this was another quicky.. was so exhausted last night and fell asleep early.

 

this past week has been really hard with my son's tantrums.. and we are trying to figure out how to help him work through his emotions and find some peace. so we have made some changes.. limiting tv time.. and making sure there is no violence in any programs.. my fault for not recognizing that 'kung fu panda' might have been too much for him. i feel so horribly for that because he really liked it..but it is majorly violent.

 

i believe that much of sickness and disease can come from not properly working through our emotions.. when we stuff things inside they can end up doing physical and emotional damage.. and with the little ones, they might not even know what they are feeling and many things are overwhelming. lesson learned but i feel like an idiot!

:(

Realization Point Sunset, Flagstaff Rd. Boulder, CO

BOX DATE: 2010

MANUFACTURER: Mattel

DOLLS IN LINE: Frankie; Draculaura; Clawdeen; Cleo; Jackson

RELEASES: 2010 separately sold; 2011 Gift Set

BODY TYPE: 2008; molded dot panties; articulated elbows, wrists, & knees

HEAD MOLD: 2008 "Draculaura"; pierced ears

IMPORTANT NOTES: Gloom Beach Draculaura was also repackaged in a fashion pack later on (still dated 2010) in a set known as "Killer Style."

 

PERSONAL FUN FACT: I've come to the realization that Draculaura is probably my favorite Monster High doll character. She always reminds me of Bratz Jade since she has dark hair, and typically has blunt bangs. I've grown immensely fond of Draculaura dolls as a result. While I try not to buy nude Monster High dolls at the flea market (since they are so mass produced, it makes more sense to hold out for dressed ones), I couldn't resist this girl for one dollar! The poor dear had velcro in her hair, and smelled like a basement that had been sprayed with perfume. She cleaned up quite well (although her hair was a little gluey, and her hips are loose because they are strung). Oddly enough, despite being entirely nude when I found her, Miss Draculaura was still on a doll stand...that is something I've never seen before! She's a very quirky looking Draculaura doll--I love her enormous, goofy looking eyes, and her huge fangs. She was one of the first of many scrappy looking Monster High dolls I adopted from secondhand places. While I know that it isn't the most sensible investment to buy nude Monster High dolls, being that I don't have tons of spare clothes, and while I also know that getting limbs for the ones that don't have any is rather pricey, I still can't help myself. This lady was really hard to leave behind, and ever since I decided to adopt her despite her nudity, I have trouble leaving any scrappy Monster High doll behind. What makes Draculaura such a special circumstance is that a little over a year after rescuing her, I ended up getting her original swimsuit. She was the very first Monster High doll I mated with her original outfit! It really was a victorious moment--it's a feeling that nothing else quite compares too. In fact, when I found a lot of Monster High clothes on eBay (while on the quest to build a better MH clothing hoard), and I spotted this adorable swimsuit, I'll admit I was most excited about seeing Miss Draculaura in her factory ensemble. The earrings I made to go with the Sweet 1600 dress she used to wear happened to also match her swimsuit...not that I would have minded making more earrings. She even got another bath before she got to wear this new outfit--her hair is much less sticky than it was back when I first brought her home. It's hard to believe that this beautiful, loved looking dolly was once a grimy, unwanted doll laying by herself in a container at my local flea market!

I have come to the realization that the intense stare from a gorilla is really quite scary!!!!

 

This Momma Gorilla and her oh so gorgeous baby gave us the most vicious looking stare I'd seen from an animal... perhaps its was because they were behind the wall and not the other way round.....

 

Another shot from Belfast Zoo in the summer. I particularly liked the result of this shot, even though Momma is out of focus, you can still make out her disapproving frown :)

 

I'm apologising to you all for not having time to comment on your photos of late... and I'm afraid I won't get a chance until after Christmas... I do want to thank you all for the wonderful support and appreciation you have for my work.

 

I will get another couple of photos up before Christmas (hopefully a few seasonal ones) and will wish you all a merry Christmas then... For today (unfortunately I'm at work) I hope you all have a great Saturday and a stress free weekend :)

Above: Untitled Collage by Hermann Nitsch (Leopold Museum: "Hermann Nitsch - Structures. architectural drawings, scores and realizations of the o.m. theater").

Below: Untitled Guerilla Art at abandoned Pavillon 35. Psychiatric Department Otto Wagner Spital am Steinhof.

Part of "MirrorGround Steinhof".

Diptychon:

oben: DMC-G2 - P1270983 4.2.2012 (Hermann Nitsch: Collage)

unten: DMC-G2 - P1210302 Manipulation 26.11.2011 (Pavillon 35 Guerilla Art)

Photographed at the 2016 Antique Automobile Club of America Regional Fall Meet in Hershey, Pennsylvania. This grand event, held during the first full week of October, is so popular that it is usually simply identified as "Hershey".

 

What an amazing creation. A 1997 Ford Ranger pickup was the donor vehicle for this project. The owner actually made the drive from Scranton, a distance of more than 100 miles.

Murray General Pedal Car recreation

 

All of my classic car photos can be found here: Car Collections

 

Press "L" for a larger image on black.

I've come to the realization that unlike many 100 strangers project photographers, I can't go out with my goal being to seek subjects. Must not be my style. Strangers just kind of show up while I have my camera and I get a picture. It will probably take me a long time to finish this project....

 

That said... I was in the small park by my house and saw Jim hanging out on a bench talking with a friend. I started chatting with them and discovered that Jim is a volunteer at the Teton Raptor Center. The TRC takes in injured hawks, falcons, eagles etc. and nurses them back to health to hopefully release them back to their native habitat. Those that can't return to the wild find homes at the TRC, are well taken care of and become models for educational programs with schools and the public.

 

I learned a little about Jim but more about the Raptor Center. You can learn more about the Raptor Center at www.tetonraptorcenter.org

 

find out more about the 100 strangers project and see pictures from other photographers at www.100strangers.com

 

www.jkaphanphotography.com

► youtu.be/ePatJIwB-sI ♫

 

Lyrics

  

This my excavation and today is Qumran

  

Everything that happens is from now on

  

This is pouring rain

  

This is paralyzed

  

I keep throwing it down two-hundred at a time

  

It's hard to find it when you knew it

  

When your money's gone

  

And you're drunk as hell

  

On your back with your racks as the stacks as your load

  

In the back and the racks and the stacks are your load

  

In the back with your racks and you're un-stacking your load

  

I've twisting to the sun I needed to replace

  

The fountain in the front yard is rusted out

  

All my love was down

  

In a frozen ground

  

There's a black crow sitting across from me; his wiry legs are crossed

  

And he's dangling my keys he even fakes a toss

  

Whatever could it be

  

That has brought me to this loss?

  

On your back with your racks as the stacks as your load

  

In the back and the racks and the stacks of your load

  

In the back with your racks and you're un-stacking your load

  

This is not the sound of a new man or crispy realization

  

It's the sound of the unlocking and the lift away

  

Your love will be

  

Safe with me

Theme Song: Where Eagles Have Been by Wolfmother

 

Nothing's quite what it seems in the City of Dreams

You say it's not the real world

It seems so real to me

And I know that we're never turning back

Can you see what I see, girl?

 

Day 7 - Fourth Dream: The Tragedy of a Tormentor's Sired One

 

Tears still pooled in my eyes as the last dream faded into the back void of darkness. I held back sniffling, breathing in deeply, then sighing out slowly as I tried to regain my composure. My heart trembled in my chest as I became anxious of the next dream that I was sure soon to come. There was some hope I would not to have to revisit my fourth Felix, since I spent much time in my previous life trying to purge her from my memory. Not that all was bad with her, but...

 

Just then, I felt it come to me again - that state of dreaming. I felt myself being teleported once more.

 

"Oh shit, what now?"

 

I blinked my eyes and found that my fourth Felix was nowhere to be found. Instead, I saw a figure of a female placed upright in a chair at the end of a table. Rope was tied around her waist up to her shoulders. Gauze was tied to her ankles, around the feet of the chair that held her captive.

 

Is that? No..., it can't be, can it?

 

In my hand was a bottle of smelling salt that I put below the girl's nose for her to get a whiff of. It caused her to regain consciousness. She stirred, slowly at first, looking pained, then more so came to. Her eyes flicked open like searchlights, scanning the room. She paused on the hairs, the dim light, and the dirty walls, but then fixated on my ears and looked down at my tail. She shook her head quickly and started struggling to try and free herself.

 

A grin came to my face behind my mask. "Can you tell who I am, soldier?"

 

The girl, dressed in the United Aerospace Corporation's private standard military outfit, shook her head from side to side. She looked frightened. Her eyes widened with fear. It appeared she didn't notice anything else but my ears and tail that were showing at that moment, and remained fixated on me.

 

My eyes glimmered gladly at her recognition of my feline traits. "Good, for now..." I came up close to her and pushed the chair she was sitting in. It fell backwards with a cracking sound as it hit the hard pavement of the sewer. Her helmet hit the floor with a bang, then fell off, wobbling away and out of reach. Her earpiece fell out as well, and her head whipped back. She gasped in sudden pain and looked at me disoriented.

 

I sensed her confusion. "What, soldier, you don't understand why you're here, hmm?"

 

She shook her head slowly from side to side, twice, and stared up at me from her position on the floor.

 

Leaning down, I crouched in front of her. "It's because you've been messing with my family, that's why." I gave a glare at her, with a soft, yet angry growl.

 

The military girl began to realize what family of cats I meant. She furiously tried to pull free again from the ropes, but they wouldn't give.

 

I laughed, almost insanely, at her vain struggles, then hissed at her. "Yesss, soldier," I then growled through my words in a gravel tone, "If you're guessing the Catwalkers, then you are very right indeed."

 

The girl quivered in fright within her bondage. It caused her chair to shake on the floor. Her eyes were wide-opened, and her breathing picked up. She shook her head in desperation, trying to negate what all happened.

 

Watching her efforts to break free from the rope and process what was happening, I asked, "What's wrong soldier, you showing your fear?"

 

She shook her head no, but paused. Though looking away and not responding, she still trembled.

 

Leaning down, I approached her in a feral crawl. My masked face was close enough to hers that she could feel the warm growling breath breathe out my mask, "Good." I brought my left hand to her chin, forcing her to look me straight in my eyes. "A soldier is trained to show no fear, is that not so?"

 

Her breathing picked up pace, faster and faster. She started bucking against the restraints, desperate to get away from me. I purred in her face as she shook and squirmed.

 

Sighing, I brushed my unsheathed claws over her cheek. "You don't seem to be a very solid soldier. You show your fear too easily. Are you really all that certain a soldier is what you're supposed to be?"

 

The soldier girl forced herself to calm down. Looking directly at her captor, she nodded. Although, her face looked uncertain.

 

My eyes pierced through hers, sensing her uncertainty. "Your body gestures say 'yes,' but your eyes..., they are saying something else." I flashed a fierce look into her eyes. "Are you sure you want to be a soldier? Answer me!" I barked out, though in a feline growl, as if a Leutenant or General.

 

She nodded hurriedly. Yet her captor's message sank in. Her eyes had a dead, haunted look of failure.

 

I saw through her eyes again, shaking my head slowly. Pulling her up by her sides firmly and not too gentle, I placed her and her chair in an upright position. Then I looked her in the eyes again with a sigh, which came out in a slight hiss. "Don't you know that cats can sense fears and other emotions?" I said this as matter of fact to her, even if the truth of it might not be known for certain.

 

She shrugged, then gestured with her chin toward her vest's top chest pocket. Being unable to open it with her teeth, she signaled for me to open it.

 

Opening the pouch, I looked over what was inside. "Identification pieces hmm?" I couldn't bear to say 'dog tags' myself. "Are these relics of yours, of your family history?"

 

The soldier girl nodded for me to read them. And so I did:

 

Kichiro Ashbourne. Captain. It was dated from the 3rd Global War.

Daisuke Ashbourne, USMC, Colonel. It pre-dated WWIII

Kyle Ashbourne, USMC, Major. It pre-dated WWIII and Daisuke

 

"Ah, a family of soldiers." I tried to look disinterested, "A fairly long line for a human I suppose." I then sighed as a sudden sorrowful reminiscent caught me. "I don't have hardly anything but memories of my family, from so long ago, nearly predating World War II."

 

The captive sighed as well in slight relief. She came to a realization that her captor didn't seem too intent on goring her, for the moment at least. She sulked glumly as she passively looked at the dog tags her abductor held in his hands.

 

Sitting down, I mrred and took off my mask. "No more shadows for now, soldier. But I ask you this: How old do you think I am?"

 

After a few moments of being paused in thought, she tapped her left foot 3 times, then her right foot once after a few seconds' pause.

 

My ears perked at the sounding of her taps. "Do you guess 31 years of age?"

 

She gave an affirmative glance and gesture.

 

"Good enough guess." I chuffed in slight humor. "I'm almost flattered you'd think me so young. Though I say I am 28 in human years, my actual age is much older than even your generational line in these tags here." I showed her them, and then placed them back in her pocket.

 

The girl cocked her head, listening with a curious intrigue.

 

I laughed at her look.

 

"You see, I am nearly 196 years of age in your human years. I have seen those wars or your fathers, and grandfathers, maybe even your great grandfathers. Not that I care. You live long enough, you see plenty and live through plenty." I sighed, "But even still, you never forget your childhood. And sadly, the tragedies are often remembered more vividly than the good times."

 

Her eyes locked on me. In addition to her fearfulness, there was an undercurrent of surprise and sympathy.

 

I continued to sense her fear and, strangely, felt those other emotions that I had not quite expected her to have. "You can relax soldier." I chuckled, "I am not a vampire. I just have a natural long life - or the full nine lives, of nearly a millennium that I can live."

 

Reaching down, the soldier girl tried to pull her sharpie out of her vest with her teeth.

 

I looked towards her. "You want to write something, soldier?"

 

She half-nodded. Pinning the pen in her teeth, she wrote on the table. "Aew?"

 

I quirked at the strange writing, then worded out what she was trying to spell. "How what?" I looked at the girl with caution. My eyes firmly gazed upon her to hold her attention to my words. "If I loosen the upper ropes to let loose your hands to write, can I trust you to not do anything stupid?"

 

She thinks, then wiggled her right leg, which still had her pistol.

 

I nodded, and got up to take her pistol out and frisked her for any other potential weapons. Looking over the collection on the table, there was found two grenades, the pistol, a couple spare clips, a combat knife, and a set of handcuffs.

 

"Well armed," I grinned with a bit of a smirk, "and seems you have a few tricks up your sleeve soldier."

 

Once the rope was loosened enough around her chest, she slipped one arm free within several minutes of work. Tightening the ropes so they were once again snug around her chest, I moved the arsenal of her private stash further down the table out of her reach. Giving her back her pen with a pad to write on I said, "Ok, now write what you have to say."

 

She jotted on the edge of the legal pad. "How are you that old?"

 

To answer, I began to tell some of my life's story:

 

"I am not a cat. That is, I'm not like the breed you see in this city. Not like the most common one of this new generation, that is. I was born almost 30 years before the experiments began that developed this breed you see today. You see, I was born of a 'pure' breed. It went by many names, such as werecats, or leopard men. But we called ourselves Feles by our traditional native tongue."

 

I continued on to tell of the early development of the Feles - their ancient history, and finally, my own tragic story about my personal life. How my village was destroyed, and how I saw the death of my parents at the hands of humans. After finishing the telling the story, I tied her arm back up and sedated her with enough tranquilizer to keep her out until I returned the next day.

 

On the next day, I walked into the room with my mask still on. My figure at first entry was that of a shadow with glowing golden eyes.

 

The girl was waking up when I came in. Sudden movement brought her quickly to a nervous focus. Her eyes jumped around the room, trying to figure out if anything had changed since last night. But no, nothing yet. She sighed, relieved, and slumped against the rope that held her tight within her chair. It forced her to control her breathing in an attempt to stave off any visible signs of nervousness. She let out a rasping cough and looked up at the sound of the door opening. After twice trembling, she settled down.

 

I walked up closer, the mask still on. My familiar voice proceeded from the darkness. "Did you sleep well soldier?"

 

She shrugged noncommittally, then coughed dryly again.

 

I took off my mask, smirked. "Yeah, I didn't figure on the mildew and all. But my family for some reason keeps releasing you without trying to figure out why you keep coming back." I shook my head and sighed about such foolishness. Bringing out a bottle with pills in it, I put a couple of them before her lips. "Here swallow these."

 

She nibbled them out of my palm like a horse eating an apple.

 

I smiled. "Good. It seems you trust me more then." I then shrugged with a chuckle. "Either way, it's nothing poisonous. Just something to help with the allergens down here."

 

Finishing the pills, the soldier girl looked up at me. She pointed at the legal pad and sharpie with her chin. I nodded, and loosened the ropes so she could free her writing hand. "So you have something to say, or 'write' that is?"

 

She nodded back to me gratefully, then reached over to the pad and wrote two words:

 

WATER PLEASE

 

I agreed to the request and got out my flask that I brought with me while patrolling the rooftops. "You're in luck. I refilled this with water recently, and not," I coughed to clear my throat, "my usual drink to pass the night." The flask, though, still had a hint of alcohol as it was brought down to her lips to drink.

 

Drinking from the flask, she emptied the whole thing in moments. Finished refreshing herself, she put it back on the table and picked up the pen again.

 

So.... She paused, the pen tip hovering above the paper, then completed the thought of her main concern, am I going to be killed?

 

I read what she wrote, then shook my head with. "I'll admit, soldier, I wanted to kill you the very first time you came up to the Den."

 

The girl looked down unhappily.

 

Oh. She paused. Could I write some letters before I die, then?

 

I shook my head again. "You didn't hear me correctly, soldier. I said I wanted to kill you, not that I still do."

 

She perked up and up looked at me. Her brow furrowed.

 

"You look at me confused. " I grinned. "Who's the human soldier that's afraid of cats and yet still manages to keep coming up to the Den?"

 

The girl shook her head at her own illogical behavior and picked up the pen.

 

1st time: wasn't scared of cats.

2nd time: wasn't scared of cats.

3rd time: wasn't lucid.

4th time: ... no offense, but Sgt. McCallen scares me more than all of you.

 

"Is that so soldier?" I laughed, then murred, "But here's the problem. I can't take you back to the Den as you are. 'Cause I'm sure my family is fed up with you. And, I'm assuming you don't want to go back to military base and be a soldier?"

 

She nodded understandingly at the first one, then shrugged after the second one. Then she jotted down:

 

I don't even know anymore...

 

"Well, I don't want to kill you..., " I murred some more with a smirk, "And I don't really see sending you back to the military base yet again as an option." I turned around and pondered a bit by the wall, then grinned. "I think I know what to do with you now." Looking back at her, I gave a wider grin.

 

The soldier girl looked nervously at me. That she was uncertain what my grin meant would have been an understatement. She grabbed the legal pad, drew a giant question mark that filled the whole page, then clutched it to her chest like a shield.

 

I continued to grin and looked at her as I spoke. "You came up to the Den the first night speaking of a certain distaste for cats. I hadn't told you until last night about what humans had done to my village and family - killing my mother and father viciously as mere four legged animals for trophy and experimentation...."

 

Her breath she drew sharply. She shook her head from side to side as if doing so could change what she was hearing. Her eyes scanned the table, trying to see where her pistol was.

 

I shook my head as I took off the gloves I used for combat. "I already stored your weapons out of reach soldier. You wouldn't think a ninja would be so dumb to leave such things lying around, now would you?" I took out a vial and a syringe.

 

The girl tried unsuccessfully to pull free of the chair, then raised her single fist for a last stand. Of course, tied to a chair, and against an enemy with superior strength, speed, and training, it didn't make for such a great finale for her.

 

After taking the fluid in the vial and injecting it into the syringe, I placed the empty glass on the table and again came close to her. Smiling at her, I replied "It will be easier, and safer for you to let me tie your arms back up, but, " keeping my own hands in a defensive position, I added, "If you would rather make it harder, I'll be ready."

 

She looked up at me sadly, then grabbed the sharpie.

 

Will it hurt? and, Is it only vengeance?

 

I shrugged, "The needle may sting, but I don't know what your reaction will be."

 

She looked at me scared. Poison?

 

I grasped her arm, quickly, before she could put up a fight. Pushing her arm back down to her side, I tied the rope around her again. I laughed, "Not poison. Not to me, anyways. But your scientists likely would call it a virus or parasite. Though it is neither." I injected the fluid into her neck. It was mixed with my DNA, and a sedative to keep whoever was injected with it asleep through the first stage of the changes.

 

The girl looked up at me with pleading eyes, then the needle briefly, then back to me. Her actions began slowing down due to the sedative.

 

Taking the syringe out, I responded with a chuckle. "Sleep tight soldier. You'll be in for a surprise when you wake up."

 

She tugged against the restraints, and tried to escape. However, she soon slumped forward unconscious.

 

Later, when she regained consciousness - evidenced by a change in her breathing, but was yet to open her eyes. I walked back in. My flask was refilled, as well as her own bottle I found on her earlier. I also brought sushi and fresh tuna from the sushi bar, putting it on the table in front of her. I grinned, noticing her breathing and said, "Good, it didn't kill you soldier."

 

She looked up at me miserably. Not being certain what the injection did to her, she tried to figure out what had changed since the previous night.

 

Noticing her stare, I pouted. "Aww, is that any way to look at the cat that brought you some food?" I placed the sushi in front of her, as well as a slab of the tuna and watched to see what her first reactions might be.

 

It seemed at first that maybe the girl didn't like tuna, since she looked at it somewhat apprehensively. After giving it a sniff, and with surprising speed, she lunged forward in her chair to snatch up a piece of sushi with her teeth, gulping it down.

 

I chuckled at her reaction. "Interesting." I tried to perceive if feline fangs had grown in and shrugged. "Oh well, if they haven't formed now, they likely will sooner or later." Smiling, I looked at the girl. "A good meal, eh soldier?"

 

Lunging again, she gulped down another piece of sushi, then stopped, choking on it. She looked up at me in horror and shook her head rapidly. It appeared she thought I could undo what had already been started.

 

I shook my head back, "Nah uh, soldier. You know what they say, 'What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger!'" I laughed, and then realized the ropes may not be strong enough to hold her. I murred before finding some chain links in the corner, and some spare cuffs - presumably from some human 'party' down here some time ago likely - , and then fastened the chains around her and cuffed her legs together. "This is only for safety measure ki..., uhm, I mean soldier," I coughed, then chuckled at almost calling her a kitten. In a second thought of precaution, I saw her handcuffs, yanked them from her belt and fastened them on her wrists. "Oh those come in handy, now, don't they soldier?"

 

The soldier girl turned in the chair so that she was looking at her captor over the back of her chair. Tears were sliding down her face again, and she appeared utterly destroyed. I slowly brought my face to hers, brushing her cheek lightly with my whiskers and grinned as I saw little wiry buds beginning to show. "Ah yes, you'll have a set of whiskers like mine soon as well soldier." I then purred my warm breath on her before pulling my face back.

 

She turned around dejectedly, and looked at the remains of the tuna in front of her. I murred with a frown. "Awws, is that any way to be, especially toward your sire?" I then purred in her human ear and said in a whisper, "Those will soon shrivel up, to be replaced with cute pointy ones on your head."

 

The girl leaned her head against my side, still crying, unable to help it. I crouched down. Fatherly like instincts kicked in as I hugged her. My chest purred soothingly. "Now, now. I told you I wasn't going to kill you..."

 

She rested her head on my shoulder. I felt her chest stop heaving as strongly as she calmed down, pressed against me as tightly as she can be.

 

I continued my soft purring, smiling. "See? It isn't so bad being a cat, hmmm?"

 

Shrugging, she then opened her mouth to say something. It came out sounding like a combination of a meow and a purring.

 

I chuckled a bit. "Hmmm... Heh, sounds like you might be feral for a bit." I shrugged. "No bother, your human mute stage was not much different..., besides the mewing and purring your doing now."

 

The girl purred something, as if trying to communicate. I purred back, instinctively. She purred again, desolately - evoking visions of loneliness, calming down a little.

 

Grooming her hair, I felt tiny bumps, likely where the cat ears were growing in. I sighed, through my comforting purrs, "Don't worry, even if the Pride rejects you, you will always be a part of my personal family, my sired Feles." I grinned with a mew.

 

She seemed to calm down, and the crying stopped spreading tears all over my shoulder. She lifted her head up and looked at me with a grin, then purred gratefully.

 

I smiled, giving a light nip to her nose, "See? Being a cat isn't so bad..."

 

She grinned and shrugged, then purred.

 

Holding her head to my chest, I looked at her like a father seeing his newborn child. I continued to purr, watching her intently, then sighed, with a murr. " I can't unchain you yet though..." I pouted, tugging on some of the chains.

 

She nodded understandingly, then murred at the remains of the tuna and licked her lips contentedly.

 

I smiled and then took a piece of sushi, bringing it down towards her lips. She grabbed it happily between her teeth and munched it down. I mewed happily, "That's right my sired one, eat up. You'll need all the energy you can get for your changes."

 

And so was born my Sired Feles. Satomi Ashbourne, as I mentioned in the pondering of the previous dream. It was probably one of my most favorite experiences roleplaying in AW. Just as interesting was a reaction of an old friend of mine at hearing the news of my making a sire as noted in the transcript of the general chat log, as I remember it from that night:

 

[19:28] You: ((hey Dui xD))

[19:28] : Satomi Ashbourne OOC : Hi Dui! (I don't think you'll have any more problems with me any more :)

[19:29] Dui Zhang: ((oh, there you are))

[19:29] Dui Zhang: ((is Ioh about to kill you, or has he charmed you into submission?))

[19:29] : Satomi Ashbourne OOC : I'M GROWING EARS!! AND WHISKERS!!

[19:30] You: ((well... I sired her, sorta, grafted her with my DNA <.<))

[19:31] Dui Zhang: ((*headsmacks* This ought to be interesting))

[19:32] You: (hehe, haven't told Tobers yet either xD))

[19:32] : Satomi Ashbourne OOC : it's amusing, how many connotations "interesting" has in the English language :P

[19:32] Dui Zhang: ((going to lie down now... head is spinning))

[19:32] You: ((hehe))

 

That roleplay came to change many things, and would bring about my promotion in the Pride to Tormentor. It also brought about some copy-cat RP scenarios that tried to do similar things as I had done that night with Satomi. That was one drawback, as I would have rather hoped people would consider being more creative. But hey, I can at least say I caused a trend in that city, for what it's worth. Not that I cared about setting any. I just wanted to tell the story, and have amazing RP with friends that I could trust. At least thought I could then anyways....

 

Oh fine, I'll admit it, I wanted to build a family too. And I almost had it then with Aspira and Satomi. Although, it wasn't going to be an easy road, as shown in the aftermath. For you see, capturing a girl serving in the military doesn't go without an eventual rescue by the military. It seemed strange, then, being that after her being made a cat, it essentially made Satomi a fugitive. If nothing, the military compound's scientists could have decided to try and change her back to human, and all my efforts would have been lost. But, instead, Satomi was released, and soon I had to pick her up and find a place for her. As will be noted, the Pride was not going to be able to help, for obvious reasons. But still, I sired Satomi, and she became someone for me to protect, then, both from the military and my own family in the city.

 

So here I was on a rooftop, waiting to hear back from Aspira. Someone walked onto the roof and tapped my shoulder as I waited. I turned around, then looked up, somewhat distracted in thought, "Oh hey Shadey."

 

Aspira then landed on the roof softly still speaking into her cellphone. "Ok under the pier?"

 

Seeing Aspira, I sighed, and said to her, "Yeah, that was the initial plan."

 

Shadey waved to Aspira and said to me "Can you do me a favor?"

 

Aspira tilted her head. "So under the pier Ioh?"

 

I blinked, "What do you mean? It's too late..." I then sighed, still feeling I failed Satomi and that she was still in the hands of the military.

 

Shadey tilted her head to the side curiously.

 

Aspira sighed and shook her head. "She wants to meet us, and told me to ask you..." She held her hand over the mouthpiece of the phone.

 

I murred, realizing Shadey's not in the know. I then blinked again, "Who?" Then paused, "You mean..." I looked at Aspira with hopeful eyes.

 

Shadey sighed shaking her head. "Well do me a favor and tell Tober or Linds I need to talk to them. I have places I need to go, but they know how to get in touch with me."

 

Aspira nodded her head. "Yes. The pier or else where? I have to give an answer."

 

I nodded, "If I see them, I'll tell them Shades." I looked to Aspira, "But how... where is she?"

 

Aspira looked to Shadey. "We will make sure Ioh doesn't forget to let them know." She gave her a small smile, her hand still over the phone.

 

Shadey smiled at them and says "Ok, thanks. I gotta run kitties, have fun!"

 

I nodded and waved as Shadey departed from the rooftop.

 

Aspira gave a 'just give me an answer' look to Ioh. "It doesn't matter I just need a meeting place."

 

"Has she told you what happened or anything?"

 

She shook her head. "Ioh. I need a meeting place. Please." She begged me softly, still covering the PDA in her hand.

 

"Well, alright. Meet on the pier, and If you don't hear anything from me in about 15 to 20 minutes, call for backup. I'm going to check the Med Center."

 

"NO IOH! Listen to me. We are going to the pier." Aspira uncovered the phone and spoke into it. "The pier. Meet us, but be careful!"

 

I blinked. "Are you talking with her?"

 

Aspira sighed and hung her head. "Yes Ioh. I was hinting that to you when Shadey was here." Her cheeks blushed as she sighed softly. She then spoke again into the phone. "Call if there's trouble!"

 

I nodded, showing myself shaken up for the first time. "I’m sorry Kitten, just been a ... long day...." I hugged her tightly, then whispered, "Thank you," in her ear. I then released her from the hug and said, "Let's go."

 

Aspira flipped her PDA closed and hugged Ioh. When she stopped, she looked at her invisible watch. "I waited for over an hour and went looking for you... let's go." She turned and leaped off the roof.

 

On the ground, I walked up to Aspira, who was watching me in anticipation. She whispered, "I think it will be safer out of sight, not in so open view of up there. Now just waiting on 'it'"

 

I looked around, then to Aspira, "So, this is where we're to meet her?"

 

"Ioh you heard me say it." Aspira sighed softly, then shook her head and moved close to me, nuzzling my neck with another sigh.

 

I nodded, sighing in return, still clearly shook up. But her nuzzling my neck relaxed me a bit. A soft purr formed in my chest. It was yet audible, but the vibrations could be slightly felt.

 

Aspira purred back softly so that I could hear it and so that it would calm me some more. "I love you Ioh, but what the hell is going on? One minute I'm getting messages saying meet here then you never show. What happened? I got scared and even looked for you." She then sighed in relief as Satomi looked up, then scrunched her nose seeing the ears and tail.

 

"I'm sorry Kitten...," I gave a look of failure and sadness, "I just... wanted to protect the Pride. Protect you..., I ....," I saw Satomi, her bandaged ribs and bullet wound, "I'm sorry....," I murred.

 

Satomi limped up toward us and nodded curtly.

 

Aspira mewed softly to me. "I know Ioh. It's just things are getting so crazy." She bowed her head so that her chin touched her chest, her black locks falling in front of her face.

 

Satomi nodded to Aspira. She pointed to her right shoulder and raised an eyebrow, inquiring after her injury.

 

Aspira watched Satomi for a moment then sighed hanging her head again. "You shot me. And I nearly bled to death... trying to help you."

 

"I owe you both an apology, " I said between the two, mumbling a bit. "Aspira, for making you worry about me. And you, Satomi for well, everything I did. I had no right, I just was ... overprotective I guess." I looked down into the sand.

 

Satomi looked at Aspira, not understanding. She shook her head no.

 

Aspira nodded to Satomi. "Yes you shot me. And at some point you shot Elise. And all Elise and Johnny tried to do was help you too."

 

Satomi nodded sadly at the mention of Elise, but then she mimed shooting Aspira and shook her head no.

 

I looked at Aspira, then purred in her ear to calm her down. "Enough Kitten. She's been through a lot. Can you see the changes?" Motions her to look at Satomi's ears and tail.

 

Aspira nodded. "It was inadvertent. You were aiming at my head." She laughed softly, sarcastically. "You shot. Missed. And the bullet hit the wall, then came back and hit me in the shoulder." She turned and showed her the back of her shoulder so she could see the entry wound. She nodded to me and sighed softly while turning bright red as her eyes teared up. "Yes Ioh. I can."

 

Satomi looked really sad in realizing she shot Aspira. She turned to stare at the ocean. Her tail jumped about clumsily.

 

I looked to my Felix, "Aspie... she's my Sired. Though I intended to hold the vial for much longer, hoping a human might come along willingly, I guess I saw an opportunity for a certain lesson, a certain justice to come from this. But still, no matter, I had no right."

 

Satomi scooted forward and leaned against my leg, looking at the ocean. She spoke up from around Ioh's knees. "I may not have chosen it, but it was a valuable lesson nevertheless."

 

Aspira listened to me. Her shoulders slumped and the tears spilled over her eyelashes as she turned away to face the street. At that moment she seemed so much shorter. Smaller. More fragile than ever. A soft choked mew escaped her lips as her head dropped to look down upon the sand. Tears wet it, turning a deep brown before her feet.

 

I looked down at Satomi and sighed. I then looked over at Aspira and brought my right hand to her shoulder. "Aspie. " I then paused, and mewed, "Kitten." I heard Satomi, but waited for Aspira's response.

 

Aspira pulled her shoulder from my grasp. "I'm supposed to be your Kitten Ioh. I'm supposed to spend my life with you. But you have kept every bit of this from me until now. We were together one minute then you were gone the next. Then when you showed up again you said you were 'on special business.' And now this." Her body felt weak, as she tried to hold herself together. "How can I do this if you hide things from me until after they are done Ioh Kitty?"

 

Murring I replied, "At the time, I felt I had to do this alone. The Matrons didn't seem to be handling it, and I went out and sought to preempt Satomi's potential attack." I looked down to the ground, "I guess I was worried you wouldn't understand, that maybe... maybe you'd ... hate me, if you knew what I was about to do." I then muttered, looking shameful, "Maybe those should have been indicators that I shouldn't have done this... I don't know anymore."

 

Satomi just hugged herself tighter against my leg. With her finger, she drew a small house in the sand, then an arrow going into it. I looked down, seeing the house, "What is this?"

 

Satomi replied, " I need a bed and at least one other cat to get advice from."

 

Aspira turned back to face me. Tears rolled down her face like water down a river. "Ioh, I would of understood. It's that you hid ALL of it from me and didn't tell me anything." Her voice was all choked up as she spoke but tried to hide it. "Ioh I love you. You know that. But I wish you would have talked with me about it."

 

Satomi looked up suddenly. She began realizing what the discussion over head had been about. She looked nervous suddenly. "The Matrons don't know?

 

Aspira looked at Satomi. "I didn't know. What makes you think they would?"

 

"I'm sorry Aspie." I replied, "I'll try not to do anything like this again." I looked between the two, then said, "Aspie, you are my Kitten. My love. And I should not hide things from you." I looked to Satomi, "And Satomi is my sired one, like a daughter to me now. I owe it to you both to be more up front from here on out."

 

Satomi started to tremble. "Tober's going to kill me."

 

"Satomi, I did this to you of my own will, as a vigilante," I began to say, then added, "And no, if there's anyone Tobers might kill, it's me."

 

"But she'll kill me for shooting Elise, and, I guess, Aspira too..."

 

Aspira sighed softly and turned to walk up the beach. "I need to go for a walk Ioh." She could barely whisper it as she walked toward the steps. "I just need time to think."

 

I shook my head. "It was the perceived inaction that made me do this." I watched Aspira head off and sighed, "I really screwed up...," I said, not to any one in particular.

 

Satomi looked like she had been condemned. "Could we meet with the Matron? I... I can't take any more open threats."

 

"I'll leave a message with the Matrons, and see what goes from there." I mrred, but looked to her and smiled, "I'm still not going to let them do anything to kill you, if they decide to do anything at all, ok?"

 

Satomi nodded, grateful for that modicum of security. "I just want one night's sleep without being scared."

 

I nodded, instinctively massaging her ears to comfort her. "Just try not to worry, ok?"

 

Satomi grinned at the novel sensation. "I was afraid to touch them. That feels nice though." She got more serious after enjoying the ear-massage. "Is Aspira going to be okay?" She noticed Dui overhead and pointed up to a rooftop.

 

I shrugged, then perked my ears and looked toward where Satomi was pointing, "What you see Sat?" I then hopped up to look around.

 

Satomi shrugged. "She's gone." She then looked at the military patch on her vest, and wondered if she could rip it off. She then successfully de-badged the vest.

 

I sighed, then chuckled for no apparent reason. I then smiled, watching Satomi, then murred, thinking of Aspira. "Sat? I need to check on Aspie. You have some place safe you can go, or should I take you home first?"

 

And so, once I was certain Satomi had a place to go that was safe, I wandered after Aspira. Not really knowing where to go. It was only by chance that I was led to the Church, entering from the side door in back. There was organ music playing, and for some reason it drew me in. I then found Aspira as she played the organ, pouring her whole heart and soul into it, whatever song popped into her head. It played out through her fingers. I watched from behind her at first. I walked around towards the Organ, to walk up next to Aspira. I sighed more audibly now, then mewed, looking kinda sheepish, and said, "Uh, Kitten?"

 

Aspira turned her head to look at me, but in some weird way she didn't seem to realize I was there. It was as if she was only hearing me. Turning back to the organ she blinked back more tears then hung her head, as if she began realizing something - like the moment someone gets an epiphany or is dumbfounded by their own foolishness. I blinked at her reaction, not sure what to think. I saw her crying, thinking she was still upset with me for what I had done. The only words that could come to me were, "I'm sorry..."

 

Hearing my words she turned her head to look at me. Only this time she seemed to recognize that I was standing there. My figure was likely blurred from her tears. Quickly she stood and wrapped her arms around me and felt shook up as she nuzzled my neck. I murred as I tried to explain. "It is not the same. What you have from me. It is far different than what I gave to Satomi. Satomi is like a daughter, but you are my love, Kitten. In that, you have more than my DNA"

 

Aspira shook her head. "But the point is I have to share YOU with her. Someone I tried so much to help but she just continued to hurt OUR family. And now I have to share you with her. And you didn't even ask if that was ok.

 

I don't find it ok, Ioh. But I love you. So I will have to suffice. I just... I guess I'm just jeal..." She cut herself off and shook her head. "No I'm not. I'm just upset that I have to share you with a woman that tried to kill me. I don't care if she has changed Ioh."

 

She pointed to her shoulder and hung her head. "I almost DIED! Trying to save her. I almost died, Ioh. Right on the front doorstep of the Den. I don't know if you looked but there are big stains on the walls and the ground."

 

I sighed and nodded. "I wanted to kill her. At first, I thought to bind her up and torment her for what she did to our family, our Pride. But you know what I saw in her? In her eyes?"

 

Aspira shook her head and pulled back from Ioh. "You didn't see your family. You saw a crazy military woman, of all things, that was just begging so that she could get out and run back to the military. So that THEY can attack us."

 

I brought my head down looking at the floor as she pushed me. I shook my head. "I saw her fear. Both the rational and the irrational. I saw the identification tags (I still couldn't bring himself to call them 'dog tags') of her family, and I realized something then. She was just a scared child following the orders of her superiors."

 

She shook her head. "Still. It was no reason to go behind my back."

 

Despite the protests, things were looking to be where I might have had a family with Aspira and Satomi. But, about that time did things continue to grow crazy. Somewhere in between that I had a relation in AW on an alt character grow. That relationship brought about my fourth Felix, and pretty much destroyed what could have been with me and Aspie, as well as ruined chances to RP out the relationship between me and my sired one.

 

I'm not sure what happened with Satomi. The last RP I had with her in AW, she had been abducted by vampires. I was to try and save her from them. But, time and circumstances did not allow for it. The assumption I can only have for what happened to Satomi is that she was killed, and therefore, my sired one was dead in world. The only way I come to this conclusion is that her player, while I was trying to see if I could set up the rescue PMed me, "I'm sorry."

 

I know she, her player, isn't dead. Or at least wasn't before my untimely death in the real world. I knew of a couple other characters she played in RP in AW. And, when I was still alive, at least one of her characters was still active, and of whom I had various RPs with before. But still, losing my sired was like losing a child. And yet, I am to blame for putting the events in place that took away the opportunities.

 

*sighs*

 

And so the torments of my personal Purgatory continue...

 

I had a vision of festive days

She's like an eagle in the misty haze

Break my chains, girl,

show me to the land where people live together

and try to understand

"Brothers and sisters: FAITH is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1

 

"We walk by FAITH, not by sight" ~ 2 Corinthians 5:7.

 

MEDITATION

"FAITH is an entirely free gift which God makes to us through the power of the Holy Spirit. Believing and Trusting in God to act in our lives is only possible by the Grace and Help of the Holy Spirit who moves the heart and converts it to God. The Holy Spirit opens the eyes of the mind and helps us to Understand, Accept, and Believe God's word. How do we grow in FAITH? By listening to God's word with Trust and Submission. FAITH also grows through Testing and Perseverance. The Lord wants to teach us how to pray in FAITH for His will for our lives and for the things He wishes to give us to enable us to follow Him FAITHfully and serve Him generously. "

 

#prayer and excerpt #meditation from today’s scripture reflection @ www.DailyScripture.Net or APP at Daily Scripture Servants of the Word

 

———-

 

THE NECESSITY OF FAITH

 

CCC161 Believing in Jesus Christ and in the One who sent Him for our salvation is necessary for obtaining that salvation. "Since "without FAITH it is impossible to please [God]" and to attain to the fellowship of His sons, therefore without FAITH no one has ever attained justification, nor will anyone obtain Eternal Life 'But he who endures to the end.'"

 

FAITH - the beginning of eternal life

 

CCC164 Now, however, "we walk by FAITH, not by sight"; we perceive God as "in a mirror, dimly" and only "in part". Even though enlightened by Him in whom it believes, FAITH is often lived in darkness and can be put to the test. The world we live in often seems very far from the one Promised us by FAITH...

 

www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/161.htm

 

www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/164.htm

 

———-

 

ENCYCLICAL LETTER ~ BETWEEN FAITH AND REASON by Saint Pope John Paul II

www.ewtn.com/library/ENCYC/JP2FIDES.HTM

 

———-

 

“Why Faith Matters” - www.thecatholicthing.org/2024/05/01/why-faith-matters/

 

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Image in use at:

~ www.goodnewspost.net/inspirational-sayings-definition-of-...

 

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Filename - Faith - DSC_0638 Mtn Layers view toward LA SClNR2 2013

 

Following the Son...

Blessings,

Sharon 🌻

 

God's Beauty In Nature is calling us into a deeper relationship with Him...

  

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Bloggers are welcome to use my artwork with, “Image from Art4TheGlryOfGod by Sharon under Creative Commons license”, (next to the image or embedded in it) with a link back to the images you use and please let me know in the comment section below, thank you...

 

#prints availability upon request

 

Art4TheGlryOfGod Photography by Sharon

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Faith, Hope & Love in daily Art meditations...

 

X ~ www.twitter.com/Art4ThGlryOfGod

 

Flickr (complete portfolio) ~ www.flickr.com/photos/4thglryofgod/albums/

 

Fine Art America (canvas, prints & cards) ~ fineartamerica.com/profiles/sharon-soberon

 

Redbubble (canvas, prints & cards) ~ www.redbubble.com/people/4theglryofgod/shop

 

Pixoto (awards) ~ www.pixoto.com/4thegloryofgod/awards

 

Music Videos (from my Art Photography) ~

www.youtube.com/user/4ThGlryOfGod

Being social and ignoring what's in front of me will never give me happiness. I need to take the time to acknowledge and enjoy the influences in my life that gives me satisfaction. I think being there - walking through the grown-in pathways and searching in the thick brush for something insignificant... it made me realize that everything is "insignificant", and I need to accept that, no matter how unsettling that is. And yet, the sun on my back seemed so satisfying.

(c) Kayla Burton

Do not use without my permission.

Johnson's Shut-Ins

Reynolds County, MO

Sometimes, some people think to be so much important that they are sure to be waited for indefinitely.

 

Hasselblad 500C/M + Zeiss Planar 80mm f/2.8 + Ilford FP4 125 (expired since 1983) + Ilford ID-11 + Epson V700 Scan (No photoshop except from dust)

 

Bruno Servant © All rights reserved - Downloading and using images without permission is illegal. PoissonSoluble92@hotmail.fr

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I decided to do a photoshoot rather dark in response to an article I read on the net. It spoke of the rape culture in our society. It really made me think and I wanted to recreate that in this series of three Photogallery with Hambleton.

  

Visit Toyark.com and TFW2005.com for full sets of these galleries!

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!

  

Some background:

Due to the restrictions of the Versailles treaties, the Reichswehr was already dealing with the increasing mobilization and motorization of the army after the end of the First World War. The realization that the speed of the troop units required appropriate equipment was available early on. However, the Reichswehr suffered from financial constraints and during the Weimar Republic the industry only had limited capacity for series production of larger, armored vehicles.

 

Nevertheless, at that time the Sd.Kfz. 3 (unarmored half-track transport vehicle/1927), the ARW (eight-wheel car/1928) and the ZRW (ten-wheel car/1928) provided fundamental experience. The findings of these tests and the troop testing with the Sd.Kfz. 3 enabled a more precise specification of the new vehicles to be developed. The "heavy" armored cars were primarily intended for the reconnaissance units of the new armored forces.

 

The incipient rearmament could only start with a "cheap" solution, though. A three-part armored structure for the chassis of commercially available off-road trucks was developed by the Army Weapons Office, Dept. WaTest 6, in cooperation with the company Deutsche Eisenwerke AG. The typical truck chassis featured front-wheel steering and a driven bogie at the rear (4x6 layout). In June 1929, the companies Magirus, Daimler-Benz and Büssing-NAG were commissioned to develop the desired armored car from it. If you consider that this truck class was developed for a payload of 1.5t, you can already conclude from this that the vehicles, which are now equipped with a significantly heavy armored structure, had little off-road mobility. Even if the appearance of the vehicles supplied by the different manufacturers was similar, there were external distinguishing features by which the manufacturer could be identified. The vehicles were tested in the Reichswehr from 1932 and introduced later.

 

One of the four crew members (driver, commander, gunner, radio-operator) was used as a reverse driver: with the narrow streets of the time and a turning circle of between 13 and 16m, this function was essential for a truck-sized heavy reconnaissance vehicle. The chassis had the excellent ladder-type configuration, able to withstand the stress of rough rides at high speed. The scout car was 5570 mm long, 1820 mm wide, 2250 mm high and weighed 5.35, 5.7 or 6 tons, depending on the manufacturer. The hull was made of welded steel armor, 5 to 14.5 mm (0.2-0.57 in) thick depending on the angle (bottom to front) with well-sloped plates. The armament consisted of a 2 cm KwK 30 with 200 rounds and a MG 13 with 1300 rounds in a manually operated turret. The fuel supply was 90, 105 or 110 liters, but with a consumption of about 35 or 40 liters per 100 km, this resulted in a completely inadequate range for a scout car.

 

Having no true alternatives at hand, the armored 4x6 car was accepted and became known as the Sd.Kfz. 231 (6-wheel), and it was subsequently developed into two more vehicles. Up until 1937, 123 vehicles were built as Sd.Kfz. 231 reconnaissance cars and Sd.Kfz. 232 radio trucks. A further 28 were manufactured as Sd.Kfz. 263 (Panzerfunkwagen) command vehicles.

As early as 1932, after testing the pilot series, it was clear that the interim solution of "cheap" 6-wheel vehicles would not meet the future requirements of the armored divisions now planned. It was planned that from 1935/36 at least 18 vehicles of a new type that would meet the requirements for off-road mobility and high road speeds should be produced annually. Büssing-NAG had obviously made a good impression with the ARW and was now commissioned to make the revised vehicle ready for series production, which would become the SdKfz. 231 (8-Rad). The overall concept was completed between 1934 and 1935 and already showed all the features of the future type: all 8 wheels driven and steered, the same speed forwards and backwards, ability to change direction in less than 10 seconds, and a turning circle of "only" 10.5m. The vehicle layout was changed, too: the engine bay was relocated to the rear, the crew compartment was placed at the front end. This improved weight distribution, handling, and the field of view for the main forward driver.

The purpose of the new vehicles was identical to that of the earlier heavy 6-wheel vehicles, they were used on the same sites and so the same ordnance inventory designation was adopted, despite the vehicle’s many modifications. The so-called Sd.Kfz. 231 (8-Rad) was armed, corresponding to its 6-Rad counterpart, with a 2cm KwK 30 and the MG 13 (later MG 34) in a rotating turret. Likewise, the Sd.Kfz. 232 (8-Rad) carried a large, curved bow antenna, and there was a Sd.Kfz. 263 (8-Rad) command vehicle, too.

 

Nevertheless, the Army Weapons Office demanded a short-term solution for a vehicle based on the 4x6 chassis that offered better off-road performance and armament, namely a 37 mm anti-tank gun, with at least comparable range and armor protection. This interim vehicle was supposed to be ready for service in early 1934. Magirus accepted the challenge and proposed the Sd.Kfz. 241, a 4x8 vehicle. It retained the old overall 6-Rad layout with the front engine under a long bonnet, but it had a fourth steered axle added to lower ground pressure and improve the vehicle’s trench bridging capabilities. The powered two rear axles retained the 6-Rad’s twin wheels, so that the vehicle stood on a total of twelve tires with a relatively large footprint. The armored hull was very similar to the Sd.Kfz. 231 6-Rad, but carried a new, bigger turret with a 3.7 cm KwK 30 L/45 gun and an axis-parallel 7.92 mm MG 34 light machine gun.

 

The box-shaped turret exploited the hull’s width to the maximum and had a maximum armor of 15 mm, no base and the seat of the commander was attached to the tower wall. The commander sat elevated under a raised cupola in the rear section of the turret, just behind the main gun. He had five viewing slits protected by glass blocks and steel slides for all-round visibility. The gunner/loader, standing to the left of the main gun, had to constantly follow the movement of the turret, which was done by hand. In order to support the gunner when slewing the turret, the commander had an additional handle on the right side. The two crew members also had a turret position indicator.

The cannon was fired electrically via a trigger, the machine gun was operated mechanically with a pedal. To aim and view the outside, the gunner had a gun sight to the left of the gun with an opening in the gun mantlet. Standard access to the vehicle was through low double-doors in the vehicle’ flank, but side exit openings in the turret with two flaps each were also frequently used to board it. Another entry was through the commander cupola’s lid.

With all this extra hardware, the Sd.Kfz. 241’s overall weight rose considerably from the late Sd.Kfz. 231 (6-Rad) nearly 6 tons to 7.5 tons. As a consequence, the chassis had to be reinforced and a more powerful engine was used, a 6-cylinder Maybach HL 42 TRKM w carburetor gasoline engine with 4170 cc capacity and 100 hp (74 kW) output at 3000 rpm.

 

As expected, the Sd.Kfz. 241 was not a success. Even though the first vehicles were delivered in time in mid-1934, its operational value was rather limited. Off-road capability was, due to the extra weight, the raised center of gravity and the lack of all-wheel drive, just as bad as the 6-Rad vehicles, and the more powerful engine’s higher fuel consumption allowed neither higher range, despite bigger fuel tanks, nor a better street performance. The only real progress was the new 3.7 cm KwK 30’s firepower, which was appreciated by the crews, even though the weapon was only effective against armored targets at close range. At 100 m, 64 mm of vertical armor could be penetrated, but at 500 m this already dropped to 31 mm, any angle in the armor weakened its hitting power even further. The weapon’s maximum range was 5.000m, though, and with HE rounds the Sd.Kfz. 241 could provide indirect fire support. Another factor that limited the vehicle’s effectiveness was that the gun had to be operated by a single crew member who had to load and aim at the same time – there was simply not enough space for a separate loader who would also have increased the gun’s rate of fire from six to maybe twelve rounds per minute. The vehicle’s armor was also inadequate and only gave protection against light firearms, but not against machine guns or heavier weapons. On the other side, the cupola on top of the turret offered the commander in his elevated position a very good all-round field of view, even when under full protection – but this progressive detail was not adopted for the following armored reconnaissance vehicles and remained exclusive to German battle tanks.

 

Only a total of fifty-five Sd.Kfz. 241s were completed by Magirus in Cologne until 1936, when production of the Sd.Kfz. 231 (8-Rad) vehicle family started and soon replaced the Sd.Kfz. 241, which was primarily operated at the Eastern Front in Poland and Czechoslovakia. By 1940, no Sd.Kfz. 241 was left in any frontline army unit, but a few survivors were grouped together and handed over to police units. Their main gun was either completely deleted or sometimes replaced with a second machine gun, and they were used for urban patrols and riot control duties. However, by 1942, no Sd.Kfz. 241 was left over.

  

Specifications:

Crew: Four (commander, gunner, driver, radio operator/rear driver)

Weight: 7.5 tons (11.450 lb)

Length: 5,85 metres (19 ft 2 in)

Width: 2,20 metres (7 ft 2 ½ in)

Height: 2,78 metres (9 ft 1 in)

Ground clearance: 28.5 cm (10 in)

Suspension: Torsion bar and leaf springs

Fuel capacity: 150 litres (33 imp gal; 40 US gal)

 

Armor:

8–15 mm (0.31 – 0.6 in)

 

Performance:

Maximum road speed: 70 km/h (43.5 mph)

52 km/h (32.3 mph) backwards

Operational range: 250 km (155 miles)

Power/weight: 13 PS/ton

 

Engine:

Maybach HL42 TRKM water-cooled straight 6-cylinder petrol engine with 100 hp (74 kW),

driving the rear pair of axles

 

Transmission:

Maybach gearbox with 5-speed forward and 4-speed reverse

 

Armament:

1× 37 mm KwK 30 L/45 cannon with 70 rounds

1× 7.92 mm MG 34 machine gun mounted co-axially with 1.300 rounds

  

The kit and its assembly:

This fictional armored car was inspired by a leftover rear axles from an Italeri Sd.Kfz. 231 (6-Rad) model that I converted into a fictional half-track variant some time ago. I wondered if the set could be transplanted under an 8-Rad chassis, to create a kind of missing link to the 8x8 successors of the Sd.Kfz. 231 (6-Rad) with a total of twelve tires on four axles.

 

The basis became a First to Fight 1:72 Sd.Kfz. 231 (8-Rad) kit – a rather simple and robust affair, apparently primarily intended for tabletop purposes. But the overall impression is good, and it would be modified, anyway, even though the plastic turned out to be rather soft/waxy and the parts’ sprue attachment points a bit wacky.

 

The hull was “turned around” to drive backwards, so that its rear engine ended up in the front. I eventually only used the rear twin wheels from the Sd.Kfz. 231 (6-Rad), but not its single axles and laminated springs. Instead, I first cut the OOB mudguards in two halves, removed their side skirts and glued them onto the lower hull in reversed order, so that the exhausts and their muffler boxes would end up at the rear of the front fenders. With these in place I checked the axles’ position from the OOB ladder chassis, which is a single, integral part, and found that the rear axles’ position had to be moved by 2mm backwards. Cutting the original piece and re-arranging it was easier to scratch a new rear suspension, and the rocker bars had to be shortened to accept the wider twin wheels.

 

The original small turret with the 20 mm autocannon was deleted and replaced with core elements from a Panzer III turret, left over from previous conversion projects. Wider than any original turret of the Sd.Kfz. 231/232 family, it had to be narrowed by roughly 5mm – I had to cut a respective plug from the turret’s and the mantlet’s middle section, the deformed hatch was covered under a Panzer III commander cupola. To mate the re-arranged turret with the OOB adapter plate to mount it onto the hull, and to add overall stability to the construction, I filled the interior with 2C putty.

The typical storage bin at the turret’s rear was omitted, though, it would have made it too large for the compact truck chassis. The shape was a perfect stylistic match, even though, with the longer gun barrel, the vehicle reminds a lot of the Soviet BA-10 heavy armored car?

 

Most small details like the bumpers and the headlights were taken OOB, I added a whip antenna base at the rear and mounted two spare wheels at the back, one of them covered with a tarpaulin (made from paper tissue drenched with white glue, this was also used to create the gun mantlet seals).

  

Painting and markings:

Typical for German vehicles from the early WWII stages the Sd.Kfz. 241 was painted Panzergrau (RAL 7021; I used Humbrol 67, which is authentic, but mixed it with some 125 to create a slightly lighter shade of grey) overall - quite dull, but realistic. To make the vehicle look more interesting, though, I added authentic contemporary camouflage in the form of low-contrast blotches with RAL 8017, a very dark reddish brown, mixed from Humbrol 160 and some 98. Better, but IMHO still not enough.

 

After the model received a washing with highly thinned red-brown acrylic artist paint I applied the few decals and gave the parts an overall dry-brushing treatment with grey and dark earth. Everything was sealed with matt acrylic varnish. For even more “excitement”, I decided to add a coat of snow.

For the simulated “frosting” I used white tile grout – which has the benefits of being water-soluble, quite sturdy to touch and the material does not yellow over time like gypsum.

 

First, the wheels, the chassis and the inside of the wheel arches received a separate treatment with relatively dryly mixed tile grout, simulating snow and dirt clusters. Once thoroughly dried, the wheels were mounted. Then the model was sprayed with low surface tension water and loose tile grout was drizzled over hull and turret, creating a flaky coat of fake snow. Once dry again, everything received another coat of matt acrylic varnish to protect and fixate everything further.

  

A relatively quick build, done in a few days. The First to Fight kit is very simple and went together well, but I’d use something else the next time due to the odd material it was molded with. The outcome of an 4x8 scout car looks quite plausible, though, like the missing link between the Sd.Kfz. 231 and 232 – the unintended similarity with the Soviet BA-10 heavy armored car was a bit surprising, though. And the snow on the model eventually makes it look a bit more interesting, the stunt was worth the effort.

Realization

Another realization of Multioutlining project.

Light painting image done in Erg-Chebbi (Merzouga, Morocco) while LPWA Morocco meet-up October 2018. More details here youtu.be/vNz1htts-uc

 

This event was possible because of help from LPWA Morocco Representative Yasmina Cherkaoui @yaslightpainter and sponsorship by Royal Air Maroc, TheArtCompany Gallery (Casablanca), Maroc Telecom, 2M Television (Morocco), Do-It Co, Insitut Francais Casablanca and OCP (Casablanca).

More about Multioutlining technique see here www.lightpainters.com/archive/lpwa/publication/115/index.htm

An Instantiation is a concept in Object Oriented Programming (OOP) - You can create an object with a set of properties that are defined by a Class in a program. When you create a member of a class, it is the instantiation (i.e. realization or creation) of a specific object of that class.

 

Object (computer science)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In computer science, an object is a location in memory having a value and possibly referenced by an identifier. An object can be a variable, a data structure, or a function. In the class-based object-oriented programming paradigm, "object" refers to a particular instance of a class where the object can be a combination of variables, functions, and data structures. In relational database management, an object can be a table or column, or an association between data and a database entity (such as relating a person's age to a specific person).[1]

 

Contents [hide]

1 Object-based languages

2 Object-oriented programming

3 Specialized objects

4 Distributed objects

5 Objects and the Semantic Web

6 See also

7 References

8 External links

Object-based languages[edit]

Main article: Object-based language

An important distinction in programming languages is the difference between an object-oriented language and an object-based language. A language is usually considered object-based if it includes the basic capabilities for an object: identity, properties, and attributes. A language is considered object-oriented if it is object-based and also has the capability of polymorphism and inheritance. Polymorphism refers to the ability to overload the name of a function with multiple behaviors based on which object(s) are passed to it. Conventional message passing discriminates only on the first object and considers that to be "sending a message" to that object. However, some OOP languages such as Flavors and the Common Lisp Object System (CLOS) enable discriminating on more than the first parameter of the function.[2] Inheritance is the ability to subclass an object class, to create a new class that is a subclass of an existing one and inherits all the data constraints and behaviors of its parents but also changes one or more of them.[3][4]

 

Object-oriented programming[edit]

Main article: Object-oriented programming

Object-Oriented programming is an approach to designing modular reusable software systems. The object-oriented approach is fundamentally a modelling approach.[5] The object-oriented approach is an evolution of good design practices that go back to the very beginning of computer programming. Object-orientation is simply the logical extension of older techniques such as structured programming and abstract data types. An object is an abstract data type with the addition of polymorphism and inheritance.

 

Rather than structure programs as code and data an object-oriented system integrates the two using the concept of an "object". An object has state (data) and behavior (code). Objects can correspond to things found in the real world. So for example, a graphics program will have objects such as circle, square, menu. An online shopping system will have objects such as shopping cart, customer, product,. The shopping system will support behaviors such as place order, make payment, and offer discount. The objects are designed as class hierarchies. So for example with the shopping system there might be high level classes such as electronics product, kitchen product, and book. There may be further refinements for example under electronic products: CD Player, DVD player, etc. These classes and subclasses correspond to sets and subsets in mathematical logic.[6][7]

 

Specialized objects[edit]

An important concept for objects is the design pattern. A design pattern provides a reusable template to address a common problem. The following object descriptions are examples of some of the most common design patterns for objects.[8]

 

Function object: an object with a single method (in C++, this method would be the function operator, "operator()") that acts much like a function (like a C/C++ pointer to a function).

Immutable object: an object set up with a fixed state at creation time and which does not change afterward.

First-class object: an object that can be used without restriction.

Container: an object that can contain other objects.

Factory object: an object whose purpose is to create other objects.

Metaobject: an object from which other objects can be created (Compare with class, which is not necessarily an object)

Prototype: a specialized metaobject from which other objects can be created by copying

God object: an object that knows too much or does too much. The God object is an example of an anti-pattern.

Singleton object: An object that is the only instance of its class during the lifetime of the program.

Filter object

Distributed objects[edit]

Main article: Distributed object

The object-oriented approach is not just a programming model. It can be used equally well as an interface definition language for distributed systems. The objects in a distributed computing model tend to be larger grained, longer lasting, and more service-oriented than programming objects.

 

A standard method to package distributed objects is via an Interface Definition Language (IDL). An IDL shields the client of all of the details of the distributed server object. Details such as which computer the object resides on, what programming language it uses, what operating system, and other platform specific issues. The IDL is also usually part of a distributed environment that provides services such as transactions and persistence to all objects in a uniform manner. Two of the most popular standards for distributed objects are the Object Management Group's CORBA standard and Microsoft's DCOM.[9]

 

In addition to distributed objects, a number of other extensions to the basic concept of an object have been proposed to enable distributed computing:

 

Protocol objects are components of a protocol stack that enclose network communication within an object-oriented interface.

Replicated objects are groups of distributed objects (called replicas) that run a distributed multi-party protocol to achieve high consistency between their internal states, and that respond to requests in a coordinated way. Examples include fault-tolerant CORBA objects.

Live distributed objects (or simply live objects)[10] generalize the replicated object concept to groups of replicas that might internally use any distributed protocol, perhaps resulting in only a weak consistency between their local states.

Some of these extensions, such as distributed objects and protocol objects, are domain-specific terms for special types of "ordinary" objects used in a certain context (such as remote invocation or protocol composition). Others, such as replicated objects and live distributed objects, are more non-standard, in that they abandon the usual case that an object resides in a single location at a time, and apply the concept to groups of entities (replicas) that might span across multiple locations, might have only weakly consistent state, and whose membership might dynamically change.

 

Objects and the Semantic Web[edit]

The Semantic Web is essentially a distributed objects framework. Two key technologies in the Semantic Web are the Web Ontology Language (OWL) and the Resource Description Framework (RDF). RDF provides the capability to define basic objects—names, properties, attributes, relations—that are accessible via the Internet. OWL adds a richer object model, based on set theory, that provides additional modeling capabilities such as multiple inheritance.

 

OWL objects are not like standard large grained distributed objects accessed via an Interface Definition Language. Such an approach would not be appropriate for the Internet because the Internet is constantly evolving and standardization on one set of interfaces is difficult to achieve. OWL objects tend to be similar to the kind of objects used to define application domain models in programming languages such as Java and C++.

 

However, there are important distinctions between OWL objects and traditional object-oriented programming objects. Where as traditional objects get compiled into static hierarchies usually with single inheritance, OWL objects are dynamic. An OWL object can change its structure at run time and can become an instance of new or different classes.

 

Another critical difference is the way the model treats information that is currently not in the system. Programming objects and most database systems use the "closed-world assumption". If a fact is not known to the system that fact is assumed to be false. Semantic Web objects use the open world assumption, a statement is only considered false if there is actual relevant information that it is false, otherwise it is assumed to be unknown, neither true nor false.

 

OWL objects are actually most like objects in artificial intelligence frame languages such as KL-ONE and Loom.

 

The following table contrasts traditional objects from Object-Oriented programming languages such as Java or C++ with Semantic Web Objects:[11][12]

 

OOP ObjectsSemantic Web Objects

Classes are regarded as types for instances.Classes are regarded as sets of individuals.

Instances can not change their type at runtime.Class membership may change at runtime.

The list of classes is fully known at compile-time and cannot change after that.Classes can be created and changed at runtime.

Compilers are used at build-time. Compile-time errors indicate problems.Reasoners can be used for classification and consistency checking at runtime or build-time.

Classes encode much of their meaning and behavior through imperative functions and methods.Classes make their meaning explicit in terms of OWL statements. No imperative code can be attached.

Instances are anonymous insofar that they cannot easily be addressed from outside of an executing program.All named RDF and OWL resources have a unique URI under which they can be referenced.

Closed world: If there is not enough information to prove a statement true, then it is assumed to be false.Open world: If there is not enough information to prove a statement true, then it may be true or false.[13]

 

sunrise,..vision one

 

Every once in a while I try something different to break the monotonous habits I form around methods of "making." In this case, digital painting.

life just ain't going right for me recently, like it's toying with me. Happiness come & go just like the wind, as always luck is not on my side. Don't even know what to do anymore, time to wake up...

Strobist: Vivitar 285HV thru umb cam R

In the realization of the attic Gaudí adopted an ingenious architectural solution based on the use of so-called catenary arch, which allows an even distribution of loads by eliminating the need for columns, walls and buttresses. The result is an environment that calls to mind a cave, or some say the rib cage of a large animal like a whale.

 

---

 

Nella realizzazione della soffitta Gaudí adottò una ingegnosa soluzione architettonica basata sull'utilizzo del cosiddetto arco catenario o arco equilibrato, che consente una omogenea distribuzione dei carichi eliminando la necessità di colonne, muri e contrafforti. Il risultato è un ambiente che richiama una caverna, o secondo alcuni la cassa toracica di un grande animale come la balena. In passato vi trovava posto la lavanderia dei condomini mentre oggi ospita un piccolo museo dedicato all'architetto catalano. Due scale a chiocciola collegano i locali della soffitta alla terrazza.

it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_Batll%C3%B3#La_soffitta

 

--

Website (wip): picas.cc/

 

Twitter: twitter.com/supersum30

and you realize you stepped off your spaceship one planet too early.

 

the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.

Cosmopolitan: April 1955

Illustration by Rowland Emmit

Realization Point Sunset, Flagstaff Rd. Boulder, CO

Thaumatophyllum giganteum - Self-Realization Fellowship Meditation Gardens, Encinitas, California

The forest of Anor Lass is well known for very rich floral growth, consisting of thousands and thousands of different herbs that can be found amongst its trees. Herbalists from all over the realm venture into Anor Lass to collect herbs for their potions and alchemical concoctions. Some of them have built small wooden houses there, in case they need to spend the night to collect some rare night or early morning plants.

 

Gedion, one of the oldest herbalist in town, witnessed something very unusual one night.

"The Moon was young and the sky was clear so I took the opportunity to collect some fallen leaves of Moonskin tree. With every full moon the tree makes room for new leaves on it and sets free old ones. They are very hard to see during the day and even harder yet during the night. But when the moon is young and not obscured by the clouds, edges of fallen leaves glow shyly and that make them easier to spot. Tea made from those leaves helps you stay awake and if you lose track of the cups you drank, your eyes can adjust to dark much more easily.

 

I was just picking up the third leaf and suddenly the earth started to tremble. The shakes were getting stronger and the noise scarier. It was coming from the direction of my house, and just as I realized that the treetops were glowing with a faint red hue, out of nowhere, my house was among the treetops. As I saw that, everything stopped immediately - except the red light. I was scared and I wanted to run, but being 71 years old, that was not an option, so I just hid myself in a bush by the road. After some time I heard my horse, so I went back there to see if is it hurt or in trouble.Goddamn horse, bringing me nothing but trouble! When I got back to the house, I saw it high on a big black rock, and some man holding on to his head with one hand and some strange hat and staff in other. When he saw me, he went in my direction and asked me "Is that your house?" Being scared at the moment, I told him that I will let my dog Ando on him if he came any closer, so he stopped right away and said that he means no harm. That was actually quite good because God knows where Ando was at the time. To hell with the dog to, he is no better that that horse. Strange man put his even more stranger hat on his head and introduced himself, but I forgot his name right away. He asked me again if that was my house and I said yes. He started apologizing and apologizing and mumbling something in god knows which language, and then started saying that he got overexcited and that this was an accident and that he will fix everything. After quite a long apology, he said that he will be back before the sky turns blue and that I should wait for him. I said nothing for that whole time and as he turned away, I just saw him disappear in the dark.

 

Three big crystals rumbled the earth and popped out of it. Very pleasant for the eye and warm when touched, they were the source of the red light. After I finished observing them, I looked up and saw that my house is not on some big black stone but on a giant black hand. The realization made my sight blurry, and the next thing I remember was someone poking me with the stick and asking me if I am allright. And it was him - the man who ruined my house! In my 71 years of life, this was the most unpleasant awakening, and also first time to see my house from way down below. He helped me to get up while mumbling apologies, but then I start yelling that sorry will not fix my house and bring it down from that horrible demon hand. And that was when he showed me my "new" house. The damage done to it was gone and it was looking as it was brand new. The rumbling and quaking must have changed the course of some underground stream because now there was even a spring of fresh water flowing underneath it.To be honest, it looked even better than before, but I could not admit that to this asshole. The only thing that was truly different was that now I had a stairway up to my front door. How in fourteen worlds does that fool think that a 71 years old man can walk that many stairs? So I started yelling on him again, but he just calmly walked to the stairs and started doing something with his staff and a bag of something strange that he unhooked from his belt. After a few moments some dust come out from the bag and started climbing up to the stairs, sinking into the stones on the stairs and giving them a faint glow. He said "There! On these stairs you will never be tired, you will never slip, you will always see where you are going and it will never freeze. Here. Try it!". And try it I did. Honest to all four gods, I never felt more rested while climbing. On the middle way up I turned to ask him what kind of a stone that was but he was already gone and I never saw him again. That was probably good, because who knows where would my house could end up with our next meeting.

 

To this day people are coming from the city to see my house on the giant hand with its magical stairs. Once a thief tried to steal the stones from the stairs but he could not move them at all. Heh, stupid thief.

 

One winter passed since that quite unordinary day and the stairs are still here, as you can see, and house still looks brand new. The crystals lost their glow after few full moons, and over time even started losing their red color. Still, they look nice and they are ever warm to the touch. I think that is the complete story of how my house got up in the sky. Now, would you like a cup of tea?"

My gorgeous youngest daughter Phoebe off to the Prom, year 11 leavers, seems only yesterday since she embarked on her school career, that's why it is so important to never miss a second of their childhood, because it is gone all too soon, made me cry a little, with joy and realization. Keep up the good work Phoebe, you are a star.

Ideas living in your mind

hopes growing in your heart

dreams invading your nights and days

thoughts being present in your tears, shrugs and chukcles

 

The stuff you are made of

 

Now

materializing

solidifying

corporealizing

 

The world outside your mind

is mimicing, mirroring, materializing

your idea

As I prepared for my day today, my mind thought reached a realization - it's be a full 10 months since I've photographed a bear! No wonder I've been missing them.

 

On a trip to the Canadian Rockies to meet up with Jeff Clow's DCPT in Banff, Tom & I went out early to explore other photo opportunities surrounding that area. One of the areas that we found particularly fun for it's uniqueness, was the town of Golden in British Columbia, Canada. There was so much to do there - hiking, mountain biking, paragliding - to name a few. There was also quite a bit of wildlife there, including BEAR! So you know that I was quite the happy camper. Actually even the camping was wonderful, as we slept peacefully in our yurt nearby.

 

So, one evening when we drove around the town, on the way out, I spotted this black bear along the roadside (which is unusual because normally wildlife is spotted by my personal "wildlife spotter extraordinaire" husband Tom. The black bear was seemingly dining on what appeared to be some grain or oats that got spilled in the gravel along the roadside pull-out. So we pulled over and from the car, I happily snapped away images. Of course, when a car is pulled over with a long lens pointed out the window, many more cars are to follow. Now when I'm the additional car, it's never a problem :-) , but when you have wildlife to yourself, trying to be respectable to their space and signs that they're exhibiting with your presence, when a big rig shows up and activates it's air brakes and positions itself between you and the wildlife, that's an issue... enough said, I won't dwell on it. Back to the story ...

 

So every time we were either coming or going from the area, must times we spotted a black bear there. Not sure how many there were, but there was more than one based upon size, color, etc. So it became on ritual to stop in on the area and watch or wait for the bears to show up.

 

In this image, the bigger of the bears had obviously fed enough and was taking a break in the action. As it simply laid down and rested, it would look up at me while I was photographing it. The look in its eyes was such an intriguing look and I couldn't help but wonder what it was thinking. What do you think?

 

Well, I just had to get my bear fix for the day. My time to visit with the bears and other wildlife (other than birds) are WAY overdue. In a few weeks I'll begin my 30-day countdown to Alaska and for me, it can't come soon enough!

 

Thanks for stopping by to visit and especially appreciate all of your comments and thoughts. Have a busy day today, so I'll be catching up with your streams as time allows this weekend. Have a great one!

i am very upset.

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Art house Leidse Rijn Utrecht Netherlands - 2004-2010

Stanley Brouwn - artist - idea

Bertus Mulder - architect - realization

"Here's a sobering thought: what if, at this very moment, I am living

up to my full potential?"

 

- Jane Wagner