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The cliff walk bridge over the valley provides amazing views of the river and valley below at the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park in Vancouver, Canada.
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Rivers provide an important freshwater habitat. We enjoy how they look, play in them, drink from them and use them for transport.
pondinformer.com/importance-of-river-ecosystems.
Ethereal City Legacy 2025
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Ethereal%20City%20Legacy/1...
This set provides an exploration of a specific bay's daily transformation. A location that came into existence around three million years ago, the bay has seen numerous changes in vegetation, fauna, and human interaction. Despite our perceptions, this place is in a state of constant flux. Each day, it presents a new tableau, with variations in wave patterns, cloud formations, light reflections, and the ebb and flow of terrestrial and marine life. From the water in the sky as clouds to the water on the earth as a sea, every element forms a dynamic and harmonious landscape. Each photograph in this set captures a unique moment, illustrating the bay's ever-changing character and highlighting our natural world's profound yet often overlooked daily transformations.
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This species and the Ground Squirrels provide for my amusement when the birding gets slow at our pond. These rodents know every nook and cranny of the jumbled rock border surrounding the pond, and can navigate through this maze with amazing dexterity and speed. It's their "jungle gym." and safe house! I have to constantly watch and pan them through my viewfinder to quickly capture a still moment like this... they're usually in frantic motion. This guy, however, is pausing on one of my photo props to warm up in the morning sunrise... nights up here (8600 ft. msl) are cool even in high summer.
Selected for Explore 1/14/2022
IMG_5285; Colorado Chipmunk
Mauna Loa provides a quite good view north toward Mauna Kea. The laser of Keck 2 is visible in the higher-resolution versions of this image. The scene is lit by a 48% moon, and a lightning storm is visible behind the left flank of the mountain. Pohakuloa Training Area, an Army training base, is the lights below the left side of the mountain. Saddle Road crosses the valley between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.
Shot on a 7D2 + Rokinon 24mm f/1.4 at f/4. 19 2-minute exposures were stacked.
This sturdy rock provides refuge for countless marine birds.
This photo was taken by a Kowa Super 66 medium format film camera with a KOWA LENS-S 1:3.5/150 lens and Zenza Bronica 67mm SL39•3C(UV) filter using Kodak Ektar 100 film, the negative scanned by an Epson Perfection V600 and digitally rendered with Photoshop.
Receding waves provide the leading lines along the golden sandy beach on Kauai. Shutter was dragged for 0.3 seconds. F/18 or so. ALOHA!
The Canadian Coast Guard provides icebreaking services for commercial ships, ferries and fishing vessels in ice-covered Canadian waters, including vessel escorts, harbour breakouts, maintaining shipping routes and providing ice information services.
These services:
- ensure safe navigation,
- prevent the formation of ice jams and flooding
- maintain open routes for maritime commerce
Thanks Government of Canada website!
This little beauty (and it's took-longer-than-you'd-think ice and water) was built to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday! Check out this and other celebratory creations on the Canada Build 150 website curated by Brickman Graeme!
raindrops provide some bokeh background to the flatleaf parsley sitting on the kitchen windowsill, it looks like a warm summers sunset...but its not, just some processing in lightroom
New findings from NASA’s Juno probe orbiting Jupiter provide a fuller picture of how the planet’s distinctive and colorful atmospheric features offer clues about the unseen processes below its clouds. The results highlight the inner workings of the belts and zones of clouds encircling Jupiter, as well as its polar cyclones and even the Great Red Spot.
Jupiter's banded appearance is created by the cloud-forming weather layer. This composite image shows views of Jupiter in infrared and visible light taken by the Gemini North telescope and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.
Credits: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/NASA/ESA, M.H. Wong and I. de Pater (UC Berkeley) et al.
#NASA #MarshallSpaceFlightCenter #MSFC #Marshall #jpl #jetpropulsionlaboratory #nasamarshall #MSFC #solarsystem #juno #jupiter #space #astronomy #nasajuno #nasamarshallspaceflightcenter #HubbleSpaceTelescope #HST #ESA #EuropeanSpaceAgency
This Cemetery is a combined municipal and military burial ground situated in the coastal town of Deal, Kent, in South East England. Opened in May 1856, it was created to provide a new burial ground for Deal at a time when its general population was expanding and when previous, often ad hoc facilities for dealing with deaths in the area no longer sufficed.
The cemetery's civilian burials are managed by Dover Council, and its military burials by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. It contains a Cross of Sacrifice of some significance and the burials of military service personnel from Great Britain, Belgium, Canada, and, very unusually, Nazi Germany, many of whom took part in some of the most famous incidents in World War I and World War II, including: the Gallipoli Campaign, the Battle of the Somme, the 1918 Zeebrugge Raid, the Battle of Dunkirk, the Battle of the Denmark Strait and sinking of HMS Hood, the Battle of Britain, and the more modern tragedy of the Deal barracks bombing in September 1989.
It also contains 66 local civilian war dead from World War II killed by German bombing and shelling between 1940 and 1945, 127 military burials from World War I (including three unidentified Naval ratings), and 54 from World War II.
There is a small mortuary chapel associated with the cemetery, but no dedicated church as such.
I didn’t get the opportunity to visit the military war graves but hope to go back This is the Chapel building
MY THANKS FOR ALL VISITS COMMENTS ETC IT IS APPRECIATED
Along for the ride, and to provide motivation. (There were several other dogs in boats out on the water during the hour I was there.)
There is a "rule" (a.k.a. guideline) of composition that you should leave space in the frame ahead of a moving person or object, or in the direction a person is looking, so they have somewhere to go before hitting the edge of the image. But the man here is facing backward as he rows. Oh, what to do?!
I had cropped out a lot of empty water to enlarge my subject and didn't want to undo that, but I did not want to lose that sparkling wake, either. I decided, as you can see, that this position felt right, with not only his unseen face but also his arms and oars pointing to his beloved dog and further astern. If there is slight tension from the bow almost hitting the frame, echoed and propelled by the angled ripples in the foreground, it seems to work. And, finally, the tension of opposing diagonals seems, to me, to drive this image.
(By the way. Google Maps is weird. There is a Ten Pound Island in Gloucester Harbor--the reputed origin of the name has several competing versions---but what was historically Five Pound Island was long ago built over by the Jodrey State Fishing Pier and its adjacent marina, which is filled with mostly commercial vessels. So, if you visit Gloucester, you can see where I shot this photo, but you will search in vain for Five Pound Island.)
Aii provides the basis for my tribute to Grendel's Mother. BlackMage Outfit currently @ Midnight Order with additional accessories in the Aii Store.
Info and links on my Dark Blog ~ aznanasaccouterments.blogspot.com/2025/02/0201525aii.html
Nothing like unconditional love
Thank you for viewing, faving or commenting on my images, have a great day!
CC, Week 8, Feel Better Soon
“Art provides us with clues about how to live our lives more fully...about how creating, collecting, and even just appreciating art can make daily living a masterpiece.”
― Michael Kimmelman, The Accidental Masterpiece: On the Art of Life and Vice Versa
Red Foxes provide such a pleasurable splash of color amid the otherwise relatively monochromatic landscape of winter. I've been watching the fox population up here for decades and it's interesting the way that every five years or so, the fox community undergoes a shift in color .... For a few years, they will all be Red, as now. In some years, you begin to see numerous foxes with coats of many colors, a sort of calico of black, red and white .... Then for a number of years you see only black foxes.
This, at first look, seems like maybe it would be simple genetic drift within the population, but it appears to be cyclical and therefore one might suspect some variable influence within the environment.
This year, fox and lynx populations are low, an effect of an extremely low ebb in the amount of snowshoe hares available for dinner.
Interestingly, and this is an established fact, albeit one which has never been adequately explained ..... The abundance of rabbits in the northland follows a regular rise and fall, more of a boom and crash, which is closely correlated with the 11 year cycle of sunspot activity. This year, along with a nearly total lack of magnetic storms on the 90 million mile distant sun, we have almost no snowshoe hares ... they are rare.
At other times, during solar maximum, they are virtually everywhere .... At those times, in the course of a drive along the Alaska Highway, you will see literally hundreds of rabbits. Now, virtually none.
Nature provides some wonderful examples of camouflage. Here is an amazing cicada from the Genus Platypleura. I found several of this species in tall montane forest above 1500m on Mt. Kitanglad, Mindanao, Philippines
The Providence and Worcester Railroad continues to (begrudgingly) provide their passenger train and crew for the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council's extremely popular Polar Express trains with trains running and 3:30 and 6:30 PM Fri-Sun for a total of 42 sold out trips in 2024.
A long telephoto view finds Providence and Worcester B40-8 4003 (GE blt. Jun. 1988 as NYSW 4006) paused on the nearly 700 ft long viaduct over the Blackstone River and downtown in this view from the south side right at MP 16. The locomotive is sitting over Clinton Street and the train is tied down for a couple hours beside the 1882 built depot awaiting its 4 PM departure to the North Pole (aka the Buma Funeral Home in Uxbridge!) and return.
Woonsocket, Rhode Island
Friday November 22, 2024
Buddha inside the Tha Gyar Hit Phaya Temple. It is one of the smaller pagodas but it is possible to climb to higher levels through small tunnel stairways and able to walk around the outside of pagoda through narrow walkways. This temple provides wide views of the surrounding temples. Parts of the pagoda and it’s walkways is falling apart. It is located on Bagan-Nyaung-U Rd north of Old Bagan Myanmar. There are several neighboring temples named Lawka Chanthar Phaya and Tha Gyar Pone Phaya.
I took this photo at early sunrise on the island of Schouwen Duiveland in the province of Zeeland. An ND10 "Big Stopper" filter was used to create a smooth water surface. The pile of wood standing in the shallow water of Grevelingen lake is a piece of art with an height of about three meters. It feels as if an old ancient settlement fled for high water. The bright blue-purple morning sky provides an arctic type of light. With some imagination you could think this picture was taken somewhere on a remote island in arctic Canada.
Someone has to provide the entertainment don’t they? It was all going on at Portreath as Kathleen thrashed the cliffs, the beach and the Monkey Hut at high tide on an exhilarating Saturday afternoon. By now we’d stood on the cliffs beside the pepperpot, and we’d watched the action from Dead Man’s Hut, where we had to queue patiently for a front row view. Finally, we headed down to the beach. Not on the beach - that wasn’t happening unless you were wearing a wetsuit, preferably with a long leash tied around an ankle with the other end tethered to a bollard in the car park. But on the small esplanade between the car park and the beach, reduced to shingle after a particularly vigorous winter season.
I don’t come to Portreath that often. It’s not even five miles away from our front door, but I have a habit of overlooking it, despite the obvious attractions. In warmer months I’ve often coasted down the cycle trail for an ice cream on the front before puffing my way back up the slope in a very low gear, sometimes stopping for coffee at the farm campsite and cafe that friends of mine run. Occasionally there will be some form of family gathering there, usually for a child’s birthday party in summer. But apart from that, I just pass on through, usually heading for Godrevy, and then only if in an idle moment I’ve decided to take the coast road. But when there’s a storm, this is the first place I always think of. Porthleven on the south coast often has the biggest waves, but I rarely drag myself over that way.
I should really come to Portreath more often. The crumbling coastal path in both directions remains largely unexplored on my part, and I suspect there are some rather good views along those cliffs that change with every passing winter as another few hundred tons of loose rock slide into the ocean. From here it’s a short but strenuous hike east to Porthtowan, or a slightly longer one to Godrevy, via North Cliffs and Hell’s Mouth. Another famous landmark where I’ve never taken a photo. What on earth have I been doing, you might ask?
As storms go, Kathleen was a tame puppy in comparison to some of the hoolies we’ve witnessed here. There’s no way some of the monstrous assaults on our coastline would have seen surfers taking to the water, but nine or ten of them were already bobbing about on the waves when we arrived, and another was about to join the party. Or was he? For fifteen or twenty minutes he edged back and forth - never coming inside or anywhere near the third in my frame I might add - watched by a crowd of day trippers who’d come to enjoy the elements in the couple of hours during which it had somehow remained dry. I’d already changed from the long lens, set up the tripod and popped a filter on, hoping to catch the sea dragging back around his ankles, and now I was just willing him to stand still, at least a teensy bit in from the edge of the frame as I clunked away at the shutter with each receding carpet of white foam. Finally he saw something that the rest of us couldn’t, and plodded off into the water. With a winter wetsuit and a pair of fins on his feet, I could only imagine how exciting it would be to nail those waves today. Not long afterwards it began to rain hard, and we raced back to the car and headed home to put the kettle on.
I love how this one turned out, with the bodyboarder gazing enigmatically out to sea, calculating the conditions as he waits. The first thing that I liked was the wake created in the surf as the water flowed back around our hero’s legs. That alone made this my instant choice from the group of shots I took here. But when I looked closer on the big screen, everything about the day was here. Another roller about to explode extravagantly over the poor maligned Monkey Hut on the end of the breakwater. A wall of white spray groping for holds on the side of the porous cliffs, on top of which sits the lonely Pepperpot. A car driving up Lighthouse Hill, seemingly oblivious to events going on around it. And if you look in, you’ll see the huddle at the Dead Man’s Hut, some of them armed with expensive camera gear, while others are just enjoying the experience. And just below them, the young man leaning over the railings with a woman near him thinking she’s safe. Just a few exposures later, the space is swamped by a wave - I’ve seen plenty of people take a soaking there on days like this. I’m sure some of them do it for kicks.
If ever you asked me to show you a picture that described the place, I’d look no further. Visceral, effervescent, bristling with white water, and always some crazy soul armed with a board, prepared to take it all on for that unforgettable ride. This is Portreath and it’s never dull.
Crow Creek Mine provides a unique opportunity to relive the Historic Gold Rush of Alaska. Established in 1896, Crow Creek Mine is one of Alaska's most renowned hydraulic gold mining operations. The Toohey family took over ownership and management of the property in 1969 from the last true mine manager Arne Erickson. Since then, the family has worked hard to preserve the rich history and create an authentic experience
Intelligent people provide ideas from their cloisters and barely put them into practice. Powerful people write the pages of history, shaping and re-shaping it through coarse-grain, monochromatic brushes. The latter use the former, depend on them. The former can't help being used, being depended on. And that, or a variation of it, is the news, anytime, anyplace, anywhere.
Dallas Creek provides a natural soil moisture gradient that sorts species and fall colors. Colorado blue spruce and quaking aspen crowd the creek, but do not colonize the higher, drier hillside, which is packed with Gambel oak. The clonal growth of both the aspen and oak are plainly visible here as patches of color. The hillside in the foreground faces west, and so is drier and warmer than the opposing hillside, which faces east.
The building itself provides an elegant backdrop with a grand central courtyard, a finely painted loggia and frescoed rooms. These include the Sala delle Prospettive Dipinte, which was adorned with landscapes and hunting scenes for Cardinal Altemps, the rich nephew of Pope Pius IV (r 1560–65) who bought the palazzo in the late 16th century.
Lions, warriors, cherubs, and mythical beasts provide the ornamentation above the doorway of a building near the Jan Van Eyck Square, an important commercial district dating back to the 13th century. This building is relatively new, dating to the mid-1700's and restored in the late 19th century. Apparently Sint Jacob (Saint James) also keeps an eye out for vagabonds who might try to enter the premises.
Buildings in Bruges and other towns of the "Low Countries" (Belgium and the Netherlands) were characterized by brickwork rather than the larger stones found to the south in France. Large rocks had to be imported from elsewhere, so the local builders relied on bricks for construction. The Bell Tower in Bruges was one of the tallest structures constructed of brick at the time of its construction.
My florist provides me with some beautiful blooms to fill my house with. Much was my delight to discover these white and mauve chrysanthemums in his shop. The humidity that we are currently experiencing this summer won't make these blooms droop, as they are very hardy and long lasting.
Chrysanthemums, what I still call "mums", are also known as "chrysanths" by my mother and many other people. They are flowering plants of the genus Chrysanthemum in the family Asteraceae. They are native to Asia and northeastern Europe. Most species originate from East Asia and the center of diversity is in China. Countless horticultural varieties and cultivars exist.
Kirriemuir Camera Obscura provides a fascinating glimpse of historic technology and striking views of the surrounding countryside.
On the roof of the building there is a device which with the clever use of mirrors shows an image in real time on this white dish.
I was last here in 1980 with my Grandfather and was happy to revisit this wonder.
In fact, camera obscuras date back to as far as 400BC, possibly even before records existed. The earliest known written account of a camera obscura was provided by a Chinese philosopher called Mo-tzu (or Mozi) in 400BC.
Kirriemuir Camera Obscura – one of only three in Scotland – is housed in a purpose-designed turret room in the Barrie Pavilion on Kirrie Hill. It was gifted to the town by Sir J M Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan, along with the cricket pavilion in which it is situated and was opened by the author on 7th June 1930.
Yantram BPO provides you with highly reliable and affordable Civil Engineering Design services that meet International standards. We have skilled, professionals, experienced in Civil Engineering Design and CAD services. Our Civil Engineering Design and CAD professionals are highly conversant with the latest Engineering Design and CAD platforms.
The Wagner Mills elevators in Schuyler have made it into several photos and videos over the decades. They still provide a great backdrop on the first day of 2025 as the LNJ10 runs around their train.
Warren Dunes State Park provides 1,952 acres of recreational opportunities along the beautiful shore of Lake Michigan. Its rugged dune formation, rising 260 feet above the lake, offers spectacular views and is excellent for hang gliding (permit is required). The park is home to 3 miles of shoreline, 6 miles of hiking trails and two popular campgrounds.. located in Sawyer Michigan
222c 6 - D71_5501 - lr-ps 32x16
They provide important wildlife habitat, shelter for birds, food and cover for fish and for the insects they eat. Cattails help protect the banks of a pond from erosion. They intercept and reduce the force of small waves and wind on the shore. The stems catch and slow water and help trap sediment and silt.
On this lawn a punupur (Kuanua for mumu or ground oven meal) was served to provide hospitality to two Bougainvilleans during their time studying in Brisbane. Ian & Marg met the two young men at a community gathering, and issued an impromptu invitation to their home and a traditional Melanesian meal/feast of chicken and vegetables in coconut wrapped in banana leaves and cooked in a ground oven. It was a thrill for all concerned both guests and the host family. During and after the meal some photos were taken of the Bougainvilleans and their host family including their 2 children. There was a bit of excitement when the Bougainvilleans were shown a possum nesting in a nearby tree. It too was photographed. This was in 1979. The host, Ian, was at that time a secondary school teacher.
Years passed and both the family and the Bougainvilleans forgot the names of the other.
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The Bougainvillean Civil War broke out into armed conflict in 1988. This was a multi-layered armed conflict fought between the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) and the Papua New Guinea Government (PNG Defence Force) with Australian support on the one hand, and against other armed groups (eg Bougainville Resistance) on the other.
Hostilities concluded under the Bougainville Peace Agreement in 1997-1998 as a result of Bougainville peace talks convened at Burnham, New Zealand. These talks were pivotal in ending the civil war, with two key meetings in 1997. The first, the Burnham Declaration, was signed in July 1997 and called for a ceasefire and a peacekeeping force, even though it lacked direct participation from the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Government at that stage. The second meeting, Burnham II, occurred in October 1997 and resulted in a ceasefire agreement signed by all parties, including the PNG Government.
The national (PNG) government agreed to the founding of the Autonomous Bougainville Government and to certain rights and authorities that the autonomous government would have over what became known as Bougainville Province.
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By this time, Ian, the host of the punupur in 1979, had become the Principal of a non-formal college in Sydney that was training international leaders in mediation, reconciliation practice and peacebuilding. This training was also very significant input (behind the scenes) into the peace process. Once peace agreement was signed, the Principal Ian spontaneously went to Bougainville to assess the next stage of training and curriculum that would be needed to enable the peace process to work. Having done the necessary intelligence work, he had a list of things to do and key contacts to make. One was to meet a Bougainvillean called Joe Taruna, who was newly charged with the responsibility of "Spiritual Rehabilitation" by the embryonic Bougainville Autonomous Government.
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On his first morning in Buka, Bougainville, Ian found the 'Office of Spiritual Rehabilitation' in a house by the market. Ian gingerly knocked and a man came out and invited him in as they introduced themselves to each other. Once Ian explained his visit, the officer, Joe Taruna, said you must meet my Minister, and ushered Ian across the hall into the next room, and was introduced to Jobson Misang, Minister for Community Services.
At this stage, neither the officer or the Minister, had any staff or supplies, merely an old desk and 2 chairs each.
As Ian was introduced to Minister Misang, his response was "We have been to Australia."
"When, what year was that?" They could not remember.
"Was it before the war?" "Yes."
Ian was thinking, "Why would 2 Bougainvilleans have gone to Australia back then? Brisbane is the normal first destination for flights from PNG. Perhaps they went to a conference or training."
So Ian asked, "Did you go to Brisbane?"
"Yes", they chorused.
"Do you remember Kangaroo Point?" "Yes!"
And that nailed it, for until the 1980s, the Methodist Church in Australia had a training college at Kangaroo Point, MTC which was affectionately referred to as 'Kangaroo Point' - though that is the name of both the suburb abd the geographic feature.
"So you trained for ministry at Kangaroo Point?" "Yes." And a spark of possibility arose in Ian's mind. And so he continued, "And while you were at Kangaroo Point did you ever go out on weekends for deputation to various churches?" Enthusiastically they chorused, "Yes."
"And do you remember going to Holland Park church, it is a big A-framed building?" "Yes."
"And when you went to Holland Park did anyone happen to invite you to their home and provide a punupur in their back garden?"
At that point, Minister Misang opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out 5 photographic prints of the occasion. There they were in 4 photographs, sitting around the punupur with a woman and 2 children. The 5th picture was of a possum in a grevillea tree!
Then Ian said, "Would you like to turn those photos over?" And on the back was written the names of the people. "That is my handwriting," said Ian, "and that is my wife and they are our children."
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We all knew that this encounter was a divine appointment.
Before Ian left their office, they had agreed that Ian would organise for the creation and training of "international spiritual rehabilitation teams", each guided and overseen by a Bougainvillean leader, and that they would begin by sending them into the "most fractioned areas/communities" in Bougainville, beginning in Buka, then Siwai, and then other centres.
And this all took place over the next few years, and one of the direct results of many was that the Commander of the BRA decided courageously on disarmament, over a 2 year period, and the withdrawal of PNG DF from Bougainville was then possible and plausible.
So like Burnham, this pictured patch of turf is sacred ground, for this is where the credibility and trust between Ian and Jobson Misang and Joe Taruna was birthed!
The Iceland Meteorological Office provides incredible resources to assist with viewing of the northern lights: en.vedur.is/weather/forecasts/aurora/
Our drive to Egilsstaðir was notable for clear skies in the afternoon and evening. After checking into our hotel and eating dinner, we turned around and headed into the hills above Egilsstaðir. We caught our first glimpse of the Northern Lights (a dim green band across the entire northern sky), but were worried about light pollution from the city below. Thus we headed further into the mountains on an icy, winding and windy road.
We soon spotted an orange glow. As we drove on, we realized that a ski resort, with its runs being groomed at 2230, was creating even more light than the city had. So we kept going.
Finally, we saw the full glory of the Northern Lights dancing to our left. We found a suitable place to pull over (before reaching the town of Seyðisfjörður, which is the source of the glow on the right side of this photo).
The Northern Lights shone brightly for about 20 minutes before dimming to pale green again - long enough for us to take many images, including this one. There was a lovely twin waterfall (Gufufoss) behind us (which provided the soundtrack for our photo shoot), but the lights did not extend far enough west to include them in any images. This was our one and only sighting of the Northern Lights on this trip.
This year the Providence and Worcester Railroad continued to provide their passenger train and crew for the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council's extremely popular Polar Express trains with trains running and 3:30 and 6:30 PM Fri-Sun for a total of 42 sold out trips in 2024.
The train consist is deadheading south from Worcester to begin the final weekend of performances with B39-8E 3910 (GE blt. Dec. 1987 as LMX 8534) amidst a winter wonderland scene of the first significant snow of the year. They crossing in Blackstone River near MP 17.9 on the historic original Providence and Worcester mainline just north of the Rhode Island state line. This is the 10th of 14 crossings of the Blackstone along the 43 mile line when traveling south from Worcester to Providence.
As I've told you before in previous posts the P&W is my hometown road and it is inextricably linked to the river it follows both historically and physically. The Blackstone River courses 48 miles from its headwaters near Worcester (at the confluence of the Middle River and Mill Brook) to where it flows into the Seekonk River at the headwaters of Narragansett Bay. The river drains a watershed of 640 square miles and more importantly drops 450 feet in the 48 miles. It is that drop, that made this river a pivotal point in American History.
From ririvers.org: A series of steep drops along the length of the Blackstone River provided ideal conditions for the development of water powered industry. Samuel Slater arrived in America in 1790, with managerial experience and technical knowledge of textile manufacturing in England. With the assistance of local merchants and artisans, he helped establish the first successful water-powered textile mill in America. Slater Mill was established on the Blackstone River, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. This achievement is credited with spawning the birth of America's industrial revolution. Development of the Slater textile mill catalyzed the development of water-driven technology throughout the length of the Blackstone River. By 1914 water-powered mills occupied all of the readily available dam sites in the Valley.
As the birthplace of industrial America, the need for transportation quickly arose in the valley, and between 1825 and 1828 the Blackstone Canal was constructed. The canal lasted only 20 years having been rendered obsolete by the opening of the Providence and Worcester Railroad in 1847. The railroad has proven to be a more durable method of transportation and 175 years after its opening here it is still serving the purpose for which it was built.
Blackstone, Massachusetts
Friday December 20, 2024
In order to provide a connection between the easter markets in Scheveningen and city centre of Den Haag, two historical trams (826 and 57) were shuttling between both markets.
On this picture, the 826 can be found next to the Scheveningse bosjes (the woods of Scheveningen)
A Caritas Ukraine distribution point for food, water, medicines and other essential goods in the city centre of Ivano-Frankyvsk. Staff and volunteers provide 1200 meals a day for displaced people.
Romana Zarovetska (61):
"For almost 29 years I have been cooking for poor people in the city. I am a professional cook and I used to work in restaurants. Now I only work for Caritas.
Right now, I'm making rice porridge with sausages and carrot salad.
I get lots of compliments on my cooking from the people who come here to get food. My approach is this: if my husband and children like it, then I will cook it for other people as well.
My favourite dish to make is borsch, the traditional Ukrainian beetroot soup."
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Large parts of Ukraine have been in a state of war since 2014. But since February 2022, the lives of all Ukrainians have been severely affected by violence, shortages of goods and food and a major displacement crisis.
In Ukraine, Cordaid funds partner organisations through Caritas Internationalis, a global network of Catholic aid organisations.
Caritas staff and volunteers have geared up and they are working day and night (not an exaggeration) to support people who have fled their homes with sometimes nothing more than the clothes they had on or those who, for whatever reason, cannot flee and are stuck in a warzone.
The western part of the country, and especially the city of Lviv, has become a humanitarian hub after the situation in the east deteriorated.
Trucks full of goods from neighbouring countries, often purchased with money from private donors from all over Europe, arrive there to be unloaded in storage spaces.
With great efficiency, aid workers load up their own trucks and start driving to the cities in the east, that have been suffering continuous air raids and bombings, and where, in some cases, people are still living in between the rubble.
Caritas does not only distribute food, water, clothes and medicines, they also provide a home for hundreds of displaced people or guide them to the border in case they are looking for safety outside of the country.
There is extra care for children in special centres or in family run orphanages, where they can learn, play and live at a safe distance from the ongoing violence.
In cities throughout the country, Caritas has set up tents where the most essential goods are being distributed and food kitchens where displaced people and others struggling with the hardship can get a daily warm meal. To give just an example: in the city of Ivano-Frankyvsk volunteers provide meals for 1200 people each day.
Many of those who are working in this immense humanitarian operation have suffered the consequences of the conflict themselves. It's a cliché, but it's true: war often brings out both the worst and the best in us.
March Point. Padilla Bay/Fidalgo Bay.
"Hosting one of the largest Great Blue Heron colonies in Western North America, this island of forest sits between Padilla and Fidalgo Bays. Vera and Bud Kinney donated this property to Skagit Land Trust in 1994 to protect the nesting herons. With the cooperation of neighboring landowners, each year, Skagit Land Trust conducts a nest count in the heronry. 680 heron nests were counted in 2019 in this relatively small area, which provides easy access to feeding grounds for the herons. Unfortunately, the Trust does not have access to all neighboring property, and therefore some heron nests are uncounted. The overall trend, however, shows increasing number of heron nests in the colony on SLT property and the property to which we have access -- and there are likely to be hundreds more nests on the adjacent property to which we do not have access." March Point Heronry
Dandelions provide pollen and nectar for more than 70 wild bee species. More than half of Germany's 600 wild bee species are rare, threatened or already extinct.
In Germany, three quarters of flying insects have vanished in 25 years ( www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/18/warning-of-ec... ).
One third of all invertebrate species are endangered or have already gone extinct in Germany.
The loss of biodiversity on land worldwide amounts to 20 % ( IPBES (2019): Global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (Version 1). Zenodo. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5657041, page 31 ).
The Badlands provide unlimited compositions. Here's a shot while just wandering around. I just happened to stumble among these towers and there was some nice soft diffused golden light.
This isn't a long exposure shot, but I softened the clouds within Photoshop to aid the softer golden light in the final image.
Bisti Badlands, New Mexico
I consider this gem special for a number of reasons, the biggest one being the clues it provides to how snowflakes grow bubbles from features inside their “footprint”. I’ll talk about that in a bit, but first let’s take a look at how this “split crystal”-type of snowflake began!
Split crystals are always multi-layered snowflakes which immediately adds a quirky volumetric quality to their design. You can even see shadows where the top half of the snowflake rises about the bottom half. These types of snowflakes usually start from a column that grows plates from either end, each competing for available building blocks: water vapour. As it tumbles through the air, one side of a plate might grow a little faster than the other, and vice versa, resulting in a portion of the branches growing from opposing plates. The portions can change, with a split of 1/5, 2/4 or 3/3 where one plate has more branches than the other, or we have an even split – this one’s an even 3/3 where the bottom plate grew the left three branches and the top plate holds the rest of the of them.
There are surface details also in opposing fashion, something I can’t quite figure out yet – but it’s incredibly consistent with these snowflakes. The bottom plate has surface features facing the camera, and the top plate has surface features facing away from the camera – these features always “face each-other” and not the other way around. I might be able to figure out “why” at some point, but lets’ look into the bubble formations here first.
Here’s a diagram ( skycrystals.ca/bts/PDKP3892.jpg ) with red arrows showing the direction of growth on the upper left branch. These arrows show the inward edges of a “ceiling” forming over valleys in the surface of the snowflake. Some of these have already completed to form bubbles, but it’s very interesting to see many of them partially formed. It provides some fairly clear evidence to how these intricate bubble patterns in snowflake branches actually form. Previously, it had been understood that these bubbles form on the leading edge of the snowflake as cavities in the prism facet. This however shows that they seal themselves off from the top (or bottom) basal facet.
I’ve outlined the one branch, but can you see the same happening on the others? Here’s a full resolution version of the image to explore in more detail: skycrystals.ca/full-res/PDKP3892.jpg . Note that it’s a heck of a lot harder to spot these growth patterns on the right side of the snowflake when the details are on the opposite side of the crystal!
Also, that colourful spot on the lower branch? Look closely and you’ll see indications that bubbles actually formed underneath it. This leaves only one prominent explanation: part of another snowflake had fused here, and was later broken off. This is supported by the sharp-but-curved line at the bottom as a break point. Snowflakes are fun physics puzzles to figure out! It often starts with observing “how” things happen, and I hope I can eventually understand why these features are forming as well. Always an adventure!
If you’d like to learn more about how these snowflakes are photographed, please check out my book on macro photography, the #1 bestseller on B&H Photo: www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1637255-REG/don_komarechka...
Monument Valley provides some of the most enduring and definitive images of the American West. Because its red mesas and buttes have been filmed countless times since the late 1930's, I thought it appropriate to frame this scene with an old rusted wagon wheel fence. The area has been featured in movies such as Stagecoach (John Ford, John Wayne), Easy Rider, Forrest Gump, and The Lego Movie. Many video games have been set in Monument Valley. The desert scenery for the Coyote and Road Runner cartoons was inspired by this area as was the Marlboro Man marketing campaign of the 1950's-60's.
GOSPEL Lk 9:11b–17, Corpus Christi-061922
God Provides
In our Gospel from Luke, we learned about the familiar multiplication of the loaves and fishes that fed over five thousand. Before this particular story begins, we read about how the twelve disciples where sent out by Jesus to preach in the surrounding villages. Jesus tells them “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics.” Our Jesus is asking them to rely on their faith in him, to walk empty handed into the mystery of the new ministry without him their teacher-who has been doing this all along. They have just returned to Jesus…they are tired and worn. They have successfully completed what Jesus has asked them to do-and have learned-God provides.
Jesus invites them to leave the city…maybe for some quiet, rest and relaxation, but a massive crowd follows them into a deserted place. The disciples must be thinking how inconvenient. Rather then decompressing with his disciples and out of necessity, Jesus spends his day ministering to the crowd and preaching about the kingdom of God. What must be going through the disciples minds?
As the day turns into evening, the disciples tell Jesus to send the crowd away because it is late and they and the crowds are tired and hungry.
Jesus responds to his the disciples “Give them some food yourselves.” They reply, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we ourselves go and buy food for all these people.” It appears that they are whining! (The logistics of this moment, calls to my mind what I know we go through feeding and entertaining 150 plus bingo players every other week.)
Jesus gives them not just a teaching moment but a transformative reality. God provides! Jesus maybe satisfying the physical and spiritual hunger of the larger crowds, but more importantly HE is revealing to his disciples a deeper truth…how to do it. What he is asking of his inner circle is to trust God, even when it feels absurd and impossible.
In being a witness to this miracle, their faith in Jesus increased. In the future, they will link this important event with the last supper where the Eucharist is instituted. In the Gospel of John-chapter 6, we read Jesus saying “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him.”
Today, we have many who critique us and our belief in the Eucharist being the actual body and blood of Christ. Whether it be the culture that surrounds us, other Christian denominations or direct family members, we are still here every Sunday to receive the Eucharist. It is not just a symbol as they would like us to believe. Jesus is the bread of life that comes from heaven. He feeds us with this bread. If this bread is not the source and center of all that we do in ministry, we are missing the spiritual food that is necessary to sustain us. It is out of this sacred meal, that Jesus feeds us and strengthen us to do HIS will. The Eucharist binds and unifies us as the Body of Christ.
We are also disciples, in modern terms, it means we accept Jesus as our leader, and we assist HIM in spreading the Good News. Being a disciple of Jesus means the ministry and work is never done. The world needs what we the body of Christ offers. Even when we have doubts and discouragement, we must never forget, God provides.
Jesus is always teaching and forming us-especially in our liturgical worship.
We participate fully in this work when we offer up our hearts, which includes our hopes, joys, pains and sorrow. The 12 disciples, with all their conflicted feelings, leaned into this teaching moment, and participated fully in it. “He must increase and I must decrease.” Not my will, but your will be done!
We are transformed when we receive the Christ in the Mass. We become what we eat. The work of Jesus Christ gets multiplied in us as we carry him out into a spiritually starving world. The crowds that surrounds us are depending on us…just remember God provides.
Waveney Sailability provides sailing for the diasbled. What a great opportunity for them!
Access/Hansa Dinghies are self righting ballasted shallow draft drop-keel dinghies, with "roller-reefing, forward facing seats for comfort, a bucket seat is an additional option for those needing lateral support and joy stick for single handed control. The low freeboard allows for easy access for ambulant people and those requiring a hoist."
I tried one as a guest a couple of times. Steering with a joystick is counter-intuitive if you have steered often with a tiller.
Here they are at the start of a race at the end of Oulton Week.
Explore January 6, 2020.
The vegetation growing in the sand dunes provides an anchor to help prevent erosion.
Happy Tree-mendous Tuesday!
0706 Seal Rock, Oregon
iPhone XS MAX image.
Seal Rock State Wayside is located south of Newport, Oregon, and features large off-shore rock formations that provide habitat for seals, sea lions, sea birds and other marine life. The beach includes interesting tidepools as well as excellent ocean views and a sandy beach. The short trail to the beach is steep in areas, but features an ADA accessible viewpoint at the midway point with views of the beach and tidepools. The picnic area near the parking lot is in a pleasant stand of shore pine, spruce and salal.
A couple of B's buzz over Sywell during the 2024 Air Show - Thunderbolt "Nellie B" provides fighter escort to Flying Fortress "Sally B".
Aircraft: United States Army Air Force pair Republic P-47D Thunderbolt 45-49192 (G-THUN) painted as F4-J "Nellie B", of 492nd Fighter Squadron, 48th Fighter Group and Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress 44-85784 (G-BEDF) "Sally B"..
Location: Sywell Aerodrome (ORM/EGBK), Northamptonshire, UK.
Random Song Reference: The Bees, Belly.