View allAll Photos Tagged Reasoning
“Intuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without proof, evidence, or conscious reasoning, or without understanding how the knowledge was acquired.” Wikipedia
aka "тихо пахнет старый керосин"
I have been on a prolonged Flickr absence. Please see my profile for the reasoning.
**
This photo was taken on a trip I took with three friends to Bali at the end of July. This was on an island called Nusa Lembongan, where we had to drive our motorbikes to the north-east side at 5:00AM in order to catch this sunrise. This was the fishing village residents as they began their day.
**
All lighting in this photograph is SOOC, there has been no post-processing.
Can you take it?
islands within islands
like air within you
the breath of legends
when the rains of time
finally stop
with no place left to go
peters to a teardrop
bowing, falling, before the sun
the breaking of our silence
opening kingly vistas;
an optimistic castlelated presence
ought we to take leave?
as in the flight of ghosts
the chances of which
appear at odds with their hosts
leading nowhere
winning only the heart of Season
reasoning the mind emphatically
a memoir appears the momentary sovereign.
by anglia24
13h20: 10/10/2007
© 2007anglia24
☀
Todays temperature: 15°C
Todays song: Japan: "Ghosts"
"The nest is the most illustrative mirror of the mind of a bird. It is the most palpable example of the qualities of reasoning and thinking with which these creatures are undoubtedly highly endowed "(English Ornithologist Charles Dixon)
“El nido es el espejo mas ilustrativo de la mente de un pájaro. Es el ejemplo más palpable de las cualidades de razonamiento y pensamiento con las que estas criaturas están sin duda altamente dotadas” ( Ornitólogo Inglés Charles Dixon)
Tomado de l libro "EL INGENIO DE LOS PAJAROS". Jennifer Ackerman. Editorial Ariel, Traducción de Gemma Deza Guil, pag. 214
Nombre común: Oropendola crestada
Nombre científico: Psarocolius decumanus
Nombre en inglés: CRESTED OROPENDOLA
Nombre en alemán: Krähenstirnvogel
Nombre en francés: Cassique huppé
Lugar de la foto: Reserva natural "Viento Solar" - Rio Cedro- Moñitos- Córdoba- Colombia
On my now rare excursions into beautiful places I take a lot of photographs and when I flick back through these multiple images I sometimes forget my original thoughts and reasoning behind the capture. In my defence seeing the image again as a flat 2D raw the depth is lost so my compositional reasoning is not apparent. Todays image for example taken in November 2021 has been skipped past many times as just another characteristic rustic oak standing out in the misty morning, but it wasn’t until got rid of the distraction of the autumn oranges I again saw my composition. Now in mono the shape of the background trees stand out and the scene emerges and it’s not just about a characteristic oak in a misty morning.
The astute philosopher seeks the optimum environment to contemplate the epistemological, metaphysical, and axiological concepts that form the foundational pillars of philosophical investigation.
Some masters have retreated to mountain heights. Others to temples of knowledge. Linus prefers a bench in Turtle Crossing Park.
It offers the quiet solitude (Sometimes.) that is conducive to clear, flowing thought. Both inductive and deductive reasoning are vigorously pursued.
...
...grrrmbbll...
...
Linus has deduced that his hunger is an epistomological certainty, his empty stomach is a metaphysical reality, and a cheeseburger is of immense axiological value.
...
...grrrmbbll...
...
Time to head to Boop's. There, Linus will be able to more fully explore the insurmountable ontology of the cheeseburger, the profound aesthetic of grilled beef and cheese, and the evident causality on the effect of his hunger.
It's all for philosophy.
•────────────────•°•❀•°•────────────────•
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
Peanuts Collection
50 Years Celebration
Linus
1998, Flambro
Flambro is another of our favorite brands for the Peanuts license. We had an account with them when we had our collectibles store and Flambro never failed to delight with their colorful and innovative designs.
This series, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Peanuts (Which occured in 2000), features nine figurines, each of them incredibly cute, such as Linus here.
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50429117446/
Linus has been seen making Sally Brown's day in BP 2022 Day 93:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51979042027
And ruining Sally Brown's evening in Halloween 2018:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/44916334414
Linus has been seen in celebrating Christmas 2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/25405215048
And Christmas 2022:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/52583890655
And loooots of philosophizing in BP 2019 Day 104:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/47556990622
In BP 2022 Day 86:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51964794123
In BP 2023 Day 71:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/52742510422
In BP 2024 Day 119:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/53684193732
in BP 2025 Day 117:
Customline ute.
In its day it was someone’s pride and joy and possibly it was used as a work vehicle considering that it is a Ford Customline ute with a canopy.
Perhaps it was a tradies ute as the canopy would have provided security for tools to be carried in the tray and it would have been powered by either a 223 cubic inches (3,650 cc) inline six-cylinder or 272 cubic inches (4,460 cc) V8 engines this ute was once powered by a V8.
However the missing bonnet badge would indicate that it wasV8 powered.
Like everything the this vehicle became obsolete and it is impossible to know the reasoning for its demise but what is known is that today it is featured as a garden ornament and provides us with a great insight into the early days of motor vehicle travel.
Mount George.
New South Wales, Australia.
Almost at the point of conjunction (30 June 2015) but not quite, Jupiter and Venus together in the sky this evening, taken looking out towards Dunmow from Felsted, Essex.
Before scientific reasoning and understanding, scenes in the sky like this would have been interpreted by ancient civilisations in many different ways. I like to think that they were good omens and a sign of the need for reconciliation. Two worlds quietly seen together in the sky to show us how it's done.
For many of us who are way past our school days, we can still remember the rush of adrenaline we experienced in high school when we had just gotten seated and our teacher announced we were going to have a pop quiz over the material we had gone through the day before.
Looking back, I am not sure of the reasoning for these quizzes, but invariably someone in the class would raise their hand and ask the teacher, “Will this count on our final grade?”
However, those quizzes seem quite tame in relation to the pop quizzes deer undergo in Minnesota each fall. This fine specimen of buck whitetail deer will have been eagerly sought after by hunters from the middle of September right up until the last day of December. He had just completed a frantic gallop across an open field when I photographed him as he paused briefly before entering the woods.
This year’s season marks the beginning of over 150 years of deer hunting seasons in Minnesota, following the first one established in 1858, when I was just a boy.
Deer have to endure a gauntlet of weapons used against them, starting with bow hunting, followed by rifles, and ending with shotguns. Their main defense starts with alertness to every sound of a branch crunching, catching the whiff of human, or spotting the almost imperceptible movement of a hunter.
On average, there are anywhere from 150,000 to 200,000 deer harvested each year in our state.
Deer numbers have tended to increase both in Minnesota as well as nationwide, where there are an estimated 30 million or more roaming the countryside as well as the edges of urban areas.
(Photographed near Cambridge, MN)
Fitz Roy (Patagonia) 20240206
Long before the ascent of any these impressive peaks was envisioned and the western explorers discovered this land, the king of this land was the wind, who shared its kingdom with the original inhabitants of this land, the Tehuelches. They referred to this mountain as “Chaltel” or “Chaltén” meaning smoking mountain, a name no doubt inspired by the clouds that so often trail from the summit. Unfortunately the western newcomers had their heads too full of heroes to celebrate and appreciate the poetry of the original Tehuelche name.
It was Francisco Pascasio “Perito” Moreno that renamed the peak after Robert Fitz Roy, an English astronomer and sailor (1805-1865), who was partly responsible for the first accurate mapping of the intricate watersheds and shorelines of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. On his second trip to Patagonia in 1834, together with Charles Darwin, Fitz Roy set out to explore the Río Santa Cruz in hopes of reaching the Andes, but after sailing 140 miles up river they were forced to turn around, resigning themselves to a very distant sight of the snow covered mountains.
Of the mountain he later christened as Cerro Fitz Roy Moreno writes: “Los Tehuelches me han mencionado varias veces y con terror supersticioso, esta ‘montaña humenate’. Es el ‘Chalten’ que vomita humo y cenizas y que hace temblar la tierra...” He later on explains his reasons for renaming the peak “Cerro Fitz Roy”: “...como el nombre de ‘Chalten’ que le dan los indios lo aplican ellos también a otras montañas, me permito llamarle ‘Fitz Roy’, como una muestra de gratitud que los argentinos debemos a la memoria del sabio y enérgico almirante inglés...” The reasoning seems in accordance to the principles of the early explores, who felt they were discovering a land that had in fact been inhabited for almost 12.000 years.
The clouds that so often trail the summit tricked everyone, from the Tehuelches to Moreno, into thinking the peak was a volcano. It was not until 1899 that German naturalist Rodolfo Hauthal visited the area and clearly established that the peak was in fact granite.
Magpie - Pica Pica......(Thanks Ian)
The Eurasian magpie or common magpie (Pica pica) is a resident breeding bird throughout northern part of Eurasian continent. It is one of several birds in the crow family designated magpies, and belongs to the Holarctic radiation of "monochrome" magpies. In Europe, "magpie" is used by English speakers as a synonym for the European magpie: the only other magpie in Europe is the Iberian magpie (Cyanopica cooki), which is limited to the Iberian Peninsula.
The Eurasian magpie is one of the most intelligent birds, and it is believed to be one of the most intelligent of all non-human animals. The expansion of its nidopallium is approximately the same in its relative size as the brain of chimpanzees, orangutans and humans.
Magpies were originally known as simply "pies". This comes from a proto-Indoeuropean root meaning "pointed", in reference to either the beak or the tail. The prefix "mag" dates from the 16th century and comes from the short form of the given name Margaret, which was once used to mean women in general (as Joe or Jack is used for men today); the pie's call was considered to sound like the idle chattering of a woman, and so it came to be called the "Mag pie". "Pie" as a term for the bird dates to the 13th century, and the word "pied", first recorded in 1552, became applied to other birds that resembled the magpie in having black-and-white plumage.
The range of the magpie extends across temperate Eurasia from Spain and Ireland in the west to the Kamchatka Peninsula. The species has been introduced in Japan on the island of Kyushu.
The preferred habit is open countryside with scattered trees and magpies are normally absent from treeless areas and dense forests. They sometimes breed at high densities in suburban settings such as parks and gardens. They can often be found close to the centre of cities.
Magpies are normally sedentary and spend winters close to their nesting territories but birds living near the northern limit of their range in Sweden, Finland and Russia can move south in harsh weather.
A study conducted near Sheffield in Britain, using birds with coloured rings on their legs, found that only 22% of fledglings survived their first year. For subsequent years, the survival rate for the adult birds was 69%, implying that for those birds that survive the first year, the average total lifespan was 3.7 years. The maximum age recorded for a magpie is 21 years and 8 months for a bird from near Coventry in England that was ringed in 1925 and shot in 1947.
The Eurasian magpie is believed not only to be among the most intelligent of birds but among the most intelligent of all animals. Along with the jackdaw, the Eurasian magpie's nidopallium is approximately the same relative size as those in chimpanzees and humans, significantly larger than the gibbon's. Like other corvids, such as ravens and crows, their total brain-to-body mass ratio is equal to most great apes and cetaceans. A 2004 review suggests that the intelligence of the corvid family to which the Eurasian magpie belongs is equivalent to that of great apes (chimpanzees, orangutans, and gorillas) in terms of social cognition, causal reasoning, flexibility, imagination and prospection.
Magpies have been observed engaging in elaborate social rituals, possibly including the expression of grief. Mirror self-recognition has been demonstrated in European magpies, making them one of only a few species to possess this capability.The cognitive abilities of the Eurasian magpie are regarded as evidence that intelligence evolved independently in both corvids and primates. This is indicated by tool use, an ability to hide and store food across seasons, episodic memory, using their own experience to predict the behavior of conspecifics. Another behaviour exhibiting intelligence is cutting their food in correctly sized proportions for the size of their young. In captivity, magpies have been observed counting up to get food, imitating human voices, and regularly using tools to clean their own cages.[citation needed] In the wild, they organise themselves into gangs and use complex strategies hunting other birds and when confronted by predators.
In Europe, magpies have been historically demonized by humans, mainly as a result of superstition and myth. The bird has found itself in this situation mainly by association, says Steve Roud: "Large blackbirds, like crows and ravens, are viewed as evil in British folklore and white birds are viewed as good". In European folklore, the magpie is associated with a number of superstitions surrounding its reputation as an omen of ill fortune. In the 19th century book, A Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar, a proverb concerning magpies is recited: "A single magpie in spring, foul weather will bring". The book further explains that this superstition arises from the habits of pairs of magpies to forage together only when the weather is fine. In Scotland, a magpie near the window of the house is said to foretell death. An English tradition holds that a single magpie be greeted with a salutation in order to ward off the bad luck it may bring. A greeting might take the form of saying the words ‘Good morning, Mr Magpie, how are Mrs Magpie and all the other little magpies?’
Population:
UK breeding:
600,000 territories
Pensamientos divergentes
www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1godKRBeZc
Lady Gaga - Always Remember Us This Way
El pensamiento divergente es la técnica de intuir nuevas sensaciones y riesgos, sin refutar, sin comparar y sin pronunciarnos . Es el modelo de raciocinio que autoriza "afiliar" independientemente, aumentar y deliberar los probables nuevos aspectos de resolver desafíos complejos que no tienen un sólo dictamen oportuno y comprendido.
Diverging thoughts
Divergent thinking is the technique of sensing new sensations and risks, without refuting, without comparing and without pronouncing ourselves. It is the model of reasoning that authorizes independently "affiliating", increasing and deliberating the probable new aspects of solving complex challenges that do not have a single timely and understood opinion.
Pensées divergentes
La pensée divergente est la technique de détection de nouvelles sensations et de nouveaux risques, sans réfuter, sans se comparer et sans se prononcer. C’est le modèle de raisonnement qui autorise «l’affiliation» indépendante, en augmentant et en délibérant les nouveaux aspects probables de la résolution de problèmes complexes qui n’ont pas un seul avis opportun et compris.
Pensieri divergenti
Il pensiero divergente è la tecnica per percepire nuove sensazioni e rischi, senza confutare, senza comparare e senza pronunciarci. È il modello di ragionamento che autorizza indipendentemente "affiliazione", aumentando e deliberando i probabili nuovi aspetti della risoluzione di sfide complesse che non hanno una sola opinione tempestiva e capita.
María
Magpie - Pica Pica......
The Eurasian magpie or common magpie (Pica pica) is a resident breeding bird throughout northern part of Eurasian continent. It is one of several birds in the crow family designated magpies, and belongs to the Holarctic radiation of "monochrome" magpies. In Europe, "magpie" is used by English speakers as a synonym for the European magpie: the only other magpie in Europe is the Iberian magpie (Cyanopica cooki), which is limited to the Iberian Peninsula.
The Eurasian magpie is one of the most intelligent birds, and it is believed to be one of the most intelligent of all non-human animals. The expansion of its nidopallium is approximately the same in its relative size as the brain of chimpanzees, orangutans and humans.
Magpies were originally known as simply "pies". This comes from a proto-Indoeuropean root meaning "pointed", in reference to either the beak or the tail. The prefix "mag" dates from the 16th century and comes from the short form of the given name Margaret, which was once used to mean women in general (as Joe or Jack is used for men today); the pie's call was considered to sound like the idle chattering of a woman, and so it came to be called the "Mag pie". "Pie" as a term for the bird dates to the 13th century, and the word "pied", first recorded in 1552, became applied to other birds that resembled the magpie in having black-and-white plumage.
The range of the magpie extends across temperate Eurasia from Spain and Ireland in the west to the Kamchatka Peninsula. The species has been introduced in Japan on the island of Kyushu.
The preferred habit is open countryside with scattered trees and magpies are normally absent from treeless areas and dense forests. They sometimes breed at high densities in suburban settings such as parks and gardens. They can often be found close to the centre of cities.
Magpies are normally sedentary and spend winters close to their nesting territories but birds living near the northern limit of their range in Sweden, Finland and Russia can move south in harsh weather.
A study conducted near Sheffield in Britain, using birds with coloured rings on their legs, found that only 22% of fledglings survived their first year. For subsequent years, the survival rate for the adult birds was 69%, implying that for those birds that survive the first year, the average total lifespan was 3.7 years. The maximum age recorded for a magpie is 21 years and 8 months for a bird from near Coventry in England that was ringed in 1925 and shot in 1947.
The Eurasian magpie is believed not only to be among the most intelligent of birds but among the most intelligent of all animals. Along with the jackdaw, the Eurasian magpie's nidopallium is approximately the same relative size as those in chimpanzees and humans, significantly larger than the gibbon's. Like other corvids, such as ravens and crows, their total brain-to-body mass ratio is equal to most great apes and cetaceans. A 2004 review suggests that the intelligence of the corvid family to which the Eurasian magpie belongs is equivalent to that of great apes (chimpanzees, orangutans, and gorillas) in terms of social cognition, causal reasoning, flexibility, imagination and prospection.
Magpies have been observed engaging in elaborate social rituals, possibly including the expression of grief. Mirror self-recognition has been demonstrated in European magpies, making them one of only a few species to possess this capability.The cognitive abilities of the Eurasian magpie are regarded as evidence that intelligence evolved independently in both corvids and primates. This is indicated by tool use, an ability to hide and store food across seasons, episodic memory, using their own experience to predict the behavior of conspecifics. Another behaviour exhibiting intelligence is cutting their food in correctly sized proportions for the size of their young. In captivity, magpies have been observed counting up to get food, imitating human voices, and regularly using tools to clean their own cages.[citation needed] In the wild, they organise themselves into gangs and use complex strategies hunting other birds and when confronted by predators.
In Europe, magpies have been historically demonized by humans, mainly as a result of superstition and myth. The bird has found itself in this situation mainly by association, says Steve Roud: "Large blackbirds, like crows and ravens, are viewed as evil in British folklore and white birds are viewed as good". In European folklore, the magpie is associated with a number of superstitions surrounding its reputation as an omen of ill fortune. In the 19th century book, A Guide to the Scientific Knowledge of Things Familiar, a proverb concerning magpies is recited: "A single magpie in spring, foul weather will bring". The book further explains that this superstition arises from the habits of pairs of magpies to forage together only when the weather is fine. In Scotland, a magpie near the window of the house is said to foretell death. An English tradition holds that a single magpie be greeted with a salutation in order to ward off the bad luck it may bring. A greeting might take the form of saying the words ‘Good morning, Mr Magpie, how are Mrs Magpie and all the other little magpies?’
Population:
UK breeding:
600,000 territories
The Sierra Nevada, or "snowy range", is living up to its name as seen from the White Mountains in September 2014.
If you visit the area, there's a regional thought about the translation of Sierra Nevada, as "snowy range" means that to call them the "Sierras" is calling the range the "ranges", but it's only one range, so it's "the Sierra". Similarly, saying the "Sierra Nevada mountains" is equivalent to referring to "the snowy range mountains". While technically it's probably fine to say it in the context of the range's proper name Sierra Nevada (like "Snowy Range mountains"), it still seems a bit awkward to have the meaning effectively make the reference be a redundant plural "range mountains".
Of course English is a difficult language and it's even harder when you use proper names derived in another language it gets even more difficult. But if you walk around saying "The Sierras", a fair number of people will notice,even if they're too polite to observe out loud that it sounds like you just called one range multiple ranges. This is not to correct anyone, I'm not the grammar police, nor is the reasoning on these points necessarily 100% correct (as I observed with the potential conflict between proper name vs. its meaning), rather I present it to inform, so you can do whatever you like, but at least be informed enough to make the choice.
There are other regional practices that can instantly enable someone to identify themselves as "not from around here". Mono is locally pronounced "Mo-no", never Moh-no". Did you ever see the TV show Bewitched? One of the characters was Sabrina, pronounced "Sabreena". But don't say "Sabreena Lake", it's named Lake Sabrina, and locally pronounced Lake "Sa-breye-na". The foothills above Bishop are not "the Buttermilks", they're literally named "Buttermilk Country". In all likelihood, no one will confront you with any of these, but you may well overhear a discussion among locals nearby on the proper name. These are simply a few of the examples that I've witnessed. Are there more that I've missed?
Whatever you choose to call the places around here, they're pretty spectacular to experience!
The man who comes back through the Door in the Wall will never be quite the same as the man who went out. He will be wiser but less sure, happier but less self-satisfied, humbler in acknowledging his ignorance yet better equipped to understand the relationship of words to things, of systematic reasoning to the unfathomable mystery which it tries, forever vainly, to comprehend
Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception
So, my lovelies, it's been a while. The reasoning is thus: Flicker suddenly, and abruptly asked me for my site credentials which I didn't have, and locked me out for the site for the most part of the past year. I finally figured a trick on how to get back, so, after many months dealing with admins that are clueless as how to do their jobs, here I am.... like a baaad penny.
So, now that I'm back, I have loads of storm themed imagery to dump on my Flickr friends. I hope to hit y'all with a picture a day. This season has been productive, so there's a lot to share.
Hope you all are doing wonderfully despite high gas prices and everything sucking. Hoping this imagery of mine scares the ever non-brilliant and wussy Jason, "Man in Red" and causes him to stain his panties.
UP 8028 parks on main two and screws me out of any chances of shooting SP 177 and SP 319, both on two different behind this one. UP 8028's reasoning of stopping here is to set out a car here. Taken in Washington, Missouri on Union Pacific's Jeff City Sub.
UP 8028
CSX 7894
CSX 7794
February 10, 2015
Female catches and killing a white-vented Myna.
The myna fights for dear life but its fate is sealed after a brief moment of struggle. Equipped with powerful talons, it does not take much effort for the hawk to overpower and squeeze the life out of this helpless myna.
I realized that myna bird comprises a large part of the hawk's diet. My hypothetical reasoning would be that goshawks are not part of the urban community where mynas and pigeons strive. These abundant city dwellers do not recognize the hawk as a natural predator (apart from naughty human and ambitious domestic cats) and therefore they end up as easy preys.
To the hawk, it's a wining formula, nonetheless.
The following day I was struck down by covid.
In the morning, I took a covid test at home which turned
out to be -ve before heading to the doctor for running a fever. However, the mandatory covid test at the clinic turned out +ve and confirmed I'd contracted covid and was instructed to do my home quarantine for 7 days. The rest was history...
1. Rocky Mountain National Park, 2. Untitled, 3. You looking at me?, 4. Fly By, 5. Who me?, 6. wave, 7. Surprised Ocelot!, 8. EPV0036, 9. Mountain Zebra in the Mopani, 10. The orphan..., 11. Fish, 12. FISSURE: SECOND ENCOUNTER 28 9/18/86, 13. Indische dame, 14. H, 15. E, 16. L, 17. P, 18. Chains, 19. P6292743a, 20. Wolf (1105a), 21. U, 22. S, 23. New Zealand Blue Duck, Arundel, West Sussex, England, 13 October 2005, 24. Polar Bears - Threatened Species, 25. Lion-tailed Macaque(Macaca silenus) ENDANGERED, 26. Extinction Is Forever, 27. Monarch Butterfly, 28. Untitled, 29. Goliath Palm Cockatoo, 30. I'm a little bit shy!, 31. Quinault Rainforest #7, 32. Western Lowland Gorilla - Oscar Jonesy, 33. Red Wolf - Endangered, 34. hatchling emergence, 35. The Breadth of an Eagles Wings!, 36. Sahara desert in Tunisia
Voices in the Wilderness
Humanity searches
For the Missing Link
We of the Wild say
We are All Linked
Together
Links are Falling
Everywhere…..
Humans have
The bigger Brain
The capability
Of Cognitive Thinking
Reasoning
Maybe We in the Wild
Need only a small Brain
To store Only what Is
Important…..
The Circle of Life
Man progresses Our Life
Into oblivion
Think!
Reason!
If We are in Peril
Of Extinction
Then So is
All of Humanity
From Mountain Tops
To Ocean Depths
Rainforest
To Desert Sands
We are Calling…..
HELP US LIVE…..
KEEP THE LINKS FROM FALLING
SAVE US…..
SAVE HUMANITY!
written by Donna K Sullivan
Voice of Concern
When Gale (yeimaya) asked me to do a mosaic for the Voices in the Wilderness group, I thought I was aware of the plight of endangered species, but when I started looking at the photos and reading the educational narratives on many of them, I knew that I had a lot of research to do. I found a website www.fws.gov/endangered/wildlife.html#Species and was shocked when I clicked on the endangered/threatened species list. I really had no idea that there were soooo many. It is literally heartbreaking to think that in a few decades humanity is destroying what has been around for ages. It boggles the mind. After you numb yourself with all of the facts and figures, you then look into the eyes of all these doomed little souls and the numbness fades like a pain pill wearing off and you can actually feel your heart breaking. God help us help them! For those of you who are not up-to-date on this tragic circumstance, please join me in doing more research and finding a way to do what we can to help. For those of you already educated and working on this important issue, my heartfelt gratitiude!
Again, I have created this mosaic with beautiful and touching photographs of other flickr members. I would also like to give a special shout out to LeoL30 for all of his letter photography and being kind enough to let me snag them for my mosaics. Please check out his sets because he has other fantastic photos besides the great letters. He is definitely another flickr fanatic...lol. Thanks, Leo!
God Bless You All!
Pray for Peace!
(((((hugs)))))
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.
Likely due to this insufferable pandemic to date, I’ve gotten more inquiries than ever this year concerning the autumn conditions of the Blue Ridge Mountains… like I’m the trusted prognosticator. Ha! To be fair, have camera, will travel, and my friends know I keep my October calendar clear to make the most of what the highlands of North Carolina have to offer. So, I’m laying out my agenda this year, and the reasoning behind it… and, in terms of forecasting, I guarantee an accuracy of plus or minus 99%. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then, so trust me! Or don’t.
Perhaps I should start with a short primer for those who are unaware why our mountains display such a wide spectrum of fall colors. All the Blue Ridge, save for a few balds and monadnocks (look that up in your Funk and Wagnall… then look up “Look that up in your Funk and Wagnall” … ha!) are covered in not just dense forests, but forests with such diversity as few other places in the world. Over 100 tree species endemic to both southern and northern forests are found there. The reason for that is the LGP, the Last Glacial Period. Glaciers picked up Alpine forests and moved them south as far as Virginia and dropped them among southern forests as they retreated. That was on a Tuesday at about teatime, 12,500 years ago, the end of the LGP. Since that time, trees found in forests far north of Virginia like balsam, hemlock, and mountain ash are thriving in the cooler climate of the high elevations of the Blue Ridge. Mountain ash, known as a sarvis tree in the UK, grows at sea level in Ireland. In these mountains, it’s a good indicator of the altitude you’re hiking. It’s found here only in elevations above 5,000 feet (1524 meters) … which begs a question. Not all the mountains of the Blue Ridge rise to 5,000 feet and higher. If the glaciers stopped at Virginia, why and how are the Alpine trees found here in North Carolina (with higher elevations), too? They didn’t just march across the lower mountains to the high regions.
A good bit of science involves observation. Here in Durham, a wooden fence separates our backyard from a surrounding bit of woods. I noticed a tree coming up on the backside of the fence last year, but I didn’t recognize what type of tree it was. A friend researched it and identified it as a mulberry. I only know of a couple of places around town where there are mulberry trees, yet I know of none near my house. A bird, that had apparently made a feast of mulberries, lit on my fence, took aim and squeezed off a shot of seeds. The same thing happened in these mountains, with twelve-millennia of forestation by wind, rain, and critter. In a roundabout way, I suppose they did march across.
The picture I’m using to illustrate this post is of Second Falls. It is in the Shining Rock Wilderness off the Blue Ridge Parkway in a place known as Graveyard Fields at Milepost 418.8 (you can see Second Falls from the parkway at Milepost 418.5… here’s the view from there Autumn In the Clouds | There’s a lot to be said for autumn i… | Flickr). Sounds quite ominous, doesn’t it? Graveyard Fields got its name after a fire in 1925 razed 25,000 acres in the region. The blaze was so intense in this area that all that remained of the trees were ash heaps that reassembled a graveyard. The moniker stuck. No one, however, is quite sure how Second Falls got its name. One assumption is that Upper Falls, a little more than a mile upstream on the Yellow Prong, is the first. Since continuing upstream from Upper Falls is more than a bit hazardous, the assumption is exactly that.
While its name belies the beauty of Graveyard Fields, in autumn it’s sublime. This high mountain meadow is one of the first places along the Blue Ridge Parkway to hit peak autumn color. On good a good year, that usually occurs in October between the end of the first week and the beginning of the second… this image was taken on October 10, 2017, a very good year. That waterfall is surrounded by rhododendron, which are evergreens, though the cherries, maples, oaks, and blueberries leave no doubt as to the season. This year is shaping up to be a good year, too, if chaotic tropical storms stay out of the mountains for the foreseeable future.
So, what makes a good year for the brilliant hues of fall? A sufficient amount of water over the summer months is one thing. In dry years, the leaf color is muted, and they often dry out and turn brown while still on the tree. So far this year, rainfall has been quite sufficient, not just for leaves but also for waterfalls. Another consideration is temperature. Many autumns in the past have been more of the Indian summer variety with warm days extending well into October. The fall started off in the right direction with cooler weather. What triggers the change in leaf color isn’t cooler air temperatures, however; it starts once the ground cools to about 50°F (10°C). The Pisgah region of the Blue Ridge Parkway and south to Waterrock Knob has a lot of ground that pushes up beyond 6,000 ft. (1,828 meters). It is at those elevations where falls is first evident in this state. A rule of thumb concerning that is that the leaves change below those elevations at a rate of 100 ft. (30 meters) per day. My prediction is that, if high winds don’t enter too heavily in the mix, this should be a banner year for autumn in the Blue Ridge.
With that in mind, I’m leaving Sunday for a week’s stay in Pisgah Forest near Brevard just off Highway 276. That puts me well in range for DuPont State Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway, waterfalls off Highways 64 and 281, and perhaps even Cataloochee and Big Creek. When and where exactly has some to do with weather, especially if the entire area is overcast… those are good days for waterfalls, without contrastive light to obscure detail. My favorite sunset spot on the Blue Ridge Parkway is the Cowee Mountains Overlook at Milepost 430.7. I’ve told that to too many folks throughout the years already, so you might as well know, too. Many moons ago, I shared that spot with a few people and sometimes had it all to myself. Lately, I dubiously weigh up the crowd there with their tripods all lined up as I pull my own tripod from the back of the car. Just kidding. It’s feast of famine there for sunsets, but as Ansel Adams was prone to say, “f/8 and being there.” If you don’t know exactly what that means, you’re no photographer. My advice is that if there’s already a number a of photographers being there, just do what I do: throw out a few ‘scuse me, pardon mes and elbow your place amongst them. You’re welcome!
The next week, I’m moving out to a cabin between Linville and Newland near Linville Gorge, which should be in peak color then. Within range there is Linville Gorge, especially Wiseman’s View and Linville Falls, Grandfather Mountain, Rough Ridge (always a night hike there to catch sunrise), Beacon Heights, Boone Fork, Moses Cone House and Bass Lake, and Roan Highlands, especially Jane Bald (for sunset) and Round Bald. “Wait just a second… why would you go to a bald mountain for fall colors?” I’m glad you asked. Round Bald has great patches of blueberry bushes that turn brilliant red in the fall… with sunlight shining through them with a background of the colorful mountains surrounding the bald can be spectacular, particularly if sun and sky work together with some nice crepuscular rays. “What rays?” Funk and Wagnall. By the way, Price Lake is usually on that list. The dam there was damaged in the last tropical storm (remnant of Hurricane Fred) and drained the lake. The dam has since been repaired, but the lake level is still down, and it is closed to activities. I’m unsure how photo-worthy it is at this moment, though current rains should have made some difference.
A last thought, if you’re in this area and you haven’t had lunch at the Hampton Store in the community of Linville, shame on you. There are many bits and pieces I’ve not included here, though I realize that having used more than 10 words, I’ve likely overwhelmed many of you. If you made it this far, paste a gold star to your forehead. If you see me, drop by! Prognostication out.
Chicago, USA, 2017
Reasoning behind the photo can be found in my blog at www.fernandocoelho.photography/blog
Sometimes an idea works out differently than you expect. This was intended to be a photo of just a passionflower tendril with a droplet at its center, but the droplet would not form an acceptable “lens” based on the imperfect edges to the spiral. Many attempts were made before deciding that another element would be required.
I have a box of wildflower seeds that I collect opportunistically and use when the mood strikes. This one is a favourite: Salsify (also called Yellow Goat’s Beard). The large web-like sail on the seed holds water droplets nicely, and I nudged this seed firmly into the center of the spiral. It didn’t stay there for long, with the weight of the accruing water making it front-heavy and nearly falling out of the tendril. In its descent, friction against the thicker barbs at the end of the seed stopped it. The camera was ready for its previous positioning, but all settings were dialed in. A quick adjustment to framing and focus, and here we are.
Moments after the photo was taken, the seed continued to fall and ended up on the table. For a behind-the-scenes image I placed it back in the approximate location, and you can see that here: donkom.ca/bts/IMG_2283.jpg - a sunflower used as the background, connecting both blue and yellow is support of Ukraine.
And there has been some developments on that front, for those who do not receive regular news updates. There are five main points I’d like to mention:
- Russians have placed a human head impaled on a stick somewhere in Popasna. The thought process to commit such a crime is seemingly pervasive across their armed forces: instill fear for control with zero regard of human life. Russia is showing the world they are ready to head back to the Dark Ages, which began with the fall of Rome. The parallels to Moscow are uncanny.
- Russian forces tortured and murdered at least 50 Ukrainian Prisoners of War in Olenivka prison camp. They claim that Ukrainian forces struck the facility after learning that the prisoners were providing testimony about Ukrainian war crimes. In reality, all evidence indicates that a Russian thermobaric warhead was detonated inside the facility and not indicative of a missile attack. The war crime is a way to fuel the Russian propaganda machine in Moscow, where the Russian version of events will remain unchallenged.
- Amnesty International filed a report stating that Ukrainian forces were using civilian infrastructure and endangering civilian lives in the process. The report was not offered to Amnesty International Ukraine for input and was written by someone using testimony from people in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine. As a result, many people have cut ties with the organization with at least one founder leaving. Why is this important? Such a report basically gives Russia full permission in their delusions to fire on all civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, as if they weren’t doing that already. However, for the purposes of propaganda, this can paint such attacks in a heroic light for the Russian population.
- Unexpectedly and with devastating force, significant damage to an air base in Crimea has occurred, destroying more Russian aircraft than at any other point in the war and killing an estimated 60 pilots. The source of the attack is currently unclear, as the distance from Ukrainian-controlled territory is greater than the longest-range weapons that Ukraine has. Some people suggest it was an improvised drone strike that set of a cascade reaction of explosions, others suggest that Ukraine has been given weapons of which the public has no knowledge (fog of war reasoning). Either way, the Kerch bridge leading from Crimea to Russia has been jam packed with cars leaving the region. The Russians no longer feel safe there.
- There are reports that Russia has mined and planted explosives strategically inside and around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (the largest such facility in Europe). The head of the Russian forces in the region made “scorched earth” comments; basically, if Russia can’t have it, they’ll destroy it. This would be the largest nuclear disaster in history, resulting in radioactive clouds that would spread across the planet.
What does this all break down to? The complete disregard for human life by the Russian forces continue, and are partially enhanced by their ability to spin their own web of lies and justifications for further diabolical actions. Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces are grinding the Russian forces down, destroying certain bridges around Kherson and creating intense fear among the Russians in Crimea. For all the terror that Russia inflicts, they gain nothing but fear and uncertainty.
It's only a matter of time before the forces in the Kherson region are so diminished that the area can be liberated with a minimum of casualties to the brave men and women of Ukraine and all fighting alongside them. The demoralized forces from Russia will likely have an escalation of desertion, possibly with increased desperation in tactics.
Ukraine’s biggest challenge will be to bring the fight to the east side of the Dnipro River in the south. If powerful nations around the globe continue to supply Ukraine with more advanced, long-range weaponry, the next stage of the Ukraine War will begin. They all need our support, and we must be prepared for the unspeakable horrors discovered when towns and cities are liberated. Support charities working in the region, write to your government officials, create your own messages of support, rally and make it known that Russia cannot win and cannot be allowed to follow this path of tyrannical madness ever again. We continue our support over here, as best we can.
The last few years have been exceptionally tough to the United State's tinplate making operations, with increasing pressure from foreign steel dumping into country with numerous tin operations being idled all across. A direct sign of this becoming an increasingly worrisome problem was brought to the forefront to workers of United Steelworkers Local 2911 in May of 2023. WARN notices were filed by Cleveland Cliffs, with 300 layoffs expected the following month in June.
The reasoning being cited as the company could not compete and was being out-priced with the drastically cheaper imports flooding the market. Cliffs response was a trade case filing with the Department of Commerce to declare unfair trade practices on foreign tin and chromium products, to which the Dept of Commerce did so on 4 countries being Canada, China, South Korea, and Germany.
Further review from the International Trade Commission in February of 2024 rejected the tariffs - claiming no material injury to the industry and that products imported are sold at a reasonable price. For those interested to read the entire report, it can be found here.
On February 15th 2024, as a direct response to the ITC ruling, Cleveland Cliff's announced an "indefinite idling" of the tin mill operations located in Weirton, WV. WARN notices were filed for the remaining 900 employees notifying that the last day of operations would be April 15th of 2024.
April 15th would mark the end of more than 115 years of continuous steel making in the city of Weirton, WV and the last piece of the once vast Weirton Steel Corporation's operational facilities. In the photo above, Weirton Steel 306, painted up in current owner Cleveland Cliff's company colors is seen passing by the matching tandem mill buildings distant right of the train.
They are shuttling empty boxcars specifically made for moving tin coils from the mill to be transloaded onto trucks a few miles away. This is the "famous" Weirton Steel shot off of the West Virginia Route 2 bridge, looking down into what is now just a shell of the plant's former self. In the 1980's you could stand up on this bridge and see a nonstop orchestra of steel products being moved in every direction imaginable. The beginning of the end started in 1996, beginning the path down to a long and slow death leading to Weirton Steel Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in May of 2003.
In the bankruptcy proceedings that followed at auction, most assets were acquired by International Steel Group for $237 Million dollars. ISG would rename Weirton Steel to ISG Weirton Steel in May of 2004.
ISG did not waste time announcing a $30M clean up and modernization plan for the plant, involving the abatement and demolition of obsolete and idled structures. The scrapped steel was used to feed the blast furnaces on location.
Early 2005. The hammer falls one last time. Mittal Steel makes an offer totaling $4.5 billion dollars to buy ISG. The merger was completed in April of 2005, and ISG Weirton Steel became Mittal Weirton Steel. One month later, Mittal announces the idling of the blast furnaces and double strand casters by years end.
November of 2005 saw Mittal make the decision to permanently shut down the blast furnaces and accompanying furnaces due to high operational costs.
Following the Mittal - Arcelor merger in 2006, Arcelor Mittal announces the shut down of the hot mill in 2008. With just the cold sheet and tin operations left open, Arcelor Mittal sold all unused property (1,100 acres in all) to Frontier Steel of Buffalo, NY in 2017, who demolished all remaining structures on site.
(+9 in comments)
I have been staring at this little yellow box for almost twenty minutes now, trying to contemplate what to say. I don't want this to be cliché, nor let it be a novel, but enough to get my point across.
I can't tell you how many times I've actually wrote this description as 'practice', each more stereotypical than the next. So now that I'm here, let's just wing it:
So this is "The End". To be honest, I never thought I would complete this when I started back in January. I was going to quit back on Day 7, and call it a pat on the shoulder for effort. But by odd reasoning or fate or just my plain stubbornness, I kept on going, until my camera and photography had become a part of me.
Life changed through this year 2010, and I watched myself change. Mainly my perspective had evolved, to see a beauty in things people take for granted. I remember one particular time during a rugby tournament, I pointed out the bugs that were shining along the light; it was like rain lightly falling. Or the way the sun peeps through the clouds after a storm. Or the magic of golden hour (Of course).
Even though this project is done (I still can't believe it's over), I will never stop taking pictures for I simply cannot stop. But I want to expand. Shoot with models; shoot with film in the darkroom; shoot anything and everywhere on this little blue planet.
So I would like to say thank you. Thank you to my family, who have been so patient and supportive. Thank you to my friends, both in the "real world" and on here, you know who you are.
Thank you to anyone who has ever looked, commented or favorited, or wrote me a testimonial. Thank you, to those who have been here since Day One, somewhere in the middle, or even on this last day.
Thank you so much, and I'll see you soon. I love you guys so much.
-Rachael Hyde
ps. - I bet you were expecting something epic. I was flickrmailing someone and they described my style as beautifully simple. I didn't need a big bang to have a good ending.
pss. - Good luck to everyone starting a 365 tomorrow! It's difficult, but this feeling I feel right now cancels out all the bad days and stress. It's worth it if you succeed.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
365/365 (now THAT felt weird to type)
december 31, 2010
Know Thyself
by Alexander Pope
Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;
The proper study of mankind is Man.
Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,
A being darkly wise and rudely great:
With too much knowledge for the Sceptic side,
With too much weakness for the Stoic's pride,
He hangs between; in doubt to act or rest,
In doubt to deem himself a God or Beast,
In doubt his mind or body to prefer;
Born but to die, and reasoning but to err;
Alike in ignorance, his reason such
Whether he thinks too little or too much:
Chaos of thought and passion, all confused;
Still by himself abused, or disabused;
Created half to rise and half to fall;
Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;
Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled:
The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!
Location: Primitive Design- The Bunker
Pose: 5ifth Order
Guns: C-Tech Redemption mk 4.3
Deeds are done which appear so evil to us and people suffer such terrible evils that it does not seem as though any good will ever come of them; and we consider this, sorrowing and grieving over it so that we cannot find peace in the blessed contemplation of God as we should do, and this is why: our reasoning powers are so blind now, so humble and so simple, that we cannot know the high, marvelous wisdom, the might and the goodness of the Holy Trinity. And this is what he means where he says, “You shall see for yourself that all manner of things shall be well”, as if he said, “Pay attention to this now, faithfully and confidently, and at the end of time you will truly see it in the fullness of joy.”
-Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love
A short time after taking this picture I was devastated to hear they were starting to tear it down. I understood their reasoning but I was grateful to have seen the famous bridge in person and snap a few pics :)
I love blurry especially blurry people. :o)
This is a picture taken at the fun fair last year.
The following is original story posted.
Who are the photographers?
Are they observers without using a pair of eyes (just the single camera lens)?
Are they singers without music (just following the rhythm of life)?
Writers without using words (speaking the language with no alphabets)?
Philosophers without logical reasoning (just by visual instinct)?
Explorers without knowing the destination?
Lansdowne Carnival, Richmond BC. March 2016.
Fuji X-T1 camera
Fuji XF 35mm F2 WR lens
Velvia Film Simulation
Exposure Compensation: minus 1/3 stop
White Balance Daylight Fluorescent
像流水轉一般的名利圈，你看透了沒有？
hoping for the best, just hoping nothing happens
a thousand clever lines unread on clever napkins
i will never ask if you don't ever tell me
i know you well enough to know...
why can't i feel anything from anyone other than you?
i stay wrecked and jealous from this, for this simple reason,
i just need to keep you in mind as something larger than life
- taking back sunday, cute without the e
nottt even worth it if you don't look here.
lol yes i seriously just used a taking back sunday line as my title. talk about old-school emo kid inspiration. i still love them.
fjlasdjflasdk;awetoaisdjdfij this didn't turn out the way i wanted it because i was hoping for it to be still daylight when i took the picture, but i had to run errands and then i went out to dinner before i had the hearts finished. sooo. no natural lighting. whoops. i still like it, but, you know, it's different when you have another picture in your head.
harrumph okay. well. i've decided that this is officially a photoblog because i used to occasionally keep up a blog and it was no fun. flickr is so much easier to network on than, say, blogspot, so this = win. i guess i've been doing this for awhile anyway, but yeah, official declaration day. moving on...
todaaay's 365...almost did not happen because i took it at like, 9:30 at night haha, oops. but the reasoning behind it, umm. i guess i'm just fed up - the title kind of explains why. i'm just tired of meeting these guys that on paper seem really great, but there's just... nothing. they're flirting with me and i make a real effort to flirt back, but i'm just like... man, i don't even care, you know? i'm keeping an open mind but i guess i'm just not having any luck. there were a few guys last semester that seemed pretty into me, an acquaintance here or there that i could pursue something with, one back home that is persistently interested, and i just met another last night from school that seems sincerely attracted to me. they all have good qualities. but my feelings? nada. and it's not like i'm "not giving them a chance," because i tend to just kinda... know, right away, whether or not there's a real connection. and since my ex... it hasn't been there. no sparks whatsoever. *flop*
i just keep hugging this big dumb heartache while ignoring all the little ones around me. it's not like i want to. but it is what it is.
i guess.
hmph.
p.s. sorry but i'm probably going to be a total butt of a contact today. we're rearranging my room so i'm super busy.
p.p.s. there is a mosquito in my room and i am for real about to go super saiyan on his ass. so annoyyyyiiingngngng.
As soon as we abandon our own reason, and are content to rely upon authority, there is no end to our troubles.
Bertrand Russell, An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish
A display of reason rather than a threat of force should be the determining factor in the intercourse among nations.
Calvin Coolidge, inaugural address, March 4, 1925
Reason is always weak where prejudice is strong.
Norman Macdonald, Maxims and Moral Reflections
Never, never do violence to your rational nature. He who in any case admits doctrines which contradict reason, has broken down the great barrier between truth and falsehood, and lays open his mind to every delusion.
William E. Channing, Thoughts
HSS my Flickr Friends 😊 😊 😍
Thank you for your kind visit. Have a wonderful and beautiful day! ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
ZEKA
✧ UNRIGGED (XYZ)
✧ UNISEX
✧ 30+ TEXTURES
hoppy easter!! ( • ∀•)っθΘʘ ( had to do it to 'em )
if you couldn't tell, I've been into creating a lot of soft, fluffy things as of late, and the reasoning behind it is because they cure me, simply put :P so when easter started rounding the corner my bunny tail came to life at the thought of having an excuse to create another, soft, fluffy thing ( because as I should, right? )
zeka is unisex and fit for tots all the way up to the age of the unknown! included is a HUD with about 35 colours so you can mix n match and suit your needs <3
hope you enjoy
(L$65 for this weekend only! grab yours before it's gone <3)
As we move from 2021 into the new year, I’m doing it with the zest of a brown bear hot on the trail of a sumptuous salmon. There were moments to savor and many lessons to be learned over the past year. There were also many disappointments, most of which surrounding the “human condition” and an absence of what we call “humanity.” So, leap into 2022 with hope, love, encouragement, and ambition. Let logic, reasoning, and science guide you in your decisions. Remember that hate, ignorance, and ambivalence won’t establish successful long-term goals. Bring it on 2022!
Last week, I listened to a great documentary... all about the question of happiness. Various experts (scientists, psychologists, neurologists, etc.) had their say, and they all agreed on a few basic points.
First off, we are hard wired to seek certain types of happiness. Pleasures, essentially. Sex, food, physical comfort... things needed for survival of the species.
Yeah yeah. Common sense evolutionary stuff.
But the second point was fascinating.
It was this:
Happiness is, by its nature, not designed to last.
Again, it makes sense through the lens of evolution. Take food, for example. You eat it, you enjoy it, you're satisfied, and all is well. But only for a little while. Within a few hours, you're back on the prowl... back on the trail of that so-elusive happiness.
You can extend that same line of thinking to pretty much anything that gives us pleasure/happiness. We're driven to pursue it, we get it (if we're lucky), we're pleased with that... but only for a time.
Survival-wise, it's good. Because... if we were much more easily satisfied; if happiness, once found, stayed intact forever... we'd stop wanting; stop seeking; stop even trying. And what would be the point of even getting out of bed?
I see so many ways that this applies in our society. For example, people with addictions are ensnared in an obvious cycle of pursuing/finding/losing that temporary satisfaction. Overeaters, too. There's something in their brains that can't stand the fact that the pleasure/satisfaction/happiness of tasting/chewing/digesting is oh-so-fleeting. They want to extend it, keep it going, so they keep on putting more food in their mouths.
So... yeah. Happiness is sort of like a carrot. Life uses it to keep us motivated... keep us reaching, wanting, yearning... and, every now and then, we get a little nibble. No point feeding us the whole damned carrot. That would be the end of "progress."
Depending on your point of view, this line of reasoning could be depressing. I find it encouraging. It helps to explain why we get such enormous pleasure from anticipation (and why, sometimes, the actual realization of something pales in comparison).
I think this has a lot to do with another feature of evolution - our amazing capacity for adaptation. We're designed to be alert for new things - dangers, pleasures, things unknown. And... since we can only be alert for so many stimuli at any given time... our brains have to sort of set aside their responses to those things familiar and comfortable.
Again, this explains all sorts of behaviour. Infidelity. Consumerism. Fashion. Hell... even science itself; its advances are driven by the same unquenchable human desire... in this case, for knowledge (and possibly fame, fortune, etc).
We were not designed to stay still, to be satisfied. Life drives us endlessly to seek more... experience more... experience more diversity... all in our inherent desire for happiness.
So... ironically... it seems like the best way to find satisfaction/peace/comfort/whatever is to simply accept the fact that it can never last... and to (pardon the cliche) focus less on the destination and more on the journey. Because what really seems to make us happy is the pursuit of happiness, the promise of it... the uneaten chocolate... the fresh-poured drink... the glimpse of thigh... the pending weekend... the planned vacation...
The horizon, basically. The future. That's where it's at in terms of happpiness. And never mind the fact that when we get there... it's gone, because it is, by definition, always just beyond our reach.
I was reading this morning about New York City's ban on a certain word.
It's such a curious phenomenon.
Words are such powerful things in our society.
And... while I agree whole heartedly with the Lenny Bruce line of reasoning (use them a lot and you dilute or destroy their power)... I'm also amazed by the fact that a simple string of letters... an uttered syllable or two or three... can affect people so dramatically.
As a young woman, I was never really comfortable with the range of adjectives available to describe myself. "Woman" always seemed too grown up. Too old. Too responsible. To me it suggested some kind of worldly experience, a certain kind of sexual prowess and possibly maternal activities. Eek!! So I never called myself a woman.
And girl... Well. I never minded that in a certain, informal context. But... believe me. When you're 30 and in a supposedly professional workplace environment... and someone refers to you as "that young girl"... it feels like a type of insult.
Then, of course, there's "lady." Oh my goodness. To me it conjures up lords and ladies... lords a leaping, ladies dancing, high society, that kind of thing. I allowed that... while I might some day, with age, become a woman... I would never ever under any circumstances call myself a lady.
So... yeah. My preferred term has always been "chick." I'm sure that grates on some women's sensibilities, but... for me, it's always been the label that fits. Chicks know how to open beer with a hairbrush and roll skookum joints in a moving vehicle. Chicks wear boots, and use rough language and aren't afraid of working hard or getting dirty.
Actually... I think my happiest time in terms of self-identity in my 20s was the period where my friends (all male) described me as "a guy in a chick's body." Which I took to be the ultimate compliment. It meant I was female only in my physicality... but thought and worked and acted like a guy.
Annnnnyway... sorry. I'm just rambling this morning. And... as soon as I put this pic together, April Wine started singing in my head...
Coulda been all right
Coulda been here tonight
Coulda been sweet as wine
Coulda been a lady.
And... yeah. This here is the ONLY way I'll ever be a lady.
The daily Buffalo & Pittsburgh BTRI (Bulter, PA - Punxsutawney, PA) road freight roars north at trackspeed with 4 SD40-2's powering the train towards Punxsutawney, PA.
At Stanbaugh, the train crests a 1% grade, exiting the 714 foot bore and passing underneath a neat wooden bridge for some added interest.
Not much coverage of this outfit out on the web on between butler and Punxsy, but for good reasoning.
Such as you really have to get creative in choosing your spots being they run opposite to the sun 90% of the time. They move fast and don't talk on the radio much, with much of the railroad staying close to country back roads.
The best shots are probably to be had between Mossgrove and Punxsutawney, IMO. But there are few diamonds in the rough between Butler and Mossgrove.
Charlotte informed me earlier this evening that Flicker was changing its policies on non pro folks from 1 terabyte to 1000 pics. I was actually surprised that I'm over that number. I read their reasoning and I sort of agree, the only problem is, I have sent two kids through college, my autos are a 2001 Focus, a 1992 pickup, and a 2006 Tahoe. I'm Rich in name only and I have an expensive hobby. It looks like I'm going to be one of the millions to fall by the wayside after Jan first.
Take a long look at this one if you please, not a landscape one can find in a lot of places and it's representative of my current mood.
signed,
don't need mo monthly spences.
BAR GP-7 #73 is sitting outside the old roundhouse at Millinocket awaiting its next call the duty. The #73 was painted up in bicentennial colors and renumbered #1776, the reasoning used in selecting the 73 for this duty was it had gremlins and spent as much time in the shops as it did outside. The BAR being frugal as they were thought if we are going to be displaying a units at various locations it might as well be a problem child.
Eventually, the trail ends beside Holly Creek in a boulder garden from where I worked my way upstream above the confluence of Emery Creek which would be cascading into Holly Creek from creek-side right. After passing the confluence, I would need to cross Holly Creek and then cross Emery Creek to continue on the hike. This is where sound reasoning and experience would need to play out. I had purposefully planned to arrive here after a day of no rain and hopefully on a cloudy overcast. The day before, no rain and partly cloudy was the forecast. Before I arrived at the trailhead, I had stopped at a local store on the highway, where an associate there told me it had stormed the night before with heavy rain. That was important for me to know, because Holly Creek is a fast-flowing forceful creek and it ranges from knee-deep to waist-deep and more with slick rocks in the creek bed. I knew I would need to cross if I was going to continue the hike, but it had to right according to my perception and experience. Many people have fallen on this initial crossing which is considered to be the most challenging aspect of the hike. When accidents have occurred on the hike, the first crossing is where they usually occur. Considering the preservation of my camera gear in my backpack, I would need to be making the right decision. The water was fast, but I was able to find a place to cross which thankfully I was able to do without issue.
“The man who comes back through the Door in the Wall will never be quite the same as the man who went out. He will be wiser but less sure, happier but less self-satisfied, humbler in acknowledging his ignorance yet better equipped to understand the relationship of words to things, of systematic reasoning to the unfathomable mystery which it tries, forever vainly, to comprehend”
― Aldous Huxley, The Doors of Perception
B650 rushes south out of Bogart, GA with a trio of fall-themed locomotives in charge of the ethanol empties. This train took the long way around to Charlotte, NC due to the destruction along the Clinchfield. While the reasoning is unfortunate, it was nice to see ethanol traffic on this portion of the line again, as it had been several years since these trains had been removed from the Abbeville in preference for the Clinchfield route.
Had this eerie sense of floating through a cemetery this morning in the final moments before waking. A common theme lately is low altitude levitation (as opposed to full-fledged high level flight that I experienced when I was younger). It's as if my subconscious has become more cautious with age (mirroring a similar change in my conscious mind). The reasoning seems to still allow the fantasy of self flight, but the low altitude minimizes the risk of serious injury if I suddenly plummet into the ground (which never happens yet the risk, or at least fear, remains). In the dream, there's nothing at all unusual about a feat that, in real life, would literally defy the law of gravity. I either lift off the ground, or take a running jump that leads to absurdly long hang time before my feet touch back down. In this morning's iteration, I wound my way through the gravestones, observing them as I went, with little more direction than a leaf blowing in the wind. Yet it all felt perfectly controlled. The crossover between dream and wakeful thought was a place called Skeleton Hill. No such place exists in my real life (though I so wish it did). So my subconscious conjured it up for me. I just love when dreams mesh with conscious thought like this. And that the dream state created a name for this ethereal place. Dreams like Skeleton Hill are not the norm. Just as often I have an anxiety dream (well short of a nightmare but still unpleasant). These have taken many forms over the years. The anxiety morphs into whatever is mostly like to bother me in real life at any particular time. It's never really a big thing such that the anxiety is usually way out of proportion to the event. Doesn't matter, it's all just a dream. A recurrent format is the inability to photograph something that I desperately want or need to. The reasons vary. Maybe I can't locate my camera. Or the batteries are dead. Or I can't work the settings. Whatever. I generally awake still trying to sort out the malfunction with a sense of desperation. The urgency soon dissipates as I realize it was all in my mind. This is simply an updated version of a dream from my school days which involved me wandering the school hallways unable to locate my classroom. At least there's some balance. I can take some anxiety knowing some night soon I'll return to Skeleton Hill.