"The only true voyage of discovery, the only fountain of Eternal Youth, would be not to visit strange lands but to possess other eyes, to behold the universe through the eyes of another, of a hundred others, to behold the hundred universes that each of them beholds, that each of them is...." ~ Marcel Proust

Thank you all, my fellow photographers and Flickr friends, for your visits, likes and comments.

j van cise photos (SmugMug)

j van cise photos (500px)

flickriver photos

Fluidr

p62615

I will possess your body until you reach your soul and show you the way to be followed. Your soul will be mine and together we will be one.

♫ Background music ☊ Tristania - Opus Relinque"

Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone,

Let maps to others, worlds on worlds have shown,

Let us possess one world,

Each hath one,

And is one.

(John Donne)

Fuji X-Pro1, double-exposure, using a portrait of my wife and a self-portrait, both projected on a computer screen.

This sunflower self seeded in our garden this summer!

The common sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is a species of large annual forb of the daisy family Asteraceae. The common sunflower is harvested for its edible oily seeds, which are often eaten as a snack food. They are also used in the production of cooking oil, as food for livestock, as bird food, and as a plantings in domestic gardens for aesthetics. Wild plants are known for their multiple flower heads, whereas the domestic sunflower often possesses a single large flower head atop an unbranched stem.

The plant has an erect rough-hairy stem, reaching typical heights of 3 metres (10 feet). The tallest sunflower on record achieved 9.17 m (30 ft 1 in). Sunflower leaves are broad, coarsely toothed, rough and mostly alternate; those near the bottom are largest and commonly heart-shaped.

The plant flowers in summer. What is often called the "flower" of the sunflower is actually a "flower head" (pseudanthium), 7.5–12.5 centimetres (3–5 in) wide,[4] of numerous small individual five-petaled flowers ("florets"). The outer flowers, which resemble petals, are called ray flowers. Each "petal" consists of a ligule composed of fused petals of an asymmetrical ray flower. They are sexually sterile and may be yellow, red, orange, or other colors. The spirally arranged flowers in the center of the head are called disk flowers. These mature into fruit (sunflower "seeds").

The prairie sunflower (H. petiolaris) is similar in appearance to the wild common sunflower; the scales in its central disk are tipped by white hairs.

For further information please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_sunflower

The County of Essex – Scenes of Essex

I am an Essex lad. It is a county that possesses a City, a number of Large and Small Towns, New Towns, Villages, Hamlets and Ports. It has anything from Modern Architecture to Roman History and pre Roman ruins. There are Museums, Galleries, an RHS Garden and is open to the National Open Gardens Scheme. It even boasts a Secret Nuclear Bunker, although everyone knows where it is.

It is a place of many Parks and open spaces open to the public, all those areas that are now closed off due to Covid. We can still enjoy the many footpaths that run everywhere from Coast to Countryside. There are a large number of wonderful churches, of timbered houses, windmills, pub signs, post boxes, blue plaques and sculpture just put there for the photographer and lastly, much, much more.

Here is a collection of items that I don’t think have been posted before.

“When you possess light within, you see it externally.”

—Anaïs Nin

TD: f/4, 1/160 sec, ISO 100, @50 mm

The County of Essex – Scenes of Essex

I am an Essex lad. It is a county that possesses a City, a number of Large and Small Towns, New Towns, Villages, Hamlets and Ports. It has anything from Modern Architecture to Roman History and pre Roman ruis. There are Museums, Galleries, an RHS Garden and is open to the National Open Gardens Scheme. It even boasts a Secret Nuclear Bunker, although everyone knows where it is.

It is a place of Parks and open spaces open to the public, all those areas that were closed off due to Covid are now open to the public. We can still enjoy the many footpaths that run everywhere from Coast to Countryside. There are a large number of wonderful churches, of timbered houses, windmills, pub signs, post boxes, blue plaques and sculpture just put there for the photographer and lastly, much, much more.

Here is a collection of items that start off with Heybridge on the coast, a delightful place to visit for two or three hours walking around the seawall or just sitting alongside the canal having a pint or a cuppa watching the boats go past and there are quite a few of them in at the right time.

We don't really have live Hippos in Heybridge the Alligators have eaten them all.

The County of Essex – Scenes of Essex

I am an Essex lad. It is a county that possesses a City, a number of Large and Small Towns, New Towns, Villages, Hamlets and Ports. It has anything from Modern Architecture to Roman History and pre Roman ruins. There are Museums, Galleries, an RHS Garden and is open to the National Open Gardens Scheme. It even boasts a Secret Nuclear Bunker, although everyone knows where it is.

It is a place of many Parks and open spaces open to the public, all those areas that are now closed off due to Covid. We can still enjoy the many footpaths that run everywhere from Coast to Countryside. There are a large number of wonderful churches, of timbered houses, windmills, pub signs, post boxes, blue plaques and sculpture just put there for the photographer and lastly, much, much more.

Here is a collection of items that I don’t think have been posted before.

#MacroMonday

#Zed

Photo taken by Roby (please see the first comment) as she approached the fourth planet of the Zed Zolar Zystem on another mission to cause some UFO sightings. Ever since Earz's closest neighbour, the Rose Planet, had been made inhabitable, and a commercial shuttle service has been established, it has become the dernier cri for Earzlings to have a cottage on Marz, and to spend at least a few weeks there each year. Since Roby so enjoyed to cause UFO sightings on Earz – they always cause such a pleasant buzz, and they always guarantee such a huge TV, internet and newspaper coverage –, she had decided to expand her planet coverage.

As you know, Marz possesses two irregularly shaped moons, Phoebe and Deizel, and here you can see Phoebe with its characteristic protrusions facing Marz' west pole in the famous "Afternoon Tea" constellation that Phoebe reaches every day precisely at five o'clock in the afternoon, while Deizel is still hidden from the beholder's view, hovering over Marz' south pole (also known as "Marz' kitchen"). Unlike the Earz-like Marz, both Phoebe and Deimos consist mostly of NaCl. This breakthrough discovery made during the 2021 Marz mission "Perzeverance" – which had been expanded to the exploration of Phoebe and Deizel in 2022 after the Marz rover's AI had miraculously developed awareness, and was therefore able to conduct and expand self-reliant experiments beyond Marz' surface – was the final proof that Marz, Phoebe and Deizel originated from the Zechstein Zea (located in the European Permian Bazin which stretches from the east coast of England to northern Poland). It layed the foundation for the settlement of Marz under Perzy's (the name the Marz rover chose for it-, pardon herself) conduct.

So what do we have here: A backlit rose quartz sphere / ball – 2,5 cm / 0,98 inches in diameter –, and a side lit rock salt (Steinsalz) crystal which is 0,9 cm / 0,35 inches wide. I had to focus-stack both the salt crystal and the rose quartz, because anything stopped down further than f/4 resulted in a too prominent background (black glitter foamsheet), but with this relatively wide open aperture I never managed to get both the salt and rose quartz sharp in one shot. The salt crystal was held in place by tweezers (which I'd mounted on a clamp) – another idea had been to photograph the salt crystal only and make it look like a precious raw diamond held by a diamond cutter's tweezers for a close inspection of the "stone's" quality –, and I've retouched the tweezers with the clone stamp in Photoshop post-processing. Further processing was done in Analog Efex.

HMM, Everyone, and stay safe and healthy!

The County of Essex – Scenes of Essex

I am an Essex lad. It is a county that possesses a City, a number of Large and Small Towns, New Towns, Villages, Hamlets and Ports. It has anything from Modern Architecture to Roman History and pre Roman ruins. There are Museums, Galleries, an RHS Garden and is open to the National Open Gardens Scheme. It even boasts a Secret Nuclear Bunker, although everyone knows where it is.

It is a place of many Parks and open spaces open to the public, all those areas that are now closed off due to Covid. We can still enjoy the many footpaths that run everywhere from Coast to Countryside. There are a large number of wonderful churches, of timbered houses, windmills, pub signs, post boxes, blue plaques and sculpture just put there for the photographer and lastly, much, much more.

Here is a collection of items that I don’t think have been posted before.

Post note: Danbury, Essex has a direct connection to Danbury, Connecticut in the United States. Read the Wikipedia pages for further information of the Danbury Connecticut History.

finger painted… Istanbul.

Love - a poem by Khalil Gibran

youtu.be/cGrVOpFTZ94

Then said Almitra, "Speak to us of Love."

And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them.

And with a great voice he said:

When love beckons to you, follow him,

Though his ways are hard and steep.

And when his wings enfold you yield to him,

Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.

And when he speaks to you believe in him,

Though his voice may shatter your dreams

as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.

Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,

So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.

He threshes you to make you naked.

He sifts you to free you from your husks.

He grinds you to whiteness.

He kneads you until you are pliant;

And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,

Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,

Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.

Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;

For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, "I am in the heart of God."

And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.

But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:

To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.

To know the pain of too much tenderness.

To be wounded by your own understanding of love;

And to bleed willingly and joyfully.

To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;

To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;

To return home at eventide with gratitude;

And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

My Blog for links to mainstores and events

rachelswallows.blogspot.com/2023/01/possess-his-soul.html

Lavarock Poses

Couples Bento Pose 178 @ Posevent

.Aitne

Marchela Bikini & Boots @ The Reborn Event

Sexy one piece latex bikini with bow detail and matching thigh boots. Sold Separately.

Sizes: Reborn, Legacy, Kupra & Maitreya. 6 colours, bonus colours in Fatpack.

Horns from Mainstore

Rachel wears; Reborn Body, Lelutka Avalon Head,

Skin by Not Found with Fantasy Skin Tint from Core by Rachel Swallows

Tattoo by Savage, Hair by Doux,

Rings & Earrings by L'Emporio @ The Mainstore

Bryce 3D program only - no post manipulation

View my recent images on Flickriver www.flickriver.com/photos/33235233@N05/

A virtuoso (from Italian virtuoso, Late Latin virtuosus, Latin virtus meaning: skill, manliness, excellence) is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability in the fine arts, at singing or playing a musical instrument.

Wakes up happy

Ends the day in giggles and glee

Possesses a joy that cannot be stolen or contained

Forever, the light in my darkness.

Taken at: Szystrum Synod @ Fantasy Faire 2023

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Szystrum%20Synod/87/34/114

This COSMOS Tamara Blouse Dress possesses the classic collared, open button-down front neckline with a long sleeve silhouette that makes for an effortless and timeless look. It pairs well with just about any occasion. You can also wear this dress with practically everything.

It features a 20 Color HUD which allows you to change the dress, buttons, and belt separately.

The [COSMOS] Tamara Blouse Dress is 100% Rigged Mesh for:

Maitreya Lara

Legacy

Inithium Kupra

eBODY Reborn

Belleza GenX Classic

Belleza GenX Curvy

To complete my cosmetic look, I chose Alge Design's colorful MK BOM Fish Collection for my eyeshadow in ICE, and Stunner Original's Passionate Lipstick in a red shade variant.

For my jewelry, I chose Heartsdale Jewellery's [HJ] Cannes Collection Earring and Necklace Collection.

The COSMOS Tamara Blouse Dress. Heartsdale Jewelry's Canne Necklace & Earrings, Stunner Originals Lipstick, and Alge Designs Eyeshadow are all now available at the Swank's Hollywood Glamor Event. for April '23.

Taxi to Swank's Hollywood Glamour Event:

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Swank%20Events/177/124/25

Arrivés les premiers sur les sites de reproduction, les mâles prennent possession du territoire et du nid. Après la formation du couple, commence la phase de construction ou de réfection du nid qui dure quelques jours. Elle est assurée par les deux sexes, tout comme la couvaison et l’élevage des jeunes. Le volume de la ponte est habituellement de quatre à cinq oeufs. L’incubation des œufs s’étale sur 31-35 jours. L’éclosion s’échelonne sur une dizaine de jours. Pendant les trois premières semaines de leur vie, les poussins sont protégés par les adultes. À l’âge de sept semaines, les jeunes se tiennent debout sur le nid et à dix semaines, ils sont aptes au vol. Ils quittent le nid mais reviennent cependant y passer la nuit. Par la suite, les liens avec le nid s’estompent progressivement. Le grégarisme apparaît peu développé chez la population colonisatrice de la façade atlantique où les couples, souvent isolés, nichent principalement sur des plates-formes artificielles et plus rarement sur des arbres. C’est le cas observé en Picardie.

Lors de la migration postnuptiale, la majorité des oiseaux quitte la France pour rejoindre leurs quartiers d’hiver d’Afrique tropicale en franchissant le détroit de Gibraltar. Excellents planeurs, les cigognes se déplacent le plus souvent en troupes, uniquement de jour afin de profiter des ascendances thermiques.

Dogs possess a sense of smell many times more sensitive than even the most advanced man-made instrument. Powerful enough to detect substances at concentrations of one part per trillion.................

Given this information I am hoping that Toby will Sniff out some good images for Tomorrows Macro Mondays...

( flic.kr/p/2mo51c8 )

A floating dry dock is a type of pontoon for dry docking ships, possessing floodable buoyancy chambers and a "U"-shaped cross-section. The walls are used to give the dry dock stability when the floor or deck is below the surface of the water. When valves are opened, the chambers fill with water, causing the dry dock to float lower in the water. The deck becomes submerged and this allows a ship to be moved into position inside. When the water is pumped out of the chambers, the dry dock rises and the ship is lifted out of the water on the rising deck, allowing work to proceed on the ship's hull.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_dock

www.blohmvoss.com/en/corporate/content/blohm-voss/docks-f...

REIGN. : Fiona Boots

-tres blah- : Darling dress

MOON : Spit at Stars (edited)

C h a r y . : Septum ring

My inaugural "I finally got a tablet" picture / Reign Spooktacular contest entry!

Happy Halloween, kids.

Ancienne Marienwerder, fondée au XIIIe siècle, la ville était une place forte des Chevaliers Teutoniques, elle a été une possession allemande jusqu'en 1945.

Wuthering Heights - by the amazing Kate Bush

… Out on the wiley, windy moors

We'd roll and fall in green

You had a temper like my jealousy

Too hot, too greedy

… How could you leave me

When I needed to possess you?

I hated you, I loved you, too

… Bad dreams in the night

They told me I was going to lose the fight

Leave behind my Wuthering, Wuthering

Wuthering Heights

… Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy

I've come home, I'm so cold

Let me in your window

… Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy

I've come home, I'm so cold

Let me in your window

… Ooh, it gets dark, it gets lonely

On the other side from you

I pine a lot, I find the lot

Falls through without you

… I'm coming back love, cruel Heathcliff

My one dream, my only master

… Too long I roam in the night

I'm coming back to his side to put it right

I'm coming home to Wuthering, Wuthering

Wuthering Heights

… Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy

I've come home, I'm so cold

Let me in your window

… Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy

I've come home, I'm so cold

Let me in your window

… Ooh, let me have it

Let me grab your soul away

Ooh, let me have it

Let me grab your soul away

You know it's me, Cathy

… Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy

I've come home, I'm so cold

Let me in your window

… Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy

I've come home, I'm so cold

Let me in your window

… Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy

I've come home, I'm so cold

-------

Taken at Whitby, Birth of DraculaM.

Opals

Macro Mondays - theme: Superstition

30-image focus stack.

The opals are just under 3" across. For an image with scale, see here (although the link may not work since the Flickr update) :

www.flickr.com/photos/kuriyan/47933761638/in/photostream/

Wikipedia:

"In the Middle Ages, opal was considered a stone that could provide great luck because it was believed to possess all the virtues of each gemstone whose color was represented in the color spectrum of the opal. It was also said to grant invisibility if wrapped in a fresh bay leaf and held in the hand ... Following the publication of Sir Walter Scott's Anne of Geierstein in 1829, opal acquired a less auspicious reputation. In Scott's novel, the Baroness of Arnheim wears an opal talisman with supernatural powers. When a drop of holy water falls on the talisman, the opal turns into a colorless stone and the Baroness dies soon thereafter. Due to the popularity of Scott's novel, people began to associate opals with bad luck and death ... Even as recently as the beginning of the 20th century, it was believed that when a Russian saw an opal among other goods offered for sale, he or she should not buy anything more, as the opal was believed to embody the evil eye."

As these cold days start to close out this seemingly long Winter season take some time to “Enjoy The Day” for the beauty it possess. With Daylight Savings quickly approaching we’ll begin to notice new buds on trees and some vegetation popping through the ground. These are welcoming signs we look forward to in the Northeast region of North America. Soon our photos here will show a new season and the season is Spring. Thanks for viewing my work. Stay safe and get ready for change.

What do dog noses have that humans don't? They possess up to 300 million olfactory receptors in their noses, compared to about six million in us. And the part of a dog's brain that is devoted to analyzing smells is about 40 times greater than ours. Dogs also have something called neophilia, which means they are attracted to new and interesting odors.

Dogs possess a sense of smell many times more sensitive than even the most advanced man-made instrument. Powerful enough to detect substances at concentrations of one part per trillion—a single drop of liquid in 20 Olympic-size swimming pools. With training, dogs can sniff out bombs and drugs, pursue suspects, and find dead bodies. And more and more, they’re being used experimentally to detect human disease—cancer, diabetes, tuberculosis, and now, malaria—from smell alone.

Dogs' noses also function quite differently than our own. When we inhale, we smell and breathe through the same airways within our nose. When dogs inhale, a fold of tissue just inside their nostril helps to separate these two functions.

When we exhale through our nose, we send the spent air out the way it came in, forcing out any incoming odors. When dogs exhale, the spent air exits through the slits in the sides of their noses. The manner in which the exhaled air swirls out actually helps usher new odors into the dog's nose. More importantly, it allows dogs to sniff more or less continuously.

We can't wiggle our nostrils independently. Dogs can. This, along with the fact that the so-called aerodynamic reach of each of their nostrils is smaller than the distance between the nostrils, helps them to determine which nostril an odor arrived in. This aids them in locating the source of smells—we've all seen dogs on an interesting scent weave back and forth across its invisible trail.

phoenixvetcenter.com/blog/214731-how-powerful-is-a-dogs-nose

L'adoptante de Fusain en prend possession.

Although we all possess the seeds of great love and compassion,

without the light of the enlightened one's wisdom and the waters

of their compassion these seeds would never spout.

- Philip Kapleau

Beautiful Butterfly

There wings are stretched wide,

fluttering around the flower,

A Butterfly gently lands on a leaf,

They possess a certain power.

Orange, gold, and some are yellow,

Some fly slow and some rather fast,

Always they put on a show of color

that makes this warm feeling last!

They take flight and move with such grace,

It’s fascinating to see how they land,

I enjoy watching one blend in,

As it sometimes greets my hand.

Some of them will fly in pairs,

while others remain alone,

There are some that appear quite small,

And yet there are some that seem full grown!

I have been told that they don’t live long,

Most only live several days,

It is such a wonder of nature,

As I watch as a new one stays.

They love to grace our gardens,

We love to watch them go by,

I am so lucky to have them around me,

As they are flying low and high!

There goes another one,

It stopped to delight me again,

Always lifting my spirits,

As only a butterfly can!

Author: Paul Peterzell

I hope this beauty brightens your day as much as it did mine. Stay safe

..."Words are flying out like

endless rain into a paper cup

They slither while they pass

They slip away across the universe

Pools of sorrow waves of joy

are drifting thorough my open mind

Possessing and caressing me"...

Across The Universe

Lennon/McCartney

View On Black

Ringtail lemurs (Lemur catta) possess a unique "toothcomb" structure formed by their bottom teeth, which they use to groom their fur and that of others.

Africa Rocks Madagascar Forest habitat, San Diego Zoo.

Conservation status: critically endangered.

Castell Coch, ( The Red Castle ) can be seen on the hillside as you travel West outside Cardiff

This building is chiefly known as a romantic folly supposedly reproducing a small medieval Welsh chieftain's stronghold, built in the 1870s, for the 3rd Marquess of Bute to a design by William Burges, and possessing the most remarkable interior decoration. However, it was built upon the remains of a genuine 13th century castle built in two stages.

All'uscita di Bosco Fontana. ( Mantova )

La Riserva naturale Bosco Fontana è una area naturale protetta di 233 ettari, sotto la tutela dell'Arma dei Carabinieri, situata nel territorio del comune di Marmirolo, a pochi chilometri da Mantova.

I primi cenni storici che citano il Bosco Fontana risalgono al Trecento. Tra il XII ed il XIII secolo i Gonzaga, futuri signori di Mantova, vengono in possesso di una vasta tenuta tra il Mincio, Goito e Marmirolo, che allora era ricoperta da una vasta e fitta foresta e ricchissima di selvaggina e la trasformano in una grande riserva di caccia. Ai Gonzaga si deve l'iniziativa primaria di quei vincoli protezionistici che hanno portato fino a noi, attraverso le mille e una vicissitudini succedutesi nel corso dei secoli, di questo intatto angolo naturale della pianura padana. Pur essendo un biotopo con caratteristiche ben precise di foresta planiziaria, il Bosco Fontana presenta al suo interno alcuni microsistemi che ne arricchiscono le caratteristiche ambientali e ne aumentano le diversità botaniche

J'ai en ma possession quelques théières en verre ou en céramique de collection possédant un couvercle assorti. Celui-ci tout en verre propose une forme originale. #Macro #MacroMondays #Lids

Cité pour la première fois en 1277, le château d‘Alleuze était la possession de l’évêque de Clermont, qui le tenait des Archambault de Bourbon. Cette forteresse fut prise en 1383 par le capitaine de bandes au service des Anglais, Bernard de Garlan, dit » le méchant bossu « . Moyennant une forte indemnité de guerre, ce dernier consentit à rendre la place et à s’éloigner. Mais la menace étant toujours permanente, les habitants de Saint-Flour incendièrent le château en 1405. L’évêque de Clermont, furieux de cette façon d’agir, porta plainte et fit reconstruire l’édifice six ans plus tard par ceux-là mêmes qui l’avaient détruit.

Click image to view Larger.

Ospreys are unusual among hawks in possessing a reversible outer toe that allows them to grasp with two toes in front and two behind. Barbed pads on the soles of the birds' feet help them grip slippery fish. When flying with prey, an Osprey lines up its catch head first for less wind resistance.

Ospreys are excellent anglers. Over several studies, Ospreys caught fish on at least 1 in every 4 dives, with success rates sometimes as high as 70 percent. The average time they spent hunting before making a catch was about 12 minutes—something to think about next time you throw your line in the water.

The Osprey readily builds its nest on manmade structures, such as telephone poles, channel markers, duck blinds, and nest platforms designed especially for it. Such platforms have become an important tool in reestablishing Ospreys in areas where they had disappeared. In some areas nests are placed almost exclusively on artificial structures.

The Chestnut-bellied Euphonia forms a superspecies with the Golden-sided Euphonia; both species possess golden feather tufts on their shoulders and are distinguished by the belly color, which is black in Golden-sided. As the name implies, euphonias are good singers. Chestnut-bellied Euphonia is quite an exception to the name, since its vocal repertoire seems to be largely made up by a series of harsh notes resembling the calls of allied species. The bulk of its distribution is encompassed by the southern portion of the Atlantic Forest in Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil. It is not known to migrate and is commonly encountered in mixed species flocks together with Green-throated, Golden-rumped, Violaceus, and Purple-throated Euphonias.

Wishing all a nice Blue Monday!

Picture taken at Legado das Aguas - Miracatu - São Paulo.

©Thelma Gátuzzô

Thanks a lot for your visits, comments, faves, invites, etc. Very much appreciated!

© All my images are protected under international authors copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated by any means without my written explicit permission, including the use on websites and similar medias. All rights reserved. Please contact me at thelma.gatuzzo@gmail.com if you intend to buy or use any of my images.

My instagram if you like: @thelmag, @thelma_and_cats and @teg_photo_arts

Member of Nature’s Spirit

Good Stewards of Nature

Alfred E. Neuman immediately came to mind when I spotted this Northern Shoveler enjoying the morning light.

The Northern Shoveler:

The aptly named Northern Shoveler has a shovel-shaped bill that quickly sets it apart from other dabbling ducks. It is a medium-sized duck that tends to sit with its rear a bit higher out of the water almost like its bill is pulling its front half down.

Perhaps the most outwardly distinctive of the dabbling ducks thanks to its large spoon-shaped bill, the Northern Shoveler busily forages head down in shallow wetlands. Its uniquely shaped bill has comb-like projections along its edges, which filter out tiny crustaceans and seeds from the water.

If the bill doesn’t catch your eye, the male's blocky color palette sure will, with its bright white chest, rusty sides, and green head. The female is no less interesting with a giant orange bill and mottled brown plumage.

Northern Shovelers are monogamous and remain together longer than pairs of most other dabbling ducks. They form bonds on the wintering grounds and stay together until just before fall migration.

When flushed off the nest, a female Northern Shoveler often defecates on its eggs, apparently to deter predators.

The oldest recorded Northern Shoveler was a male, and at least 16 years, 7 months old when he was found in Nevada.

________________________________________________

Alfred E. Neuman:

In a 1975 interview with the New York Times, MAD Magazine founder Harvey Kurtzman recalled an illustration of a grinning boy he’d spotted on a postcard in the early fifties: a “bumpkin portrait,” “part leering wiseacre, part happy-go-lucky kid.” It was captioned “What, Me Worry?”

That bumpkin became Alfred E. Neuman, MAD’s mascot, who turns sixty six this year—kind of. The impish, immutable redhead made his official debut in December 1956, when he appeared on the cover of MAD no. 30 as a write-in candidate for president. He’s appeared on almost every MAD cover since: possessing, spoofing, and spooking cultural icons with nothing more than a drowsy rictus.

(a9ll, 200-600, 1/800 @ f/7.1, ISO 320)

Model: Olivia Byers

Lyrics

Show a little more

Show a little less

Add a little smoke

Welcome to Burlesque

Everything you dream of

But never can possess

Nothing's what it seems

Welcome to Burlesque

Oh!

Everyone is buying

Put your money in my hand

If you got a little extra

Well, give it to the band

You may not be guilty

But you're ready to confess

Tell me what you need

Welcome to Burlesque

You can dream of Coco

Do it at your risk

The triplets grant you mercy

But not your every wish

Jessie keeps you guessing

So cool and statuesque

"Behave yourself", says Georgia

Welcome to Burlesque

Oh!

Everyone is buying

Put your money in my hand

If you want a little extra

Well, you know where I am

Something there in the dark

Is playing with your mind

It's not the end of days

It's just the bump and grind

Show a little more

Show a little less

Add a little smoke

Welcome to Burlesque

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOg8Sl_772Q

Use what talents you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.

Henry Van Dyke

that consequently appears to possess the character of truth, actually serves only to obscure the facts. The camera can lie just like the type-setting machine :-(

Bertolt Brech

Multiple Views : Logan Grant Essays on Photography, 1983-89 by Daniel P. Younger

HMM!! MAGA! Morons Are Governing America! Resist the Despicable Authoritarian Orange Cockroach and his Cabinet of Stooges and Buffoons!

sasanqua camellia, 'William Lanier Hunt', j c raulston arboretum, ncsu, raleigh, north carolina

Lushoto, Tanzania, 2008.

“We are enriched not by what we possess, but by what we can do without.”

― Immanuel Kant

La Ceja, Central Andes; 2.300 meters above sea level.

Cyanophrys longula (Mountain Greenstreak)

There are 17 Cyanophrys species, found variously from Mexico to Paraguay. All have metallic green undersides, marked with a row of white dots on the hindwing. All species possess a filamentous tail, but this is usually lost on examples that have been flying for more than a couple of days.

Cyanophrys longula is distributed from Mexico to Colombia and Venezuela.

This butterfly is found in cloudforest habitats at elevations between about 1400-2400m.

www.learnaboutbutterflies.com/Andes%20-%20Cyanophrys%20lo...

Better large size

"We possess nothing certainly except the past."

Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966), British novelist.

Galápagos tortoises possess two main shell forms that correlate with the biogeographic history of the species group. They exhibit a spectrum of carapace morphology ranging from "saddleback" (denoting upward arching of the front edge of the shell resembling a saddle) to "domed" (denoting a rounded convex surface resembling a dome). When a saddleback tortoise withdraws its head and forelimbs into its shell, a large unprotected gap remains over the neck, evidence of the lack of predation during the evolution of this structure.

Larger islands with humid highlands over 800 m (2,600 ft) in elevation, such as Santa Cruz, have abundant vegetation near the ground. Tortoises native to these environments tend to have domed shells and are larger, with shorter necks and limbs.

Saddleback tortoises originate from small islands less than 500 m (1,600 ft) in elevation with dry habitats (e.g. Española and Pinzón) that are more limited in food and other resources.

Two lineages of Galápagos tortoises possess the Island of Santa Cruz and when observed it is concluded that despite the shared similarities of growth patterns and morphological changes observed during growth, the two lineages and two sexes can be distinguished on the basis of distinct carapace features. Lineages differ by the shape of the vertebral and pleural scutes. Females have a more elongated and wider carapace shape than males.

Carapace shape changes with growth, with vertebral scutes becoming narrower and pleural scutes becoming larger during late ontogeny.

Live in rooms full of light

Duranta erecta native from southern United States to South America and the Caribbean. It is a sprawling shrub or (infrequently) a small tree. It can grow to 6 m (20 ft) tall. Mature specimens possess axillary thorns, which are often absent on younger specimens. The flowers are light-blueб lavender or white, blooming almost all year long and the blossoms attract butterflies and hummingbirds. The fruit is a small globose yellow or orange berry, up to 11 mm (0.43 in) diameter and change colour from orange to a dark purple.

Florida

LARGE view www.flickr.com/photos/jaciii/44497638920/sizes/l/

A monarch butterfly on a gerbera flower!

Males, who possess distinguishing black dots along the veins of their wings, are slightly bigger than females. Each adult butterfly lives only about four to five weeks. Milkweed is the only plant on which monarchs will lay their eggs and the only source of food for baby caterpillars.

Monarchs know the correct direction to migrate even though the individuals that migrate have never made the journey before. They follow an internal “compass" that points them in the right direction each spring and fall. A single monarch can travel hundreds or even thousands of miles.

This sexy COSMOS Isabel Bikini in Neon possesses highly creative cuts and patterns. I am a big fan in never shying away from bright colors and textures, especially when I select my beachwear.

This Cosmos Isabel Bikini in Neon is another splendid example of that. With its 12 Colors Fatback you can easily mix and match extraordinary dopamine-inducing shades of green, blue, purple, or red to look both stylish and fun! The sarong is not included in this set.

This fabulous Cosmos Isabel Bikini is now exclusively available at Swank Events August '22 Around the World venue.

Landmark:

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Swank%20Events/128/124/39