“If pain must come, may it come quickly. Because I have a life to live, and I need to live it in the best way possible. If he has to make a choice, may he make it now. Then I will either wait for him or forget him.”

― Paulo Coelho, By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept

My choice is clear...My choice is love....b.mikich

NEST BUILDING

=============

SORTING through all my images taken at Christmas Common, never saw, that this Red KIte was gathering twigs for nesting material, so have posted this as a extra interest .

=========================

THANK YOU FOR YOUR FRIENDSHIP, love reading your comments, will return the visit very soon.

========================

YESTERDAY 888888888888888888888

============a local nurse, 39 yrs old, with three daughters , died with this deadly virus. I wept !!! Brings it home much more when its on your doorstep. ********************************

========================

STAY at home dear friends, to keep well and safe, God bless...

...............Tomx.

The origin of the name Christmas rose can be traced back to the following story: A poor shepherd was on his way to Bethlehem. Because he brought no present to give to the baby Jesus, and because there were no flowers on the way in that cold season of the year, he wept bitterly. However, when his tears fell to the ground, flowers as beautiful as roses developed there. Overjoyed, the shepherd took those "Christmas roses" as a gift for baby Jesus.

The most magnificent panorama of Jerusalem is seen from the Mount of Olives, above the Jewish cemeteries. The center is dominated by Mosque of the Rock Moria with visible walls of Old Jerusalem. They were rebuilt many times. The present appearance comes from the reign of Suleiman Magnificent, i.e. the 16th century. The total length of walls is 13 km and the height is about 13 meters. Below the walls are old Jewish and Muslim cemeteries. The new Jewish cemeteries are located on the slope of the Mount of Olives, on the left bank of Cedron Valley.

In the background, the dome of the Church Tomb of Christ and the new Jerusalem are visible. In the upper left corner, the Basilica of the Dormition Blessed Virgin Mary is visible. In the lower right corner, the Olive Garden with the Gedsemani Church, golden domes of the Russian Orthodox Church Mary Magdalene and the Catholic chapel "Dominus Flevit" (Christ Wept).

-

Najwspanialsza panorama Jerozolimy widoczna jest z Góry Oliwnej, powyżej cmentarzy żydowskich. W centum dominuje meczet Kopuły Skały Moria z widocznymi murami Starej Jerozolimy. Były one wielokrotnie przebudowywane. Obecny wygląd pochodzi z czasów panowania Sulejmana Wspaniałego, czyli XVI wieku. Całkowita długość murów wynosi 13 km a wysokość około 13 metrów. Pniżej murów znajdują się stare cmentarze żydowskie i muzułmańskie. Nowe cmentarze żydowskie znajdują się na zboczu Góry Oliwnej, na lewym brzegu doliny Cedronu.

W głębi widoczna kopuła Bazyliki Grobu Chrystusa i nowa Jerozolima. W górnym lewym narożniku widoczna bazylika Zaśnięcia NMP. W dolnym prawym narożniku Ogród Oliwny z kościołem Gedsemani, złote kopuły rosyjskiej cerkwi Marii Magdaleny oraz kaplica katolicka "Dominus Flevit" (Chrystus Zapłakał).

(kerstinfrankart texture)

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

A SONG OF ETERNITY IN TIME.

ONCE, at night, in the manor wood

My Love and I long silent stood,

Amazed that any heavens could

Decree to part us, bitterly repining.

My Love, in aimless love and grief,

Reached forth and drew aside a leaf

That just above us played the thief

And stole our starlight that for us was shining.

A star that had remarked her pain

Shone straightway down that leafy lane,

And wrought his image, mirror-plain,

Within a tear that on her lash hung gleaming.

"Thus Time," I cried, '" is but a tear

Some one hath wept 'twixt hope and fear,

Yet in his little lucent sphere

Our star of stars, Eternity, is beaming."

S Lanier

Cloudy this morning, but not actually raining. Marnie and I saw this lovely old oak and I've painted it. Hope you like it !

My mother used to sing this 17th Century ballad when I was a child and I've remembered the start of it to this day. Here are the words to "The Oak and the Ash". There are lots of verses, but I'm sure you don't want to plough through them all. I can't find a sung version I like.

Here's one I don't like as I'm not keen on his voice !

Alfred Deller - The Oak and the Ash

'A North Country maid up to London had strayed,

Although with her nature it did not agree,

She wept and she cried and she bitterly sighed

Oh I wish once again in the north I could be.

Oh the oak and the ash and the bonnie ivy tree,

They flourish at home in my own country.'

~ Edited in Topaz Studio and PicMonkey ~

Only 4 or 5 months until Spring is here and the trees will push forth new leaves. Let's all do the same!

Thank you as always for every view and comment. Every one is appreciated greatly.

I watched this fishing boat struggle, as it entered this Inlet to the harbor of St Augustine, Florida. An extreme tide, 6'-8' waves and two overgrown rivers created a riptide as she made her way. All of this from the remnants of Hurricane Joaquin. I was just trying to take a good image of the boat as a small Gale occurred. When I looked up this rainbow appeared like a bolt of lightening. I am sure that the sailors onboard must have wept as it glowed on them coming into Port...

Of course, my thoughts and prayers went out to the lost sailors from the container ship "El Faro", lost near the Bahamas. This ship sailed out from Port Jacksonville, FL, directly into the path of "Joaquin". At this writing, the search for the ship and crew has ended. I am sure that they would have liked to have had seen this sign of promise as they found their way to their intended Port in Puerto Rico.

Procul Harum "A Salty Dog"

youtu.be/GzCkOnGfkGg

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

A SONG OF ETERNITY IN TIME.

ONCE, at night, in the manor wood

My Love and I long silent stood,

Amazed that any heavens could

Decree to part us, bitterly repining.

My Love, in aimless love and grief,

Reached forth and drew aside a leaf

That just above us played the thief

And stole our starlight that for us was shining.

A star that had remarked her pain

Shone straightway down that leafy lane,

And wrought his image, mirror-plain,

Within a tear that on her lash hung gleaming.

"Thus Time," I cried, '" is but a tear

Some one hath wept 'twixt hope and fear,

Yet in his little lucent sphere

Our star of stars, Eternity, is beaming."

S Lanier

“By the Rivers of Babylon

Where we sat down

And there we wept

When we remembered Zion

‘Cause the wicked

Carried us away

In captivity

Required from us a song

How can we sing King

Alpha song

In a strange land ?

Sing a song of Freedom,

Brothers !

Sing a song of Freedom,

Sister !”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

~from the song~ “Rivers of

Babylon”~ by the Melodians ~

youtu.be/BXf1j8Hz2bU

Hipstamatic photo>PICSPLAY >

DigitalPainting with Pixelmator >

Logo with PICSPLAY> Textures by

Accident©️>Tom Roche©️

All comments, faves and group invites

are very much appreciated ! Thank You 🙏

St Augustine Harbour, Florida, USA

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Au%20Paradis/155/7/22

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV72YrB1454

Reflections

The Supremes

Through the mirror of my mind

Time after time

I see reflections of you and me

Reflections of

The way life used to be

Reflections of

The love you took from me

Oh, I'm all alone now

No love to shield me

Trapped in a world

That's a distorted reality

Happiness you took from me

And left me alone

With only memories

Through the mirror of my mind

Through these tears that I'm crying

Reflects a hurt I can't control

'Cause although you're gone

I keep holding on

To the happy times

Oh, when you were mine

As I peer through the window

Of lost time

Looking over my yesterdays

And all the love I gave all in vain

(All the love) All the love

That I've wasted

(All the tears) All the tears

That I've tasted

All in vain

Through the hollow of my tears

I see a dream that's lost

From the hurt

That you have caused

Everywhere I turn

Seems like everything I see

Reflects the love that used to be

In you I put

All my faith and trust

Right before my eyes

My world has turned to dust

After all the nights

I sat alone and wept

Just a handful of promises

Are all that's left of loving you

Reflections of

The way life used to be

Reflections of

The love you took from me

In you I put

All my faith and trust

Right before my eyes

My world has turned to dust

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Lamont Dozier / Brian Holland / Eddie Holland

"Let us be thankful—not only because

Since last our universal thanks were told

We have grown greater in the world’s applause,

And fortune’s newer smiles surpass the old—

But thankful for all things that come as alms

From out the open hand of Providence:—

The winter clouds and storms—the summer calms—

The sleepless dread—the drowse of indolence.

Let us be thankful—thankful for the prayers

Whose gracious answers were long, long delayed,

That they might fall upon us unawares,

And bless us, as in greater need we prayed.

Let us be thankful for the loyal hand

That love held out in welcome to our own,

When love and only love could understand

The need of touches we had never known.

Let us be thankful for the longing eyes

That gave their secret to us as they wept,

Yet in return found, with a sweet surprise,

Love’s touch upon their lids, and, smiling, slept.

And let us, too, be thankful that the tears

Of sorrow have not all been drained away,

That through them still, for all the coming years,

We may look on the dead face of To-day."

- James Whitcomb Riley, "Thanksgiving"

~Macro Monday

~~Patterns

One of the many fine perspectives of this unique 3-pronged waterfall.

"Sol Duc Falls is by most accounts one of the most photogenic waterfalls in Washington State and by proxy is one of the most sought out waterfalls by photographers - and chances are it ranks favorably nationwide in similar comparisons. Set within the thick temperate rain forest of the Olympic Mountains, the Sol Duc River creates one of the more uniquely shaped waterfalls in the northwest where it splits into as many as four channels - depending on the volume of the river - hurtling 37 feet off the side of a cliff into a narrow canyon, followed by an 11 foot flume-style drop as the river exits the canyon into a broader gorge below.

Prior to 1991 the accepted spelling of all features bearing this name was Soleduck (sometimes spelled Solduck as well). The Washington State Board of Geographic Names approved the change to Sol Duc because of its more accurate translation from the Quillayute word, meaning "magic waters", from which it derives. A legend tells of two dragons, Sol Duc and Elwha, who fought to a draw and were sealed in deep caverns. They wept hot tears at their confinement which furnishes the water for Olympic and Sol Duc Hot Springs."

waterfallsnorthwest.com

Planning on seeing it again this September. Can't wait!

Enjoy a wonderful weekend!

♬MUSIC LINK♬

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

A SONG OF ETERNITY IN TIME.

ONCE, at night, in the manor wood

My Love and I long silent stood,

Amazed that any heavens could

Decree to part us, bitterly repining.

My Love, in aimless love and grief,

Reached forth and drew aside a leaf

That just above us played the thief

And stole our starlight that for us was shining.

A star that had remarked her pain

Shone straightway down that leafy lane,

And wrought his image, mirror-plain,

Within a tear that on her lash hung gleaming.

"Thus Time," I cried, '" is but a tear

Some one hath wept 'twixt hope and fear,

Yet in his little lucent sphere

Our star of stars, Eternity, is beaming."

S Lanier

A SONG OF ETERNITY IN TIME.

ONCE, at night, in the manor wood

My Love and I long silent stood,

Amazed that any heavens could

Decree to part us, bitterly repining.

My Love, in aimless love and grief,

Reached forth and drew aside a leaf

That just above us played the thief

And stole our starlight that for us was shining.

A star that had remarked her pain

Shone straightway down that leafy lane,

And wrought his image, mirror-plain,

Within a tear that on her lash hung gleaming.

"Thus Time," I cried, '" is but a tear

Some one hath wept 'twixt hope and fear,

Yet in his little lucent sphere

Our star of stars, Eternity, is beaming."

S Lanier

Kodak Ektar 100 f/16 10s

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

A SONG OF ETERNITY IN TIME.

ONCE, at night, in the manor wood

My Love and I long silent stood,

Amazed that any heavens could

Decree to part us, bitterly repining.

My Love, in aimless love and grief,

Reached forth and drew aside a leaf

That just above us played the thief

And stole our starlight that for us was shining.

A star that had remarked her pain

Shone straightway down that leafy lane,

And wrought his image, mirror-plain,

Within a tear that on her lash hung gleaming.

"Thus Time," I cried, '" is but a tear

Some one hath wept 'twixt hope and fear,

Yet in his little lucent sphere

Our star of stars, Eternity, is beaming."

S Lanier

texture by Renee

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

A SONG OF ETERNITY IN TIME.

ONCE, at night, in the manor wood

My Love and I long silent stood,

Amazed that any heavens could

Decree to part us, bitterly repining.

My Love, in aimless love and grief,

Reached forth and drew aside a leaf

That just above us played the thief

And stole our starlight that for us was shining.

A star that had remarked her pain

Shone straightway down that leafy lane,

And wrought his image, mirror-plain,

Within a tear that on her lash hung gleaming.

"Thus Time," I cried, '" is but a tear

Some one hath wept 'twixt hope and fear,

Yet in his little lucent sphere

Our star of stars, Eternity, is beaming."

S Lanier

xxxminamikazexxx.blogspot.com/2019/10/191005.html

once upon a time

A hut where an old woman lived in the back of the forest

When the old woman disappeared, the hut was lonely and wept every day.

The hut wanted a family.

The sky is dim for 24 hours.

There is no rain here.

No one has ever seen Baba Yaga's Hut walking ...

Baba Yaga's Hut is breeding.👣⌂🐾　

No one in this village has anyone to visit ...

May be somewhere in the world!?

Welcome to Baba Yaga's Hut Village 😱😱😱

“The worst type of crying wasn't the kind everyone could see--the wailing on street corners, the tearing at clothes. No, the worst kind happened when your soul wept and no matter what you did, there was no way to comfort it. A section withered and became a scar on the part of your soul that survived. For people like me and Echo, our souls contained more scar tissue than life.”

― Katie McGarry, Pushing the Limits

Job 30:25 “Have I not wept for those who have fallen on hard times? Has my soul not grieved for the needy?”

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

A SONG OF ETERNITY IN TIME.

ONCE, at night, in the manor wood

My Love and I long silent stood,

Amazed that any heavens could

Decree to part us, bitterly repining.

My Love, in aimless love and grief,

Reached forth and drew aside a leaf

That just above us played the thief

And stole our starlight that for us was shining.

A star that had remarked her pain

Shone straightway down that leafy lane,

And wrought his image, mirror-plain,

Within a tear that on her lash hung gleaming.

"Thus Time," I cried, '" is but a tear

Some one hath wept 'twixt hope and fear,

Yet in his little lucent sphere

Our star of stars, Eternity, is beaming."

S Lanier

A SONG OF ETERNITY IN TIME.

ONCE, at night, in the manor wood

My Love and I long silent stood,

Amazed that any heavens could

Decree to part us, bitterly repining.

My Love, in aimless love and grief,

Reached forth and drew aside a leaf

That just above us played the thief

And stole our starlight that for us was shining.

A star that had remarked her pain

Shone straightway down that leafy lane,

And wrought his image, mirror-plain,

Within a tear that on her lash hung gleaming.

"Thus Time," I cried, '" is but a tear

Some one hath wept 'twixt hope and fear,

Yet in his little lucent sphere

Our star of stars, Eternity, is beaming."

S Lanier

texture by kerstinfrankart

thanking you for looking at my stream. But I must add that these works are original and final images . And are not to be copied or reproduced in any way or form without permission of the artist. wishing you well with blessings and harmony.

Well, yes. In English this pretty Dayflower or Spiderwort is often called 'Widow's Tears'. There are various explanations why that name; none convince me. But on this rainy day, the sky, so to say, wept upon our Flower.

It was first described at the end of the eighteenth century as Tradescantia erecta. In 1839 Michael Joseph François Scheidweiler (1799-1961) - German-born but working in Belgium - established the name Tinantia erecta for this plant. Tinantia honors François Auguste Tinant (1803-1858), who wrote the first botanical handbook for Luxembourg.

( on Savor Serenity)

"Niamh remembered Bran’s words on the shore of the dark isle.

visit Savor Serenity through the magic mirror

and thank you Loegan for the invite to your group "Images and Words SL"

Once when you were only two,

I used to sit right next to you,

I'd guard you bravely as you slept,

And comfort you each time you wept.

Bumpity-bump through mud and snow,

I followed everywhere you'd go,

But bruising bumps could not erase,

That silly grin upon my face.

Thumps and hugs and loving deeds

Are all that any Teddy needs.

From Teddy Bears Lament - Tim Price

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk6BEu2pAV4

Mild the mist upon the hill

Telling not of storms tomorrow;

No, the day has wept its fill,

Spent its store of silent sorrow.

O, I'm gone back to the days of youth,

I am a child once more,

And 'neath my father's sheltering roof

And near the old hall door

I watch this cloudy evening fall

After a day of rain;

Blue mists, sweet mists of summer pall

The horizon's mountain chain.

The damp stands on the long green grass

As thick as morning's tears,

And dreamy scents of fragrance pass

That breathe of other years.

Emily Jane Brontë 1818 (Thornton) – 1848 (Haworth)

Taken at: Pemberley

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Pemberley/80/209/29

There are few sounds that tug my heart more than the faint skirl of bagpipes carried over misty, dewy heather on a breathless morn.

Piping down the valleys wild,

Piping songs of pleasant glee,

On a cloud I saw a child,

And he laughing said to me:—

“Pipe a song about a lamb:”

So I piped with merry cheer.

“Piper, pipe that song again:”

So I piped: he wept to hear.

“Drop thy pipe, thy happy pipe,

Sing thy songs of happy cheer!”

So I sang the same again,

While he wept with joy to hear.

“Piper, sit thee down and write

In a book, that all may read—”

So he vanished from my sight;

And I plucked a hollow reed,

And I made a rural pen,

And I stained the water clear,

And I wrote my happy songs

Every child may joy to hear

William Blake 1789 (Songs of innocence)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=icF-t7-6920&list=RDMM&ind...

This is an emotional image for me any time I see it but right now with all that is going on I find myself more emotional than ever. This beautiful Canada goose frantically flew over me several times going back and forth. It appears to have lost it's mate. It was squawking in a frantic manner until it flew out of my sight then I would hear it coming back over me doing the same thing time and time again. Geese possess a veritably human capacity for grief. Their feelings and emotions are far less different from us than you assume. Quite literally, humans, a dog, and a goose hang their heads, lose their appetites, and become indifferent to all stimuli emanating from the environment. For grief-striken human beings, as well as for geese, one effect is that they become outstandingly vulnerable to accidents; they tend to fly into high-tension cables or fall prey to predators because of their reduced alertness.

There have been reports of pair bonds that are so strong that if one goose is shot down by a hunter, the partner will circle back. Drawn by its need to stay with its lifelong companion, the single goose will often ignore the sound of shooting and return to die with its mate.

In The Pig Who Sang To The Moon, Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson writes about a goose who had a broken wing. During the fall migration, as other geese flew south, her gander accompanied her by air and by foot. She was going to walk south since she was unable to fly. He would not leave her, so after flying for a few hundred yards, he would stop and wait for her to catch up. He would call to her with his wildest, most piercing cry, urging her to spread her wings and fly with him to their distant home. He accompanied her until she was killed by carrion eagles and he had to continue his journey alone.

Widowed geese have been observed circling around and around, crying in heartrending sorrowful tones when their partners die or are shot by hunters. The remaining goose may mourn for a period of time and then mate again. Or they may mourn for the rest of their lives and never seek another mate. Just as with people, it varies with individual geese.....Choo Choo Rosenbloom

So I stood in the field with this knowledge and wept as she or he kept flying over me and frantically calling for their mate. It's an incredibly sad thing to witness.

Everyone please be safe. Thinking of you all.

In love,

Only a name

Left of me

Wept so that my eyes bled

Ran till the breath went out of me

In flight,

One leap

And a mere feather

Was left of me

Poem by Attar of Nishapur

Translated from Persian

It's not for laws I've broken

That bitter tears I've wept,

But solemn vows I've spoken

And promises unkept;

It's not for sins committed

My heart is full of rue,

but gentle acts omitted,

Kind deeds I did not do.

I have outlived the blindness,

The selfishness of youth;

The canker of unkindness,

The cruelty of truth;

The searing hurt of rudeness .

By mercies great and small,

I've come to reckon goodness

The greatest gift of all.

Let us be helpful ever

to those who are in need,

And each new day endeavour

To do some gentle deed;

For faults beyond our grieving,

What kindliness atone;

On earth by love achieving

A Heaven of our own.

By: Robert William Service

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Angel%20in%20Heaven/125/11...

Cubura Kong Kimono[ for Jake Legacy Enzo Kario

Cubura Mainstore

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Pure%20Love/126/107/23

Group tag 30% off

Cubura Flickr Group

www.flickr.com/groups/cubura/pool

The Supremes - Reflections

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Nlbj1t99m8

Through the mirror of my mind

Time after time, I see reflections of you and me

Reflections of the way life used to be

Reflections of the love you took from me

Oh, I'm all alone now, no love to shield me

Trapped in a world that's a distorted reality

Happiness you took from me

And left me alone with only memories

Through the mirror of my mind

Through these tears that I'm crying

Reflects a hurt I can't control

'Cause although you're gone, I keep holding on

To the happy times, ooh, when you were mine

As I peer through the window of lost time

Looking over my yesterdays and all the love

I gave all in vain

(All the love)

All the love that I've wasted

(All the tears)

All the tears that I've tasted

All in vain

Through the hollow of my tears

I see a dream that's lost

From the hurt that you have caused

Everywhere I turn, seems like everything I see

Reflects the love that used to be

In you I put all my faith and trust

Right before my eyes my world has turned to dust

After all the nights I sat alone and wept

Just a handful of promises are all that's left of loving you

Reflections of the way life used to be

Reflections of the love you took from me

In you I put all my faith and trust

Right before my eyes my world has turned to dust

texture by birgitta

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

A SONG OF ETERNITY IN TIME.

ONCE, at night, in the manor wood

My Love and I long silent stood,

Amazed that any heavens could

Decree to part us, bitterly repining.

My Love, in aimless love and grief,

Reached forth and drew aside a leaf

That just above us played the thief

And stole our starlight that for us was shining.

A star that had remarked her pain

Shone straightway down that leafy lane,

And wrought his image, mirror-plain,

Within a tear that on her lash hung gleaming.

"Thus Time," I cried, '" is but a tear

Some one hath wept 'twixt hope and fear,

Yet in his little lucent sphere

Our star of stars, Eternity, is beaming."

S Lanier

Twilight on the River Aire

Nun sich der Tag geneiget hat.-

Now that the day has reached its close,

The sun doth shine no more,

In sleep the toil-worn find repose

And all who wept before.

Bach, Choral, BWV 396

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

A SONG OF ETERNITY IN TIME.

ONCE, at night, in the manor wood

My Love and I long silent stood,

Amazed that any heavens could

Decree to part us, bitterly repining.

My Love, in aimless love and grief,

Reached forth and drew aside a leaf

That just above us played the thief

And stole our starlight that for us was shining.

A star that had remarked her pain

Shone straightway down that leafy lane,

And wrought his image, mirror-plain,

Within a tear that on her lash hung gleaming.

"Thus Time," I cried, '" is but a tear

Some one hath wept 'twixt hope and fear,

Yet in his little lucent sphere

Our star of stars, Eternity, is beaming."

S Lanier

Triste...Portuguese word for sad...the trees are bare, their beauty consigned to the ground

Apparently, this cat was so famous people traveled for thousands of miles to catch a glimpse of it.

Apparently, one nod from this cat and your Cancer would be cured.

One meow in your general direction and you'd never be indecisive again and would be able to follow your destiny.

One purr from this cat and you'd never have an unhappy thought again.

People bowed down, wept at the cat's feet and sang a song and a prayer both of "Obrigato! Obrigato! Thank you, cat!"

**All photos are copyrighted**

When Summer saw the beauty of Autumn's cloak, it wept in a show of joyous adulation..

It is said that a poor, young woman went to Bethlehem at Christmas to honor the Child. But unlike the Three Magi she had no gifts. She wept. And from her tears sprouted our Rose, a bouquet of which she then presented at the Cradle. Sweet story.

Helleborus is also sometimes called Sneezewort because a pinch of it dried causes one to sneeze. Sneezing was once thought to ward off evil and sickening spirits; curiously, witches and such also used the plant as an ingredient for their potions.

It's one of the few flowering plants in the dead of winter. Most enjoyable on this chilly and still low-sunny day.

An iconic view of the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone river seen from the Lookout Viewpoint.

This is the spot where Thomas Moran painted the Lower Falls to inspire Congress in 1872. The painting played a crucial role in convincing the Congress make Yellowstone the first national park. He allegedly wept over the lack of colors in his palette to accurately portray all the hues and tones he experienced and tried to show.

The Red Rock viewpoint is below. An adjacent 0.5-mile trail drops 500 ft to Red Rock for even closer views – the average age of the crowd plummets with the elevation (it’s hard on the knees). The trail was closed to maintenance when I was here this trip. Hope it's open on my next trip, as it's the only viewpoint I've not enjoyed.

Friday is here. Have a fabulous day and weekend ahead.

Once upon a winter day

The snow-edged creek silently wept

Near the shadows of the tall pine trees

Trimmed in a glittering white lace,

Creating an impressive display in the breeze...

by Joseph T. Renaldi

View on Black

A couple of weeks ago l came to this woodland, which at this time of year is generally stunning...however, this year most of the trees had been felled and the forest floor looked like the aftermath of a 1916 battle on the Somme...l could have wept...these eco terrorists who did all this damage should have been flogged for their actions.

Generally l never give the location of these glorious location out for obvious reasons, but on this occasion l will.

"People hide their truest nature. I understood that; I even applauded it. What sort of world would it be if people bled all over the sidewalks, if they wept under trees, smacked whomever they despised, kissed strangers, revealed themselves?"

— Alice Hoffman

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