missing gem but usually they’re mediocre. Mind yesterdays post was a bad day at the office, so it has now been removed. The immediate appeal was soon obliterated with some poor editing decisions, it was a case of a mediocre photo getting a rush job, so I blitzed it this morning. Again todays photo is going back a bit, 2019 on a lovely trip to Glenfinnan. Maybe not a gem but a little better than mediocre, it is Scotland after all.
IMPORTANT: for non-pro users who read the info on a computer, just enlarge your screen to 120% (or more), then the full text will appear below the photo with a white background - which makes reading so much easier.
The color version of the photo above is here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ticino-best-photos-of-southern-...
THE STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO:
So far there's only been one photo in my gallery that hasn't been taken in my garden ('The Flame Rider', captured in the Maggia Valley: www.flickr.com/photos/191055893@N07/53563448847/in/datepo... ) - which makes the image above the second time I've "strayed from the path" (although not very far, since the photo was taken only approximately 500 meters from my house).
Overall, I'll stick to my "only-garden rule", but every once in a while I'll show you a little bit of the landscape around my village, because I think it will give you a better sense of just how fascinating this region is, and also of its history.
The title I chose for the photo may seem cheesy, and it's certainly not very original, but I couldn't think of another one, because it's an honest reflection of what I felt when I took it: a profound sense of peace - although if you make it to the end of this text you'll realize my relationship with that word is a bit more complicated.
I got up early that day; it was a beautiful spring morning, and there was still a bit of mist in the valley below my village which I hoped would make for a few nice mood shots, so I quickly grabbed my camera and went down there before the rising sun could dissolve the magical layer on the scenery.
Most human activity hadn't started yet, and I was engulfed in the sounds of the forest as I was walking the narrow trail along the horse pasture; it seemed every little creature around me wanted to make its presence known to potential mates (or rivals) in a myriad of sounds and voices and noises (in case you're interested, here's a taste of what I usually wake up to in spring, but you best use headphones: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfoCTqdAVCE )
Strolling through such an idyllic landscape next to grazing horses and surrounded by birdsong and beautiful trees, I guess it's kind of obvious one would feel the way I described above and choose the title I did, but as I looked at the old stone buildings - the cattle shelter you can see in the foreground and the stable further up ahead on the right - I also realized how fortunate I was.
It's hard to imagine now, because Switzerland is one of the wealthiest countries in the world today, but the men and women who had carried these stones and constructed the walls of these buildings were among the poorest in Europe. The hardships the people in some of the remote and little developed valleys in Ticino endured only a few generations ago are unimaginable to most folks living in my country today.
It wasn't uncommon that people had to sell their own kids as child slaves - the girls had to work in factories or in rice fields, the boys as "living chimney brushes" in northern Italy - just because there wasn't enough food to support the whole family through the harsh Ticino winters.
If you wonder why contemporary Swiss historians speak of "slaves" as opposed to child laborers, it's because that's what many of them actually were: auctioned off for a negotiable prize at the local market, once sold, these kids were not payed and in many cases not even fed by their masters (they had to beg for food in the streets or steal it).
Translated from German Wikipedia: ...The Piazza grande in Locarno, where the Locarno Film Festival is held today, was one of the places where orphans, foundlings and children from poor families were auctioned off. The boys were sold as chimney sweeps, the girls ended up in the textile industry, in tobacco processing in Brissago or in the rice fields of Novara, which was also extremely hard work: the girls had to stand bent over in the water for twelve to fourteen hours in all weathers. The last verse of the Italian folk song 'Amore mio non piangere' reads: “Mamma, papà, non piangere, se sono consumata, è stata la risaia che mi ha rovinata” (Mom, dad, don't cry when I'm used up, it was the rice field that destroyed me.)... de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaminfegerkinder
The conditions for the chimney sweeps - usually boys between the age of 8 and 12 (or younger, because they had to be small enough to be able to crawl into the chimneys) - were so catastrophic that many of them didn't survive; they died of starvation, cold or soot in their lungs - as well as of work-related accidents like breaking their necks when they fell, or suffocatig if they got stuck in inside a chimney. This practice of "child slavery" went on as late as the 1950s (there's a very short article in English on the topic here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spazzacamini and a more in depth account for German speakers in this brief clip: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gda8vZp_zsc ).
Now I don't know if the people who built the old stone houses along my path had to sell any of their kids, but looking at the remnants of their (not so distant) era I felt an immense sense of gratitude that I was born at a time of prosperity - and peace - in my region, my country and my home. Because none of it was my doing: it was simple luck that decided when and where I came into this world.
It also made me think of my own family. Both of my grandparents on my father's side grew up in Ticino (they were both born in 1900), but while they eventually left Switzerland's poorest region to live in its richest, the Kanton of Zurich, my grandfather's parents relocated to northern Italy in the 1920s and unfortunately were still there when WWII broke out.
They lost everything during the war, and it was their youngest daughter - whom I only knew as "Zia" which means "aunt" in Italian - who earned a little money to support herself and my great-grandparents by giving piano lessons to high-ranking Nazi officers and their kids (this was towards the end of the war when German forces had occupied Italy).
I never knew that about her; Zia only very rarely spoke of the war, but one time when I visited her when she was already over a 100 years old (she died at close to 104), I asked her how they had managed to survive, and she told me that she went to the local prefecture nearly every day to teach piano. "And on the way there would be the dangling ones" she said, with a shudder.
I didn't get what she meant, so she explained. Visiting the city center where the high ranking military resided meant she had to walk underneath the executed men and women who were hanging from the lantern posts along the road (these executions - often of civilians - were the Germans' retaliations for attacks by the Italian partisans).
I never forgot her words - nor could I shake the look on her face as she re-lived this memory. And I still can't grasp it; my house in Ticino is only 60 meters from the Italian border, and the idea that there was a brutal war going on three houses down the road from where I live now in Zia's lifetime strikes me as completely surreal.
So, back to my title for the photo above. "Peace". It's such a simple, short word, isn't it? And we use it - or its cousin "peaceful" - quite often when we mean nice and quiet or stress-free. But if I'm honest I don't think I know what it means. My grandaunt Zia did, but I can't know. And I honestly hope I never will.
I'm sorry I led you down such a dark road; I usually intend to make people smile with the anecdotes that go with my photos, but this one demanded a different approach (I guess with this latest image I've strayed from the path in more than one sense, and I hope you'll forgive me).
Ticino today is the region with the second highest average life expectancy in Europe (85.2 years), and "The Human Development Index" of 0.961 in 2021 was one of the highest found anywhere in the world, and northern Italy isn't far behind. But my neighbors, many of whom are now in their 90s, remember well it wasn't always so.
That a region so poor it must have felt like purgatory to many of its inhabitants could turn into something as close to paradise on Earth as I can imagine in a person's lifetime should make us all very hopeful. But, and this is the sad part, it also works the other way 'round. And I believe we'd do well to remember that, too.
To all of you - with my usual tardiness but from the bottom of my heart - a happy, healthy, hopeful 2025 and beyond.
HDR with some tone mapping for a screen photo. I usually don't post these but if anyone wants to use it, give it a try.
An allée of London Plane trees, just like Paris!
One of the formal entries to the University of California at Berkeley campus. (and part of my normal morning walking trail)
I read recently that many of the formal parks in Paris favor London Plane trees in their allées.
With heartfelt and genuine thanks for your kind visit. Have a beautiful day, be well, keep your eyes open, appreciate the beauty surrounding you, enjoy creating, stay safe, and laugh often! ❤️❤️❤️
My Blog for full details and links to mainstores and events
rachelswallows.blogspot.com/2022/10/trick-or-treat.html
Virtual Diva
Witch Dress @ The Reborn Event
Great selection of Halloween Patterns. Includes Hat and Broomstick, Materials enabled.
Sizes: Belleza X, Reborn & Juicy Boobs, Kupra, Legacy and Maitreya
Wicca's Originals
Carina Boots @ The Warehouse Sale
Unisex Boots with Fatpack Texture HUD.
Female Sizes: Legacy, Maitreya and Reborn, Male Sizes: Gianni, Legacy and Jake.
CORE by RACHEL SWALLOWS
Batty Girl and Spidy Girl BOM Makeups for Lelutka EvoX
@ The Mainstore
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Harris%20Dale/113/250/3011
Short Leash
Sugar's Halloween Pail @ Dollholic
Original mesh • materials enabled • cute & kinky wearable Halloween accessory • bento hand holdeasy to resize • 3 versions plus fatpack available • plain version included with all • 10 pail, ribbon, & toy textures via HUD • copy/mod/NO transfer
Angelic Visions Antiques
Gothic Throne @ The Mainstore
Gothic inspired throne, Land Impact of 5 prims at it's default size, resize script. 3 wood frame colors, with 3 seat cushion colors, for a total of 9 texture options via texture changer. Materials enabled. 94 total animations, 9 ladies sitting animations including a reading animation which gives the user a book, and a drinking animation which gives the user a glass of wine. In the Gents Sits menu, there are 7 sitting animations for the gentlemen, which will give a book, a snifter, a cigar, and a cane for the appropriate animations. There are also menus for Male & Female D/S, 2 Females D/S, and Femdom (female dominant/male submissive) which include D/S as well as sex animations.
Rachel wears: Reborn Body with Juicy Boobs addon, Kaos Tattoo, Hair by Studio Exposure, Gloves by Kotte, Pose made by Me.
I go out with different goals, this was my day to try conceptual imagery. I had an 11mm extension tube on the camera so that I could open my aperture to f/2.8 and get close. This is a macro lens but it won't open up to f/2.8 when I'm 1:1 without an ET. Finding this trio was just an added bonus. By conceptual, I needed a Banner image for my 'Mushrooms' group.
Ein Monat ist es her und ich betrat das Luma in Arles, hier hätte ich den ganzen Tag fotografieren können...wunderbare Details
hildegard-spickenbaum.jimdosite.com/
IMG_5584-afsr
Smile on Saturday—Song Titles: Devil or Angel 😈👼
Sung by The Clovers in 1955, and by Bobby Vee in 1960.
Devil or angel, I can't make up my mind
Which one you are I'd like to wake up and find
Devil or angel dear, whichever you are
I miss you, I miss you, I miss you
Devil or angel please say you'll be mine
Love me or leave me, I'll go out of my mind
Devil or angel dear, whichever you are
I need you, I need you, I need you
The comet or marine betta (Calloplesiops altivelis) is a species of reef-associated tropical marine fish in the family Plesiopidae.
The comet is native in the Indo-Pacific Ocean and the Red Sea, commonly found between 3 and 50 m deep.
Adults are usually found near reefs, and in caves and crevices along drop-offs. The comet is nocturnal by nature, and will hide under ledges and in holes by day. During night time, it leaves its hiding place and swims along the reef searching for food.
Comets are predators, feeding on crustaceans and small fish. They catch their prey by approaching it swimming sideways and then waiting for the prey to try to escape.
Comets possess an eye-like shape which is actually the dorsal fin. When in danger, this fish will poke its head into a hole and expose its tail end, which mimics the head of the moray eel.
The dark brown to black comet can reach a maximum length of 20 cm. The white spots are found on its body, head and fins, except for the median and pelvic fins which have small blue spots.
De oogvlekrifwachter of kortweg rifwachter (Calloplesiops altivelis) is een tropische zeevis uit de familie Plesiopidae.
De oogvlekrifwachter leeft in de Indische Oceaan en de Rode Zee in de buurt van rotsige riffen, holen en spleten, meestal tussen 3 en 50 meter diepte. Overdag houdt de oogvlekrifwachter zich schuil en 's-nachts zwemt de vis langs het rif op zoek naar voedsel. Het is een roofvis die vanuit een schuilplaats zijn prooi vaak zijwaarts besluipt. Het voedsel bestaat vooral uit schaaldieren en kleine vissen.
Komt de oogvlekrifwachter zelf in gevaar dan steekt de vis zijn kop tussen de stenen of duikt met z'n hoofd in het zand en laat dan alleen z'n staart en rugvin zien. Achterop de rugvin zit een grote oogvlek waarmee de kop van een murene wordt geïmiteerd en eventuele rovers worden gefopt.
De donker bruine tot zwarte oogvlekrifwachters bereiken een lengte van maximaal circa 20 centimeter. Honderden witte vlekjes bedekken het lichaam, het hoofd en de vinnen.
De opname van deze onder zee-aquariumhouders populaire vis is in een privé-aquarium gemaakt.
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All rights reserved. Copyright © Martien Uiterweerd (Foto Martien). All my images are protected under international authors copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without my written explicit permission.
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Volcanic landscape via volcanic window at the Dee Wright Observatory, McKenzie Pass, Oregon.
(Shot with an IPhone 6)
The dynamics of the three GEs on the point of GMIVET 21 whine as they hold back the relatively light empty grainer. They've been routed through the siding at Wicopee because a couple of hi-railers had cleared up between the switches on the main. At Wicopee the track zigzags and briefly, during this time year at this time of day, northbounds face into the sun. This train was a real treat to catch. A spooky halloween ghost in october, a grey one.