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Important to know: Iguanas are capable of severely injuring people, other animals and themselves when their body language messages are not recognized. Most iguanas clearly sign that trouble is ahead. They nod their head and wave their dewlap side to side.
The dewlap is a fold of loose skin hanging from the neck or throat of an animal, like a cow. Iguanas use their dewlap to communicate. First, an extended dewlap can simply be a greeting. An extended dewlap is often used to say hello to another creature during mating and most generally as a territorial sign. Second, it can be a form of protection. A threatened iguana may extend its dewlap to intimidate a predator into thinking it is much larger than it is. Third, an extended dewlap may be a sign that the iguana is trying to adjust its temperature. An extended dewlap on an iguana basking in the sun is quite normal. It may be catching sun to warm up or catching a breeze to cool off. So it's important to consider "the big picture" when reading an Iguana's body language.
Parts of an iguana... www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=Up3IVbC...
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Miami FL
Soller — The #Mallorca Series. Two weeks on the island with beautiful light, and architecture, wonderful nature and interesting people-Tourists as Inhabitants. Some Scenes need colors, some need black and white. 😊
It doesn't matter who you are,
man, woman,
old or child,
worker or farmer,
soldier, student or merchant;
it doesn't matter what your political beliefs are
or the religious one
if they ask you what the thing is
most important for humanity,
Answers
Before
After
Always:
Peace!
Non importa chi tu sia,
uomo, donna,
vecchio o fanciullo,
operaio o contadino,
soldato, studente o commerciante;
non importa quale sia il tuo credo politico
o quello religioso
se ti chiedono qual è la cosa
più importante per l’umanità,
rispondi
prima
dopo
sempre:
La pace!
Li Tien Min
DSC_1961
Windmills have become part of the Canarian landscape, silent witnesses of a past in which they played an important role in the economy of the islands. In the case of Fuerteventura, they existed profusely because this typology is developed mainly in arid or desert regions, taking the wind as a source of energy, to make up for the lack of water currents. To this contributed the almost permanent presence of air currents in the islands and the orography of the island, characterized by vast plains only "interrupted" by these peculiar constructions.
Their typologies are made up of two very different types, but one of them predominates numerically. The most abundant is defined by an architectural structure of flat circular plant, with truncated cone shape made of masonry, topped by an irregular conical or pyramidal wooden roof of which one of its parts is open to give exit to the axis of the blades. The interior is divided into two floors, with access to the upper floor by an interior staircase, in some cases, or exterior, in others. The other typology, of which there are fewer examples, is defined by a quadrangular building, on which rises a tower made with a framework of wooden railings, which supports the blades. In the center of the tower descends an axis that connects the gearing of the blades with the stones.
La Oliva, Fuerteventura, Islas Canarias
Labelita Store
[LABELITA] Passion Outfit Fatpack
Passion Outfit (Legacy - Perky - Reborn - Waifu - Lara X)
all info in the blog
Mameda Town and its surroundings, which developed as a townspeople's land during the Tenryo period, retained a lot of land division at the time of residence, and traditional buildings remain well as a group, so the range of about 10.7 hectares was selected as a national important preservation district for groups of traditional buildings on December 10, 2004.
© 2021 Garry Velletri. All rights reserved. This image may not be reproduced, copied, edited, published, transmitted or uploaded in any way without my permission.
Market Street is an important thoroughfare in San Francisco, California. It begins at The Embarcadero in front of the Ferry Building at the northeastern edge of the city and runs southwest through downtown, passing the Civic Center and the Castro District, to the intersection with Corbett Avenue in the Twin Peaks neighborhood. Beyond this point, the roadway continues as Portola Drive into the southwestern quadrant of San Francisco. Portola Drive extends south to the intersection of St. Francis Boulevard and Sloat Boulevard, where it continues as Junipero Serra Boulevard.
Market Street is the boundary of two street grids. Streets on its southeast side are parallel or perpendicular to Market Street, while those on the northwest are nine degrees off from the cardinal directions.
Market Street is a major transit artery for the city of San Francisco, and has carried in turn horse-drawn streetcars, cable cars, electric streetcars, electric trolleybuses, and diesel buses. Today Muni's buses, trolleybuses, and heritage streetcars (on the F Market line) share the street, while below the street the two-level Market Street Subway carries Muni Metro and BART. While cable cars no longer operate on Market Street, the surviving cable car lines terminate to the side of the street at its intersections with California Street and Powell Street.
Construction
Market Street cuts across the city for three miles (5 km) from the waterfront to the hills of Twin Peaks. It was laid out originally by Jasper O'Farrell, a 26-year old trained civil engineer who emigrated to Yerba Buena, as the town was then known. The town was renamed San Francisco in 1847 after it was captured by Americans during the Mexican-American War. O'Farrell first repaired the original layout of the settlement around Portsmouth Square and then established Market Street as the widest street in town, 120 feet between property lines. (Van Ness now beats it with 125 feet.) It was described at the time as an arrow aimed straight at "Los Pechos de la Chola" (the Breasts of the Maiden), now called Twin Peaks. Writing in Forgotten Pioneers.
VIANDEN - met zijn kasteel op de achtergrond, een van de belangrijkste historische gebouwen in Europa, is er ook nog de woning van Victor Hugo waar de illustere schrijver in 1891 als banneling verbleef. Al met al een mooie oude middeleeuwse stad in het Groothertogdom Luxemburg.
VIANDEN - with its castle in the background, one of the most important historical buildings in Europe, there is still the home of Victor Hugo where the illustrious writer stayed in 1891 as an exile. All in all a beautiful old medieval city in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
A fresh start (:
First most important, i want to apologize to everybody i may have let down, let wait or anything related to my absence.
A lot has happened in my life, good and bad, either way, it was busy!
I am a volunteer for shelters and take dogs into my home to find them a happy family, but i must train them etc, which is super fun but takes some time! :D
Then there is sl, well, i am not very social in game, i have amazing friends in real life, and sure i met awesome people in sl also, however, certain people think it is alright to say bad things about you. Or screw you over. Well, i will not let my guard down anymore!
It is hard to let people close, they make it even harder, if they lie.
I mean there is already so much bs going on in the world. Can we have and keep online as a safe space. Stop the gossip, stop the lying. Lets not go evil just because you are hiding behind screen.
Rant rant rant :p
Anyway i needed a break from all this. Now i am happy and refreshed! And ready for a new start. With this new beginning i wanted a new name.
Mori.
Hope ya`ll dig it!
With love,
Nalena. ♥
Riding Rocky Mountaineer from Banff to Kamloops, Canada.
Travel through Canada’s stunning Rocky Mountains, alongside the powerful Kicking Horse River, and pass by monumental landmarks from the early days of the National Railway. This legendary route along the Canadian Pacific track is famous for uniting the country and connecting British Columbia to Canada over 125 years ago.
Travel through the legendary Spiral Tunnels and pass by the spot where the last spike on the Canadian Pacific Railway was driven. This is the only passenger rail service on this historic route, and its construction is one of the most important in Canadian history as it united Canada from east to west.
For video, please visit youtu.be/OD5nACw5AEA
Worcester Cathedral has important parts of the building dating from every century from the 11th to the 16th. Its tower in the Perpendicular style is described by Alec Clifton-Taylor as "exquisite" and is seen best across the River Severn.
2016 02 18 165334 Worcestershire Worcester Cathedral LR
CSX's Hanover and Hagerstown locals were exchanging traffic in Highfield, once an important Western Maryland location in 2003.
A trio of SD50s had things well in hand on a dreary day as another SD50 and a GE stand by.
Posidonia oceanica è una pianta marina endemica del Mediterraneo, della famiglia delle angiosperma, importantissima per la conservazione degli ecosistemi del Mediterraneo.
Questo ecosistema è in grado di catturare CO2 dall’atmosfera, cambiando l’acidità dell’acqua e svolgendo un ruolo fondamentale nella regolazione dell’equilibrio ecologico del mare.
Cresce nei fondali marini a 2 – 40 m di profondità, anche lontano dalle coste. Forma delle praterie sottomarine che hanno una notevole importanza ecologica, costituendo la comunità climax del mar Mediterraneo, proteggendo la linea di costa dall’erosione e ospitando molti organismi animali e vegetali.
......
Posidonia oceanica is a marine plant endemic of the Mediterranean, of the angiosperm family, very important for the conservation of Mediterranean ecosystems.
This ecosystem is able to capture CO2 from the atmosphere, changing the acidity of the water and playing a fundamental role in regulating the ecological balance of the sea.
It grows in the seabed at 2 – 40 m depth, even far from the coasts. It forms underwater meadows that have considerable ecological importance, constituting the climax community of the Mediterranean Sea, protecting the coastline from erosion and hosting many animal and plant organisms.
Procida is a small island off the coast of Naples. I visited on a day trip from the neighbouring island of Ischia.
The island of Procida can be reached by car ferry and hydrofoil from the ports of Naples, Pozzuoli and the island of Ischia.
There are three ports with the biggest and most important of these being Marina Grande, also called Sancio Cattolico, Facades of different shades of yellow, pink and blue stretch throughout the port.
Over the Marina Grande is the castle where a jail was held until the second half of the 80’s.
It is said that fishermen painted their houses in different colors so that they could recognize them from the sea.
IMPORTANT: for non-pro users who read the info on a computer, just enlarge your screen to 120% (or more), then the full text will appear below the photo with a white background - which makes reading so much easier.
The color version of the photo above is here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ticino-best-photos-of-southern-...
THE STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO:
So far there's only been one photo in my gallery that hasn't been taken in my garden ('The Flame Rider', captured in the Maggia Valley: www.flickr.com/photos/191055893@N07/53563448847/in/datepo... ) - which makes the image above the second time I've "strayed from the path" (although not very far, since the photo was taken only approximately 500 meters from my house).
Overall, I'll stick to my "only-garden rule", but every once in a while I'll show you a little bit of the landscape around my village, because I think it will give you a better sense of just how fascinating this region is, and also of its history.
The title I chose for the photo may seem cheesy, and it's certainly not very original, but I couldn't think of another one, because it's an honest reflection of what I felt when I took it: a profound sense of peace - although if you make it to the end of this text you'll realize my relationship with that word is a bit more complicated.
I got up early that day; it was a beautiful spring morning, and there was still a bit of mist in the valley below my village which I hoped would make for a few nice mood shots, so I quickly grabbed my camera and went down there before the rising sun could dissolve the magical layer on the scenery.
Most human activity hadn't started yet, and I was engulfed in the sounds of the forest as I was walking the narrow trail along the horse pasture; it seemed every little creature around me wanted to make its presence known to potential mates (or rivals) in a myriad of sounds and voices and noises (in case you're interested, here's a taste of what I usually wake up to in spring, but you best use headphones: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfoCTqdAVCE )
Strolling through such an idyllic landscape next to grazing horses and surrounded by birdsong and beautiful trees, I guess it's kind of obvious one would feel the way I described above and choose the title I did, but as I looked at the old stone buildings - the cattle shelter you can see in the foreground and the stable further up ahead on the right - I also realized how fortunate I was.
It's hard to imagine now, because Switzerland is one of the wealthiest countries in the world today, but the men and women who had carried these stones and constructed the walls of these buildings were among the poorest in Europe. The hardships the people in some of the remote and little developed valleys in Ticino endured only a few generations ago are unimaginable to most folks living in my country today.
It wasn't uncommon that people had to sell their own kids as child slaves - the girls had to work in factories or in rice fields, the boys as "living chimney brushes" in northern Italy - just because there wasn't enough food to support the whole family through the harsh Ticino winters.
If you wonder why contemporary Swiss historians speak of "slaves" as opposed to child laborers, it's because that's what many of them actually were: auctioned off for a negotiable prize at the local market, once sold, these kids were not payed and in many cases not even fed by their masters (they had to beg for food in the streets or steal it).
Translated from German Wikipedia: ...The Piazza grande in Locarno, where the Locarno Film Festival is held today, was one of the places where orphans, foundlings and children from poor families were auctioned off. The boys were sold as chimney sweeps, the girls ended up in the textile industry, in tobacco processing in Brissago or in the rice fields of Novara, which was also extremely hard work: the girls had to stand bent over in the water for twelve to fourteen hours in all weathers. The last verse of the Italian folk song 'Amore mio non piangere' reads: “Mamma, papà, non piangere, se sono consumata, è stata la risaia che mi ha rovinata” (Mom, dad, don't cry when I'm used up, it was the rice field that destroyed me.)... de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaminfegerkinder
The conditions for the chimney sweeps - usually boys between the age of 8 and 12 (or younger, because they had to be small enough to be able to crawl into the chimneys) - were so catastrophic that many of them didn't survive; they died of starvation, cold or soot in their lungs - as well as of work-related accidents like breaking their necks when they fell, or suffocatig if they got stuck in inside a chimney. This practice of "child slavery" went on as late as the 1950s (there's a very short article in English on the topic here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spazzacamini and a more in depth account for German speakers in this brief clip: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gda8vZp_zsc ).
Now I don't know if the people who built the old stone houses along my path had to sell any of their kids, but looking at the remnants of their (not so distant) era I felt an immense sense of gratitude that I was born at a time of prosperity - and peace - in my region, my country and my home. Because none of it was my doing: it was simple luck that decided when and where I came into this world.
It also made me think of my own family. Both of my grandparents on my father's side grew up in Ticino (they were both born in 1900), but while they eventually left Switzerland's poorest region to live in its richest, the Kanton of Zurich, my grandfather's parents relocated to northern Italy in the 1920s and unfortunately were still there when WWII broke out.
They lost everything during the war, and it was their youngest daughter - whom I only knew as "Zia" which means "aunt" in Italian - who earned a little money to support herself and my great-grandparents by giving piano lessons to high-ranking Nazi officers and their kids (this was towards the end of the war when German forces had occupied Italy).
I never knew that about her; Zia only very rarely spoke of the war, but one time when I visited her when she was already over a 100 years old (she died at close to 104), I asked her how they had managed to survive, and she told me that she went to the local prefecture nearly every day to teach piano. "And on the way there would be the dangling ones" she said, with a shudder.
I didn't get what she meant, so she explained. Visiting the city center where the high ranking military resided meant she had to walk underneath the executed men and women who were hanging from the lantern posts along the road (these executions - often of civilians - were the Germans' retaliations for attacks by the Italian partisans).
I never forgot her words - nor could I shake the look on her face as she re-lived this memory. And I still can't grasp it; my house in Ticino is only 60 meters from the Italian border, and the idea that there was a brutal war going on three houses down the road from where I live now in Zia's lifetime strikes me as completely surreal.
So, back to my title for the photo above. "Peace". It's such a simple, short word, isn't it? And we use it - or its cousin "peaceful" - quite often when we mean nice and quiet or stress-free. But if I'm honest I don't think I know what it means. My grandaunt Zia did, but I can't know. And I honestly hope I never will.
I'm sorry I led you down such a dark road; I usually intend to make people smile with the anecdotes that go with my photos, but this one demanded a different approach (I guess with this latest image I've strayed from the path in more than one sense, and I hope you'll forgive me).
Ticino today is the region with the second highest average life expectancy in Europe (85.2 years), and "The Human Development Index" of 0.961 in 2021 was one of the highest found anywhere in the world, and northern Italy isn't far behind. But my neighbors, many of whom are now in their 90s, remember well it wasn't always so.
That a region so poor it must have felt like purgatory to many of its inhabitants could turn into something as close to paradise on Earth as I can imagine in a person's lifetime should make us all very hopeful. But, and this is the sad part, it also works the other way 'round. And I believe we'd do well to remember that, too.
To all of you - with my usual tardiness but from the bottom of my heart - a happy, healthy, hopeful 2025 and beyond.
© Important notice: do not use my images without my written permission, even for a non commercial use. If you're interested in any of my photos you must contact me first. All my images are under full copyright.
© All rights reserved.
Important
"It's important to keep your feelings and your self-worth in different places because when feelings get hurt it shouldn't change how you view yourself." - Kaci Diane
.... and no, you can't have any of my fries.
© Important notice: Do not use my images without my written permission, even for a non commercial use. If you're interested in any of my photos you must contact me first. All my images are under full copyright.
© All rights reserved.
Saint Louis des Invalides– Eglise du dôme - Paris 7°
Mille mercis à mon adorable ami Guyscoop qui a gentiment et magnifiquement post-traité ma petite photo. On forme une association fructueuse, Guy, tu ne trouves pas ? ;-))
J’essaie de répondre à tous les commentaires que j’ai reçus depuis deux mois et de visiter les streams de mes amis. Ca va prendre « un peu » (lol) de temps et j’espère que vous comprendrez :-)
Thousands of thanks to my sweet friend Guyscoop who kindly and greatly processed my little shot. We have a very fruitful partnership Guy, don’t you think so ;-))
I’m now trying to answer all the comments I received since two months, and to visit my friends streams. It will take a “little” (lol) time and I hope you’ll understand :-)
The Monastery at Lébény was established between 1199 and 1203, by a nobleman, for private worship. The complex was dedicated to the Apostle Saint James the Great. Though the existing charter for approving the donations and construction was signed by Andreas II (1208), one of the walls of the church had “1206” engraved in them, which may indicate that the church was already built at that time. It is also mentioned in the RegestrumVaradiense (an important language memorial), which was made in the late cathedral chapter of the present Oradea (Nagyvárad) in the 13th century. The monastery of Lébény was attacked and burnt down several times; the first by Mongols, then the second by King Ottokar I of Bohemia; and thereafter by the Turks, which was probably in 1529 and definitely in 1683. The monastery was taken back from the Turks by the arch-abbot of Pannonhalma in 1540. He named a new abbot, though the title only existed on paper for a little bit longer than two decades. In 1563 the monastery was burnt down again for the third time and was left devoured. Presently, the only part of the complex that is still standing is the iconic three-nave Romanesque church in the middle of Lébény village. This church is one of the most important Romanesque style buildings of Hungary, which was most probably restored in the 17th century by the Jesuits, and it was the first ever Hungarian monument that was restored in the second half of the 19th century. In addition, the Romanesque church is also operating as a parish of the village.
OBSERVE Collective
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germanstreetphotography.com/michael-monty-may/
A wider take on this scene moments before sunset.
Having completed turning this welded rail train on the yard lead via CPF 197 and 196 this CSXT/Pan Am Rigby yard crew is headed back to the yard with the train as they catch the last glow of evening sun. It will be doubled to the rear of M426 and head to Waterville the next morning ultimately destined for the track project going on between Northern Maine Junction and Mattawamkeag as CSXT rebuilds the old Maine Central mainline they purchased last year.
The crew has a nice merger pair of geeps in the form of MEC 514 and CSXT 2548, the former of which is a GP40-2W blt. Apr. 1976 as CN 9655 and the latter a GP38-2 blt. Nov. 1973 as SCL 548 and delivered in black and yellow. They are on Main 1 of 1500 ft long double track bridge over the Fore River with the warehouses of Merrill's Marine Terminal (owned by New England based Sprague Energy since 2005), an important railroad customer, visible at center behind the train.
Portland, Maine
Saturday February 18, 2023
Although Cley-next-the-Sea was once an important medieval port, the North Norfolk coast has silted up to form marshland, and the sea is now a little distance away. The iconic windmill dates from the early 1800s and is a five storey tower mill with a stage at second floor level, twenty feet above ground. It has a dome shaped cap with a gallery which was winded by an eight-bladed fantail, ten feet six inches in diameter. The cap is now fixed and unable to turn to wind. There are four double Patent sails with a span of 70 feet, carried on stocks 56 feet long. The inner pair have eight bays of three shutters and the outer pair have nine bays of two shutters and one of three shutters. In 1819 the sails powered two pairs of French burr millstones, a flour mill and jumper but by 1876 this had been increased to 3 pairs of stones and a smut machine had been added.
The windmill was only in operation for around a hundred years, and as long ago as 1921 it was sold to become a holiday home. In the East Coast floods of 1953 it was flooded to a depth of eight feet. In 1983 the mill and its complex was turned into a guesthouse with self-catering units. It also has various visitor facilities.
One of the most important Baroque pilgrimage churches in Germany is the Basilica of the Vierzehnheiligen in Bad Staffelstein, Upper Franconia.
Construction of the church began in 1743, but wasn't completed until 1772.
The planning process until construction could finally begin was confusing and complicated.
The origins of the pilgrimage lie in the Middle Ages: in 1445, the shepherd of the monastery (Langheim Monastery) saw a crying child in a field, which disappeared as he approached. This child appeared to the shepherd three times, and on July 2, 1446, he and a woman witnessed two burning candles descending from heaven at this spot. Shortly thereafter, a miraculous healing occurred at exactly the same spot. The miraculous healing was then recognized by the nearby Langheim Monastery (this monastery no longer exists). A pilgrimage quickly gained momentum, and the first church was built. A pilgrimage brings in revenue, and, as so often happens, a dispute erupts over this revenue. The dispute was between Langheim Monastery and Staffelstein, which was the responsible parish. An arbitration court ruled that the church and the offerings should remain in Langheim, but that a third of the revenue must be paid to the Bishop of Bamberg. In return, the bishop must bear a share of the construction costs, provided he knows the plans and agrees. In other words, no construction can take place without the bishop's consent.
In 1693, the Bishop of Bamberg demanded the third of the pilgrimage revenue he was entitled to from Langheim Monastery. The abbot countered by reminding the bishop that the diocese had long since failed to fulfill its proportional construction obligations, and he presented the bishop with an expert opinion on the necessity of a new building. The dispute fizzled out; the diocese was not expected to pay.
The planning confusion began. The protagonists were the Abbot of Langheim, Stephan Mösinger, and Bishop Friedrich Carl von Schönborn. They now negotiate who will pay what. The bishop succeeds in getting Langheim Abbey to bear the costs alone, but in return the pilgrimage fees are reduced. However, the building plans still have to be signed off by the bishop.
Since his abbey now has to bear the costs, the abbot wants to keep them as low as possible. He commissions the Weimar court architect Gottfried Heinrich Krohne to redesign the church. Krohne, himself a Protestant, has no sympathy for a rural pilgrimage. This is reflected in his plans. The bishop rejects Krohne's plans. The plans for the pilgrimage church are abandoned. The abbot turns to the redesign and construction of the monastery church. He hires Balthasar Neumann for this task. His plans for the new monastery church overshadow all other Baroque church plans. The project is abandoned, and the abbot has to turn his attention back to Vierzehnheiligen. In the meantime, the bishop has commissioned his court architect, Jakob Michael Küchel, to design the pilgrimage church. However, the bishop rejects these plans, deeming them too expensive. At the same time, the abbot commissioned Balthasar Neumann to draw up plans. These plans were approved, but secretly the abbot wanted to forgo the brick vaults for cost reasons. The abbot's master builder Krohne was to begin construction based on Neumann's plans, but as a cost-effective version. On April 23, 1743, the foundation stone was laid, and by December the walls in the choir and transept area were three meters high. Becoming suspicious, the bishop sent Balthasar Neumann and Küchel to Vierzehnheiligen for an inspection. Neumann was shocked; Krohne deviated significantly from Neumann's plans, surely on the abbot's instructions. The bishop blamed Krohne solely, and the abbot dismissed the master builder. Bamberg now took control, and the road was clear for Neumann. And Neumann now showed why he was one of the leading Baroque architects; he was at his best. In 1744, he presented his plans for the new building, incorporating the walls that had already been built. He completely redesigned the building, with the vault being the greatest challenge. Neumann died in 1753 and did not live to see its completion. His master mason, Thomas Nissler, continued the work in Neumann's spirit. The church was consecrated in 1772.
What would Vierzehnheiligen be without its fantastic stucco decorations and frescoes (unfortunately, since a fire caused by lightning in 1835, water damage because the temporary roof was built too late, and whitewashing in the late 19th century, the frescoes have suffered greatly today).
Johann Michael Feichtmayr and his workshop, together with Johann Georg Üblhör, all masters of their craft, were responsible for the magnificent stucco and the freestanding altar of grace. Feichtmayr also designed the high altar.
For a change of scenery a couple of weeks ago Judy and I decided to drive over to Norfolk for lunch and then spent the afternoon travelling along the coast and taking a few pictures.
Thornham is on the north Norfolk coast, about four miles from Hunstanton. In days gone by - before the inlet silted up - there was quite an important port which was used - among other things - to unload coal brought down the coast from Newcastle. The building on the left was used to store the coal.
The small boat appears to have had its last day at sea, and unless a substantial amount of remedial work is done it will simply become another rotting hulk on the salt marshes.
This Scaly-breasted Munia clearly realized that "greens" are important to your health ! Seen along the Meadowbrook at the Los Angeles County Arboretum
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Congreso: El cielito de mi pieza
Hace mucho tiempo, una tarde en los faldeos del volcán Callaqui, al fondo, la cordillera de Tricauco y la Sierra Velluda, abajo, el valle del río Pangue.
Región del Biobío, Chile central.
Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.
#AlbertEinstein
These plants just do not look real but as though they have been moulded from plastic, their colours are just brilliant. At the nursery I saw red, orange pink and this greenish shade. This is SOOC with just a small border added.
A member of the arum (Araceae) family, this tropical American genus includes some 900 species of evergreen perennials and climbers. Quite often seen as indoor plants, they are also very popular in tropical gardens. Anthuriums are also grown as cut flowers, and are an important industry in Hawaii, where at the peak of production in the 1980s around 30 million flower stems were shipped to the worlds markets. Although some species have been used medicinally where they occur naturally, all parts of the plant are toxic and such use, even externally, is not encouraged.
Flowering Season: Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring
Appearance
Anthuriums develop into a cluster of short upright stems bearing large, elliptical, lance- or arrowheadshaped leaves, which are usually held upright on stiff stalks. The distinctive flowerheads are made up of a flattened, shield-shaped, petal-like bract known as a spathe, which surrounds a protruding cylindrical spike embedded with many tiny flowers, called the spadix. Both the spathe and spadix tend to be the same color, usually bright red, though other colors occur among the hybrids.
Do view this large - it is worth it.
Ishkani Church is situated in the picturesque Işhan village, which overlooks the stunning valley of Çoruh (Chorokhi) River. This village was once a part of the historic Tao region in the medieval Georgian Kingdom.
Ishkani Church played a significant role as an important ecclesiastical center until the Ottoman administration took over the region in the 16th-17th century. Currently, the site comprises the remains of a grand domed church and a small hall chapel, with several other churches and structures recently discovered through archaeological excavations. The entrance to the chapel bears a Georgian inscription indicating that it was dedicated to the Holy Mother of God by King Gurgen I, who passed away in 1008.
The main building of the site is a large cross-domed church that measures 36.60 meters in length, with a width of 19 meters at the crossing. Its western arm is 15 meters long and 9 meters wide, with a height of approximately 35 meters, and a dome height of 11.4 meters with a diameter of 7.86 meters. The building facade is constructed using smoothly cut stones, while the tall, cone-shaped roof is adorned with dark red and green tiles. Following its restoration, the four arms of the church were covered with stone slabs, which have also been decorated with tiles in a similar style.
The Church of Ishkani boasts an unusual plan that resulted from several reconstructions over time. Its eastern side features a raised apse, surrounded by open exedrae, which is covered in decorative elements. The vaulted apse showcases an open exedra, and a horseshoe-shaped arcade rests on eight monoliths adorned with cubic capitals. A rectangular ambulatory frames this space, while a corridor with openings on the side leads to two chambers. The adjoining rooms are taller and have double arched windows that face inward into the open center of the church.
The church was once adorned with frescoes, though they have mostly survived on the dome, while the wall frescoes have faded over time. The Chapel's dome is decorated with Lapis lazurite, depicting the Ascension of the Cross. The dome features four figures of angels floating the cross in the sky. On each side, four two-wheeled chariots are drawn by four winged horses, driven by a standing figure. Above each chariot is a Georgian inscription that talks about the colors of the horses. Most scholars believe this scene depicts the "Vision of Zachariah" from the Old Testament, where he saw four colored horses and their riders, red, black, white, and gold. Within the drum of eight windows, eight busts are set on arches, while the adjacent blind arcade alternates with these figures and the windows below.
Opposite the main church on the south side stands a chapel with plain facades, built in 1003 as per Armenian letter inscriptions. The small chapel features fresco paintings depicting a scene of communion in the apse wall and Christ Pantocrator in the conch.
As part of the rehabilitation efforts for the monastery in Ishkhani, several chapels and churches were uncovered. These included a large basilica, two hall churches, and various monastic buildings. Additionally, several burials were also discovered, mostly from the medieval period and during the Russian-Turkish war.
During the period of Turkish rule, a mosque was established in the western arm of the church. Unfortunately, the church is not accessible to visitors today.
Ishkhani is a fascinating monument of Georgian history and culture, boasting intricate decoration, intriguing architecture, and lavishly painted murals. It is a monument that truly deserves recognition as one of the world's most significant landmarks.
... because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.
(Thich Nhat Hanh)
Came across this beautiful flowering bauhinia tree on my daily neighbourhood walk. It's apparently also called Hong Kong orchid tree.
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This Long-billed Curlew was seen busily preening its plumage. Preening is important - you can tell from the length of time a bird spends preening ! Birds preen to keep their feathers in good condition. It smoothes feather surfaces and also repairs small separations in feathers by linking the individual strands in a feather together. Preening also cleans parasites and debris out of the feathers.
Sicilia es archiconocida por sus mercantes con vagones H y hasta hace poco 656 en cabeza. Desde papel hasta agua llegan en estos fléxibles vagones marrones o verdes.
Ese día, viendo el panorama nublado, decidí hacer una foto imposible con sol, en la salida norte de Acireale, y superlativa fue mi sorpresa al ver un antiguo vagón Gabs en cabeza de la composición, probablemente una de las últimas veces que se vieron este tipo de vagones en Sicilia
Stitched image.
Apollonia was perhaps the most important of the several classical towns of the same name. It was founded around 600 BC by Greek colonists from Corinth and possibly Corcyra, who established a trading settlement on a largely abandoned coastal site by invitation of the local Illyrians. Corinthian colonial policy seems to have been relatively liberal, focused on resource extraction for the support of their homeland, rather than exploitation or expulsion of the local Illyrian population. Apollonia gradually gained political independence from Corinth and was organized as a polis under an oligarchic system. Aristotle describes Apollonia's oligarchy as a small Greek elite class, largely descended from the original colonists, ruling over a largely local Illyrian population.
From the second century BC Apollonia allied itself with the Roman Republic, which maintained a military base there for a time. The city flourished in the Roman period, housing a renowned school of Greek philosophy, rhetoric, and military training which attracted students from across the empire. Augustus, the first Roman emperor, studied at Apollonia in his youth. The city began to decline in the 3rd century AD when its harbor started silting up as a result of an earthquake. It was abandoned in the 4th century AD.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollonia_(Illyria)