A disused factory is keeping the vandals busy. The saying, "the devil finds work for idle hands" seems apt in this instance. It isn't a quote from the Bible, but there's perhaps a grain of truth in it.

 

We all have a fallen, sinful nature. Whilst I am sure that, at times, the devil is only too willing to capitalise on that fact, we really don't need to blame the devil for inspiring our bad behaviour.

 

You and I might never have been tempted to break windows and spray-paint the walls of someone else's building, but, when left to our own devices, we often tend towards selfish, indulgent and destructive behaviour.

 

If we are honest, I think we can admit that we rarely live up to the standards we set for ourselves, nor the standards we expect of others. How much less, then, do we measure up against the standards God has set?

 

Romans 3:23 says: "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

 

Now, if your property was the target of vandalism, I'm sure you would like to see the perpetrators caught and punished. If there were any justice in the world they would be. Well, God is just. And He has promised a final judgement for all of us:

 

"It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." (Hebrews 9:27)

 

On judgement day, none of us will be able to claim that we measure up to God's standards. Let's face it, we don't even live up to our own!

 

Whether we realise it or not, we are all 'guilty as charged' in God's courtroom and awaiting sentencing. Justice demands punishment, but God has already paid the penalty. He has made it possible for us to have our 'charge sheet' wiped clean:

 

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

 

We cannot pay for a life of rebellion towards God, but we can exercise "repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:21) in order to accept God's gift of forgiveness.

 

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23)

Last in the series of macro landscapes. These images were taken at Craigie Bushland Reserve. this is a protected conservation area that exists within a feral proof fence.

 

I like the idea of doing landscape shots in a macro setting. These images were done using a series of approximately 60 stacked images to produce a high resolution image with a high depth of field. Whilst I am liking this technique I'm not sure it works in all instances. For example, the large depth of field somewhat flattens the landscape and it's hard to appreciate distance or depth. Im sure I will improve over time.

 

It's definitely worth zooming in on these images to see the detail.

The Hardhead possesses one of the strangest names among Australian birds. It was formerly known as the ‘White-eyed Duck’, but this feature is present only on drakes, with females having dark eyes. Nevertheless, this discrepancy has never been an impediment to naming birds in the past — female Blackbirds are never black, for instance. The name ‘Hardhead’ has nothing to do with the density of the duck’s cranium, but stems from early taxidermists who found that the head was the most difficult part of the duck to process.

 

Sélestat (Bas-Rhin) - Tribunal d'instance (1900, style néogothique)

 

fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9lestat#Lieux_et_monuments

 

fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribunal_d%27instance_de_S%C3%A9lestat

Magpies are birds of the Corvidae family. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's smartest creatures, and is one of the few non-mammal species able to recognize itself in a mirror test. In addition to other members of the genus Pica, corvids considered as magpies are in the genera Cissa, Urocissa, and Cyanopica.

We "meandered" on our way back from Shelby, stopping in every small town. Each place had something different to offer.

 

Take the tiny town of Champion, for instance. It should have been called "Halloweenville." Or maybe "Laststopforstupidcitypeoplewhodrivedownbackalleys-ton." This was a seriously creepy place...so creepy that you could feel...ummmm..."creepy" in the air, sort of like the way a carnival feels when the people have all gone home. Everything looked brown or dead.

 

There's an abandoned hotel, with clapboard walls bowing with age, a surreal display of a scarecrow doll in tiny park that rustles with the dueling corpses of brittle branches. (Both of these photos somehow showed up on Larry Talbot's photostream.) Even the obligatory small town Alberta Chinese restaurant had a sinister look that would leave you wondering if you'd ever walk out again...after dining on moo shoo pork that would undoubtedly taste just a little funny.

 

Sheree and I decided to drive down a couple of back alleys. Of course. That's where we saw this garage.

 

To the immediate left, just out of the frame, is a hulking pickup truck, battered and rusting with a license plate that says "Evil, Wicked Mean and Nasty." I've seen this plate before, of course. But it seemed to fit here, looking like a vehicle direct from a Stephen King novel, parked in a back yard where they do unspeakable things late at night while late autumn leaves dance in the wind.

 

We paused to look at this building and take some shots because it is, well...a really interesting building.

 

"Someone's coming," said Sheree...rather suddenly, I thought.

 

I was about 40% freaked out by Champion so I drove away with as much nonchalance as I could muster under the circumstances, trying hard not to spin the tires because everyone knows that the jerk who spins his tires as he drives away from the cannibal hillbilly is the first to die. (Right before the brain-dead-heroine-who-for-reasons-only-a-brain-dead-heroine-could-possibly-understand-goes-down-into-the-basement-of-an-abandoned-building-in-her-underwear-carrying-a-flashlight-powered-by-dubious-batteries-even-though-she-freaking-KNOWS-some-nut-with-a-chainsaw-has-just-murdered-all-of-her-friends gets killed.)

 

"Did you see that guy?" asked Sheree. She went on to describe a guy in a cowboy hat who looked like one of the inbred wild eyed psychopaths from "The Hills Have Eyes."

 

"Why did you drive away?" she asked.

 

It seemed pretty obvious to me, so I just looked at her, as visions of my own head mounted on the wall just under the STOP sign came to mind.

 

I love road trips.

The Waimangu Volcanic Rift Valley is the hydrothermal system created on 10 June 1886 by the volcanic eruption of Mount Tarawera, on the North Island of New Zealand. It encompasses Lake Rotomahana, the site of the Pink and White Terraces, as well as the location of the Waimangu Geyser, which was active from 1900 to 1904. The area has been increasingly accessible as a tourist attraction and contains Frying Pan Lake, which is the largest hot spring in the world, and the steaming and usually pale blue Inferno Crater Lake, the largest geyser-like feature in the world although the geyser itself cannot be seen since it plays at the bottom of the lake.

Waimangu is a Māori-language word meaning "black water". This name comes from the water that was thrown up by the Waimangu Geyser, which was black with mud and rocks.

From the 1890s onwards, the valley has gradually been re-populated naturally by plants ranging from hot water-loving algae and bacteria to mosses and many species of native ferns, shrubs and trees. These in turn support native birdlife including kererū, tūī, shining cuckoo, fantail, bellbird, and pūkeko, as well as introduced bird species such as mynah, magpie, finch and sparrow. A population of black swan thrives in the lower parts of the valley and on Lake Rotomahana. According to local guides, these have been introduced to the region from Western Australia by George Edward Grey in the 19th century along with wallaby.

As a rare eco-system completely naturally re-established following a volcanic eruption, Waimangu is protected as a Scenic Reserve, administered by the Department of Conservation NZ. The developing local native forest is the only current New Zealand instance of vegetation re-establishing from complete devastation without any human influence such as planting. Many of Waimangu's geothermal features are ranked as Category A – extremely important, of international significance.

In this instance the OO supported the message - if the Messiah is 'here' (as the sticker claimed, not me), maybe those tourists are looking in the wrong place?

Forest pictures are something i really find difficult. The light is often difficult, and it is difficult to cast the feeling you have when walking in it. The size of the trees for instance hardly can be expressed (by me).

 

When I was walking to the Butze Rapids (see www.flickr.com/photos/115540984@N02/20187529544/) these plants, with the obscure and not so inviting name of Skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), were lit by the sun in a great way. The plant belongs to the family of the Araceae, which is very common in the tropics, and also lots of them are houseplant. It took quite some time to puzzle how I could make the best picture. In the field, how to catch the light in the best way, and afterwards how to process it. In the end I decided to crop it somewhat to have a better balance between the light and the dark parts, and to focus more on the flower. I hope you like this one.

  

From the 11th of June till the 25th of July, I traveled in Canada. Starting in Brighton Ontario, where my sister lives at the border of an amazing part of lake Ontario, I flew to Vancouver, and Vancouver island where I took the boat at Port Hardy to take part 1 of the Inside passage, to Prince Rupert in BC. Two days later I took part 2 to Skagway in Alaska. When coming from Skagway Alaska, you can take the train to Carcross. it is a very scenic train ride that halts at Bennet lake.

 

And then to Whitehorse and further on by car to Kluane National park in the Yukon district. Whitehorse is situated at the border of the Yukon. Frow there I flew back to Vancouver, rented a car, and traveled three weeks in the BC- and Alberta Rockies, visiting the famous, and less famous Nature parks like Banff and Jasper. Last few days back to Brighton Ontario to enjoy lake Ontario once more, before going home. A picture of my itinerary can be found on Facebook (www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152940536581759&set...).

 

4000 pictures later, it is quite a task to show the right stuff, although the stunning scenery guarantees at least a few great shots to share. Objective will be to make a book (for myself mainly), and that might take a while.

 

I hope you will enjoy the impression of my travel, one that equals earlier journeys to Alaska and south America, this journey was the first in the digital era, and equally intensive because of all the hiking activities every day on and on. I loved every minute of it.

 

Not everywhere in Iceland met with our universal approval. While some places brought a pleasant surprise, there were others that found us harrumphing noisily as we pulled up at a packed car park, and sighing as we realised we’d need to do battle with other human beings to get a view. Take Fjaðrárgljúfur for instance. It was a place that had all the hallmarks of great promise, a high sided narrow winding canyon, through which runs a shallow river, small soft cascades offering a happy detour from the main road near the equally difficult to pronounce town of Kirkjubæjarklaustur. The place names around here seem to be even more arcane than is usual in a country where attempting to say anything at all requires a certain degree of tonsillar dexterity. Come to think of it, I’m not sure I can get through “tonsillar dexterity” without tripping up somewhere in the middle. I’m glad nobody asks me to read this stuff aloud.

 

Fjaðrárgljúfur seemed to have attracted quite a number of visitors. Ok, so we were here in the middle of the afternoon, gradually making our way towards Vik from Jökulsárlón, but even so, it felt busy as we squeezed our van into the car parking area. And of course we already knew that the welly boots would be redundant here. That’s the problem with Feeyardarawotsit you see (spell checker just blew up by the way); it’s been tainted by a teenage pop sensation and now it’s mostly off limits. All the fault of one Justin Bieber. Apparently his music videos have blighted the plane wreck too.

 

I should stress here that I’m a leading authority on neither Mr Bieber nor his work. In fact I know nothing about him at all, other than the fact that the “i” comes before the “e” in his surname, he’s aged somewhere between twelve and forty-six, and is either a fresh faced teenager with carefully airbrushed pimples, or on his fifth marriage and counting after a number of high profile alimony disputes. I gather he is, or was very popular. If you can name one of his songs, you’re doing better than me. I didn’t even bother to watch his videos during the countless hours of research I did before this trip. You can only do so much preparation you know. I’m sure he’s very talented - I just wish he’d stayed away from Iceland. It’s bad enough fighting off other togs for the prime spots, but when a gang of Instaselfie teenyboppers arrive, armed with giggles and iPhones, things can get nasty.

 

What I’d have loved to do here, is quietly potter around in the canyon, revelling in the fact that while others packed a bottle of gin or two in their suitcases, I kept the space free for my wellies, planting the tripod in the water here and there, mostly getting it wrong, but maybe just once finding something worthy. Of course it’s a fragile space that the authorities want to protect, but then again if that teen idol had stayed away, a tide of adolescent adoring hordes might have done too, instead leaving the canyon to a pair of peaceful middle aged seventies rock fans who were only too aware of how sinful it is to tread on the moss.

 

So sadly, the only option open to us was to traipse up the dedicated path to the dedicated viewing point, a thoughtfully placed balcony at the head of the canyon, where we waited our turn. Once we were installed in the best position, we still had to wait for one of those “in-between” moments when the balcony was vacant apart from ourselves. That’s the trouble with those lofty steel platforms - the minute anyone shuffles from one side to the other, it bounces around like the main stand at a football stadium when the home team has just scored a vital goal. And with all those energetic young Bieberites around, bouncing was the order of the moment. This was only a six second exposure, but it needed to be a bounce free six seconds unless I fancied trying a bit of ICM.

 

We didn’t stay long. Maybe an extended visit might have resulted in some amazing discovery, but on the face of it there was only one shot, unless you had a drone. Neither of us are brave enough to own one. With some dramatic light the view here can come to life, as I’ve seen in one or two fine examples, but in the middle of the day, there was nothing doing. This shot looks like pretty much every other shot from Feey…whatstheuse, and the fact it’s taken me four years to post it probably tells you what I think. It’s only because I wanted to write a story about a pop star whose music I’ve never knowingly listened to that it’s here at all. I hope the read was worth it…..

 

The heart may 'jump' once too often, it is said

from the moment we raise a thought from it's bed

eyebrows might rouse the sight ahead of it's own sound

the speed with which we are lost and preferably found

is entwined into intervals and silhouettes by sunsets

the duality of senses find an enclave before light forgets

 

swamped is the benevolent piece of mind, head in the clouds

seeking Sun and warmth taken up by Pine and Oak shrouds

from all this land failed to embrace let it never be forgotten

but forgive the unprincipalled leaders and all their begotten

for the Suns of evolution will shine when the time is absolutely right

and before any questions are raised when the day is out of sight

 

rains continue to fall this apparently peaceable day

cloud banks my mind ever further beneath the covers where I pray

for the warmth of a Summer true to bring me out of the malaise

the one that preaches as much as it disobeys

my command of rites to empower a season's trestle

as July cold becomes insupportable for Summer to wrestle

 

away from it's misplaced instatement, a nutcase unresolved

for it's we that'll crack first now in dire need of heat devolved

the days shrink from haphazard deluges: an unruly mob in tow

battering down our resistance to a futile mope apropos

of the nothingness now felt between showers victory chants

such weather is maddening for our routine it now transplants

 

give a chance and be fair when instance becomes habitual

grief-ridden forecasts dampen down what is now a long-range ritual

postponements become abandonements all too quickly

and all of a sudden the season is lost when we give in so meekly...

fight, fight, fight it, don't ever be so much as slighted by it!

for it is our life, our world, our hopes and dreams we must acquit.

 

by anglia24

10h20: 17/07/2008

©2008anglia24

It's interesting how scarcity alters the perception. For instance, I happen to think that the magpie (Pica pica) is one of the absolutely most beautiful birds we have in Sweden with that high contrast white and black plumage and a metallic green shimmer hiding in the black parts - but since it's an extremely common bird, people seem to rarely notice its beauty.

 

This here is a bee beetle (Trichius fasciatus) which if not common, at least not rare around these parts. I posted a shot of one of these several years back and got an impressed comment from someone in the UK as I in his eyes had shot an extremely rare beetle - as it is much more scarce in the UK than here.

 

This of course works both ways as there are loads of cool UK bugs that would be awesome to come across up here.

 

This particular bee beetle was enjoying pollen on a tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) near the boat pier at Lillsved in the northern part of the peninsula of Värmdö, just east of Stockholm, Sweden.

F'r instance, how am I gonna stop some big, mean Mother Hubbard from tearing me a structurally superfluous new behind? The answer, is a gun. And if that don't work? Use more gun. Like this heavy caliber tripod mounted little old number designed by me, built by me, and you best hope...

  

...not pointed at you.

yet another instance of the amazing interior of Cordoba's millenial Mosque-Cathedral

Somewhere in Northern Italy

This past Monday and Tuesday I was spending my time out along the coastline in Quebec and New Brunswick following VIA, CN, and the SFG in some of my favorites territory in the northeast. I haven't explored Atlantic Canada too much up to this point outside of that area but I enjoy covering as much as I can before moving on when it comes to foreign lands. After two days of very little sleep and a lot of driving, I made my way home into the sunset and through the following darkness along the desolate highways that bring me back.

 

Of course, I was looking forward to having a day to relax a little bit. Well that wasn't to be, as my phone dinged with the notifications from a couple of my friends that MEC 507 would be leading CSX L072 the next day. I've shot plenty of Guilford since I got here, mostly the GP40 standard cabs. My personal favorite units in black and orange are the widecabs and up to this point I've only shot 514 which was incredibly faded at the time. Plus, 507 is now the only remaining unit on the active CSX roster that sports Guilford paint. After missing it leading the same job last week, the choice was clear. I was getting up early for another day of railroading. Oh the horror.

 

The story goes that in 2020 the 507 was due for a dip into fresh Pan Am blue at the Waterville Shops. Apparently, the guys in the shop had recently stumbled upon a shitload of Guilford paint lying around and decided to do a service to the nation. It had been over 15 years since a locomotive wore fresh G colors and one last unit would get the treatment. Unfortunately they removed the cab bell and marker lights, but you take what you're given in this instance. 5 years later, the paint has held up remarkably well. It's pretty neat to shoot a locomotive in Guilford colors that are still saturated in the year 2025.

 

In this image, 507 leads a pair of CSX C40-8WMs through the ugly city of Bangor, ME in afternoon summer sun. I haven't shot all that many photos this year so I'm trying to make up for it lately by way of rapid fire remediation.

Excerpt from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississauga_Civic_Centre:

 

The Mississauga Civic Centre is the seat of local government of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The 37,280 square metre complex is a prominent example of postmodern architecture in Canada, finished in 1987 by Jones and Kirkland. It stands at 92 metres or 302 feet. The design was influenced by farmsteads which once occupied much of Mississauga as well as historical features of city centres. The building, for instance, includes a prominent clock tower. It was chosen as the winner of a design competition that included 246 submissions. Mississauga Civic Centre is located in the City Centre near Square One Shopping Centre and is home to the Mississauga City Council. The civic center building is considered one of the most iconic and recognizable buildings and cultural icons of Mississauga city.

Photographing a poppy flower is quite a challenge, the slightest breeze makes them hard to photograph. In this instance I found poppies growing in front of a metal barrier creating a grey background instead of the usual green or blue.

A beautiful Barred Fruiteater - - we saw a number of males but they were always behind alot of branches except for this one instance when he came into the clear before heading off to some more fruit trees.

 

Barred Fruiteater - Colombia highlands

There's quite a few instances where GP40TCs led trains 29 & 30, the Capitol Limited during the early 1990s. Witness #193 leading 29 at 4:47pm on September 13th 1992. AD Saleker took this shot at Washington Grove, MD. This same pair of engines led #30 which came east earlier that day, of which I have the companion AD Saleker shot taken at Metropolitan Grove. JL Sessa collection.

Most of the canyons the tracks of the former Rio Grande run through are only accessible by rail, trail (in some instances), or rafting. However, Byers canyon is a nice exception. With the tracks running on the north side of the canyon, US-40 is paved and runs on the south side of the canyon. Here, the westbound Zephyr makes its way through the canyon with a colorful pair leading the train.

 

©2026 ColoradoRailfan.com

A portrait that in it's instance loses it's real time and is transformed into a perfect analogon of reality, sculpting her beauty through light.

 

Two light Setup. One 3x4 Profoto and a 5' Octa, with Giant Reflector panel from the right. Profoto acute 2400 generator.

Hasselblad H3D 31 with Hasselblad 210 HCD.

 

Photography John Magas & Anthea Blanas

Model Evangelia Gkountroumpi

Retouch John Magas

 

Find me on Facebook www.facebook.com/johnmagasdesign

In my opinion there is something really astonishing in looking at a dark night sky: proportions.

Yes!

 

For instance, this area is huge. Insanely huge. As you'll see in other pictures I'll post later of the Grand Combin hanging glaciers there are still 1,700 meters in altitude from where I took this photo till to the summit... the Corbassière glacier has an average width of slightly more than 1 km and its covering an area of 17.4 km²... nevertheless all this looks ridiculously small if compared to the immensity of the cosmos!

 

But, what really means cosmos... what is it?

 

We know it's an infinitely violent place, paradoxically of indescribable beauty...

 

We are accustomed of using what we know as a sort of yardstick for measuring the unknown... well, very humbly I think that there are no "solutions", no "answers", in this case, only temporary interpretations leading to other temporary interpretations... perhaps the constant search is the goal... and that's fine :-) as I find the unknown far more interesting.

_____________________

 

©Roberto Bertero, All Rights Reserved. This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.

 

berteroroberto.pixu.com/

Throughout Cirque du Mystère, there are instances that will damage your health. Your health will restore over time, but for instant gains, Health Potions are available.

 

There are 3 levels of potions. Your game HUD comes with a few potions already preloaded to help you get started! Additional potions can be purchased with Circus Coins.

 

Find the Circus Coins and Potions vendor at the Game Start: maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/MadPea%20Mad%20City/90/86/25

 

We often wonder how different animal species see their world. What this surrealist image represents is that colour is entirely about perception. What we see and agree is green grass, might just as well be red to another creature. Some ancient historians argue, for instance, that in Homer's time the colour "blue" did not exist as we know it. Have a read of this article if you're interested.

Why There was No Word for Blue in Ancient Greece and How Homer and Aristotle Perceived Colors

www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/why-there-was-no-word-for-b...

 

These black and white Belted Galloways might see the world in monochrome, or perhaps they see their food source in bright reddish tones like this. This breed of cow comes from southwestern Scotland. It was established as a specific breed in 1921. I assure you the cow on the right does have four legs despite the illusion. You see, we can't always believe what we see!

 

None of this work involved AI at all! Nor did I use style filters. This is processing from the ground up where RAW files were altered using Capture One software.

 

yet another instance of this pedestrian passage in Edinburgh, which is find utterly wonderful and scifiesque.

Information from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Cod

 

Cape Cod

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

This article is about the area of Massachusetts. For other uses, see Cape Cod (disambiguation).

For other uses, see Cod (disambiguation).

 

Coordinates: 41°41′20″N 70°17′49″W / 41.68889°N 70.29694°W / 41.68889; -70.29694

Map of Massachusetts, with Cape Cod (Barnstable County) indicated in red

Dunes on Sandy Neck are part of the Cape's barrier beach which helps to prevent erosion

 

Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is an island and a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States. It is coextensive with Barnstable County. Several small islands right off Cape Cod, including Monomoy Island, Monomoscoy Island, Popponesset Island, and Seconsett Island, are also in Barnstable County, being part of municipalities with land on the Cape. The Cape's small-town character and large beachfront attract heavy tourism during the summer months.

 

Cape Cod was formed as the terminal moraine of a glacier, resulting in a peninsula in the Atlantic Ocean. In 1914, the Cape Cod Canal was cut through the base or isthmus of the peninsula, forming an island. The Cape Cod Commission refers to the resultant landmass as an island; as does the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in regards to disaster preparedness.[1] It is still identified as a peninsula by geographers, who do not change landform designations based on man-made canal construction.[citation needed]

 

Unofficially, it is one of the biggest barrier islands in the world, shielding much of the Massachusetts coastline from North Atlantic storm waves. This protection helps to erode the Cape shoreline at the expense of cliffs, while protecting towns from Fairhaven to Marshfield.

 

Road vehicles from the mainland cross over the Cape Cod Canal via the Sagamore Bridge and the Bourne Bridge. The two bridges are parallel, with the Bourne Bridge located slightly farther southwest. In addition, the Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge carries railway freight as well as tourist passenger services.

Contents

[hide]

 

* 1 Geography and political divisions

o 1.1 "Upper" and "Lower"

* 2 Geology

* 3 Climate

* 4 Native population

* 5 History

* 6 Lighthouses of Cape Cod

* 7 Transportation

o 7.1 Bus

o 7.2 Rail

o 7.3 Taxi

* 8 Tourism

* 9 Sport fishing

* 10 Sports

* 11 Education

* 12 Islands off Cape Cod

* 13 See also

* 14 References

o 14.1 Notes

o 14.2 Sources

o 14.3 Further reading

* 15 External links

 

[edit] Geography and political divisions

Towns of Barnstable County

historical map of 1890

 

The highest elevation on Cape Cod is 306 feet (93 m), at the top of Pine Hill, in the Bourne portion of the Massachusetts Military Reservation. The lowest point is sea level.

 

The body of water located between Cape Cod and the mainland, bordered to the north by Massachusetts Bay, is Cape Cod Bay; west of Cape Cod is Buzzards Bay. The Cape Cod Canal, completed in 1916, connects Buzzards Bay to Cape Cod Bay; it shortened the trade route between New York and Boston by 62 miles.[2] To the south of Cape Cod lie Nantucket Sound; Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, both large islands, and the mostly privately owned Elizabeth Islands.

 

Cape Cod incorporates all of Barnstable County, which comprises 15 towns: Bourne, Sandwich, Falmouth, and Mashpee, Barnstable, Yarmouth, Dennis, Harwich, Brewster, Chatham, Orleans, Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro, and Provincetown. Two of the county's fifteen towns (Bourne and Sandwich) include land on the mainland side of the Cape Cod Canal. The towns of Plymouth and Wareham, in adjacent Plymouth County, are sometimes considered to be part of Cape Cod but are not located on the island.

 

In the 17th century the designation Cape Cod applied only to the tip of the peninsula, essentially present-day Provincetown. Over the ensuing decades, the name came to mean all the land east of the Manomet and Scussett rivers - essentially the line of the 20th century Cape Cod Canal. Now, the complete towns of Bourne and Sandwich are widely considered to incorporate the full perimeter of Cape Cod, even though small parts of these towns are located on the west side of the canal. The canal divides the largest part of the peninsula from the mainland and the resultant landmass is sometimes referred to as an island.[3][4] Additionally some "Cape Codders" – residents of "The Cape" – refer to all land on the mainland side of the canal as "off-Cape."

 

For most of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, Cape Cod was considered to consist of three sections:

 

* The Upper Cape is the part of Cape Cod closest to the mainland, comprising the towns of Bourne, Sandwich, Falmouth, and Mashpee. Falmouth is the home of the famous Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and several other research organizations, and is also the most-used ferry connection to Martha's Vineyard. Falmouth is composed of several separate villages, including East Falmouth, Falmouth Village, Hatchville, North Falmouth, Teaticket, Waquoit, West Falmouth, and Woods Hole, as well as several smaller hamlets that are incorporated into their larger neighbors (e.g., Davisville, Falmouth Heights, Quissett, Sippewissett, and others).[5]

 

* The Mid-Cape includes the towns of Barnstable, Yarmouth and Dennis. The Mid-Cape area features many beautiful beaches, including warm-water beaches along Nantucket Sound, e.g., Kalmus Beach in Hyannis, which gets its name from one of the inventors of Technicolor, Herbert Kalmus. This popular windsurfing destination was bequeathed to the town of Barnstable by Dr. Kalmus on condition that it not be developed, possibly one of the first instances of open-space preservation in the US. The Mid-Cape is also the commercial and industrial center of the region. There are seven villages in Barnstable, including Barnstable Village, Centerville, Cotuit, Hyannis, Marstons Mills, Osterville, and West Barnstable, as well as several smaller hamlets that are incorporated into their larger neighbors (e.g., Craigville, Cummaquid, Hyannisport, Santuit, Wianno, and others).[6] There are three villages in Yarmouth: South Yarmouth, West Yarmouth and Yarmouthport. There are five villages in Dennis including, Dennis Village(North Dennis), East Dennis, West Dennis, South Dennis and Dennisport.[7]

 

* The Lower Cape traditionally included all of the rest of the Cape,or the towns of Harwich, Brewster, Chatham, Orleans, Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro, and Provincetown. This area includes the Cape Cod National Seashore, a national park comprising much of the outer Cape, including the entire east-facing coast, and is home to some of the most popular beaches in America, such as Coast Guard Beach and Nauset Light Beach in Eastham. Stephen Leatherman, aka "Dr. Beach", named Coast Guard Beach the 5th best beach in America for 2007.[8]

 

[edit] "Upper" and "Lower"

 

The terms "Upper" and "Lower" as applied to the Cape have nothing to do with north and south. Instead, they derive from maritime convention at the time when the principal means of transportation involved watercraft, and the prevailing westerly winds meant that a boat with sails traveling northeast in Cape Cod Bay would have the wind at its back and thus be going downwind, while a craft sailing southwest would be going against the wind, or upwind.[9] Similarly, on nearby Martha's Vineyard, "Up Island" still is the western section and "Down Island" is to the east, and in Maine, "Down East" is similarly defined by the winds and currents.

 

Over time, the reasons for the traditional nomenclature became unfamiliar and their meaning obscure. Late in the 1900s, new arrivals began calling towns from Eastham to Provincetown the "Outer Cape", yet another geographic descriptor which is still in use, as is the "Inner Cape."

[edit] Geology

Cape Cod and Cape Cod Bay from space.[10]

 

East of America, there stands in the open Atlantic the last fragment of an ancient and vanished land. Worn by the breakers and the rains, and disintegrated by the wind, it still stands bold.

“

”

Henry Beston, The Outermost House

 

Cape Cod forms a continuous archipelagic region with a thin line of islands stretching toward New York, historically known by naturalists as the Outer Lands. This continuity is due to the fact that the islands and Cape are all terminal glacial moraines laid down some 16,000 to 20,000 years ago.

 

Most of Cape Cod's geological history involves the advance and retreat of the Laurentide ice sheet in the late Pleistocene geological era and the subsequent changes in sea level. Using radiocarbon dating techniques, researchers have determined that around 23,000 years ago, the ice sheet reached its maximum southward advance over North America, and then started to retreat. Many "kettle ponds" — clear, cold lakes — were formed and remain on Cape Cod as a result of the receding glacier. By about 18,000 years ago, the ice sheet had retreated past Cape Cod. By roughly 15,000 years ago, it had retreated past southern New England. When so much of Earth's water was locked up in massive ice sheets, the sea level was lower. Truro's bayside beaches used to be a petrified forest, before it became a beach.

 

As the ice began to melt, the sea began to rise. Initially, sea level rose quickly, about 15 meters (50 ft) per 1,000 years, but then the rate declined. On Cape Cod, sea level rose roughly 3 meters (11 ft) per millennium between 6,000 and 2,000 years ago. After that, it continued to rise at about 1 meter (3 ft) per millennium. By 6,000 years ago, the sea level was high enough to start eroding the glacial deposits that the vanished continental ice sheet had left on Cape Cod. The water transported the eroded deposits north and south along the outer Cape's shoreline. Those reworked sediments that moved north went to the tip of Cape Cod.

 

Provincetown Spit, at the northern end of the Cape, consists largely of marine deposits, transported from farther up the shore. Sediments that moved south created the islands and shoals of Monomoy. So while other parts of the Cape have dwindled from the action of the waves, these parts of the Cape have grown.

Cape Cod National Seashore

 

This process continues today. Due to their position jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean, the Cape and islands are subject to massive coastal erosion. Geologists say that, due to erosion, the Cape will be completely submerged by the sea in thousands of years.[11] This erosion causes the washout of beaches and the destruction of the barrier islands; for example, the ocean broke through the barrier island at Chatham during Hurricane Bob in 1991, allowing waves and storm surges to hit the coast with no obstruction. Consequently, the sediment and sand from the beaches is being washed away and deposited elsewhere. While this destroys land in some places, it creates land elsewhere, most noticeably in marshes where sediment is deposited by waters running through them.

[edit] Climate

 

Although Cape Cod's weather[12] is typically more moderate than inland locations, there have been occasions where Cape Cod has dealt with the brunt of extreme weather situations (such as the Blizzard of 1954 and Hurricane of 1938). Because of the influence of the Atlantic Ocean, temperatures are typically a few degrees cooler in the summer and a few degrees warmer in the winter. A common misconception is that the climate is influenced largely by the warm Gulf Stream current, however that current turns eastward off the coast of Virginia and the waters off the Cape are more influenced by the cold Canadian Labrador Current. As a result, the ocean temperature rarely gets above 65 °F (18 °C), except along the shallow west coast of the Upper Cape.

 

The Cape's climate is also notorious for a delayed spring season, being surrounded by an ocean which is still cold from the winter; however, it is also known for an exceptionally mild fall season (Indian summer), thanks to the ocean remaining warm from the summer. The highest temperature ever recorded on Cape Cod was 104 °F (40 °C) in Provincetown[13], and the lowest temperature ever was −12 °F (−24.4 °C) in Barnstable.[14]

 

The water surrounding Cape Cod moderates winter temperatures enough to extend the USDA hardiness zone 7a to its northernmost limit in eastern North America.[15] Even though zone 7a (annual low = 0–5 degrees Fahrenheit) signifies no sub-zero temperatures annually, there have been several instances of temperatures reaching a few degrees below zero across the Cape (although it is rare, usually 1–5 times a year, typically depending on locale, sometimes not at all). Consequently, many plant species typically found in more southerly latitudes grow there, including Camellias, Ilex opaca, Magnolia grandiflora and Albizia julibrissin.

 

Precipitation on Cape Cod and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket is the lowest in the New England region, averaging slightly less than 40 inches (1,000 mm) a year (most parts of New England average 42–46 inches). This is due to storm systems which move across western areas, building up in mountainous regions, and dissipating before reaching the coast where the land has leveled out. The region does not experience a greater number of sunny days however, as the number of cloudy days is the same as inland locales, in addition to increased fog. Snowfall is annual, but a lot less common than the rest of Massachusetts. On average, 30 inches of snow, which is a foot less than Boston, falls in an average winter. Snow is usually light, and comes in squalls on cold days. Storms that bring blizzard conditions and snow emergencies to the mainland, bring devastating ice storms or just heavy rains more frequently than large snow storms.

[hide]Climate data for Cape Cod

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year

Average high °C (°F) 2.06

(35.7) 2.5

(36.5) 6.22

(43.2) 11.72

(53.1) 16.94

(62.5) 23.5

(74.3) 26.39

(79.5) 26.67

(80.0) 25.06

(77.1) 18.39

(65.1) 12.56

(54.6) 5.44

(41.8) 26.67

(80.0)

Average low °C (°F) -5.33

(22.4) -5

(23.0) -1.33

(29.6) 2.72

(36.9) 8.72

(47.7) 14.61

(58.3) 19.22

(66.6) 20.28

(68.5) 15.56

(60.0) 9.94

(49.9) 3.94

(39.1) -2.22

(28.0) -5.33

(22.4)

Precipitation mm (inches) 98

(3.86) 75.4

(2.97) 95

(3.74) 92.5

(3.64) 83.6

(3.29) 76.7

(3.02) 62.2

(2.45) 65

(2.56) 74.7

(2.94) 84.8

(3.34) 90.7

(3.57) 92.7

(3.65) 990.9

(39.01)

Source: World Meteorological Organisation (United Nations) [16]

[edit] Native population

 

Cape Cod has been the home of the Wampanoag tribe of Native American people for many centuries. They survived off the sea and were accomplished farmers. They understood the principles of sustainable forest management, and were known to light controlled fires to keep the underbrush in check. They helped the Pilgrims, who arrived in the fall of 1620, survive at their new Plymouth Colony. At the time, the dominant group was the Kakopee, known for their abilities at fishing. They were the first Native Americans to use large casting nets. Early colonial settlers recorded that the Kakopee numbered nearly 7,000.

 

Shortly after the Pilgrims arrived, the chief of the Kakopee, Mogauhok, attempted to make a treaty limiting colonial settlements. The effort failed after he succumbed to smallpox in 1625. Infectious diseases such as smallpox, measles and influenza caused the deaths of many other Kakopee and Wampanoag. They had no natural immunity to Eurasian diseases by then endemic among the English and other Europeans. Today, the only reminder of the Kakopee is a small public recreation area in Barnstable named for them. A historic marker notes the burial site of Mogauhok near Truro, although the location is conjecture.

 

While contractors were digging test wells in the eastern Massachusetts Military Reservation area, they discovered an archeological find.[citation needed] Excavation revealed the remains of a Kakopee village in Forestdale, a location in Sandwich. Researchers found a totem with a painted image of Mogauhok, portrayed in his chief's cape and brooch. The totem was discovered on property on Grand Oak Road. It is the first evidence other than colonial accounts of his role as an important Kakopee leader.

 

The Indians lost their lands through continued purchase and expropriation by the English colonists. The documentary Natives of the Narrowland (1993), narrated by actress Julie Harris, shows the history of the Wampanoag people through Cape Cod archaeological sites.

 

In 1974, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council was formed to articulate the concerns of those with Native American ancestry. They petitioned the federal government in 1975 and again in 1990 for official recognition of the Mashpee Wampanoag as a tribe. In May 2007, the Wampanoag tribe was finally federally recognized as a tribe.[17]

[edit] History

Cranberry picking in 1906

 

Cape Cod was a landmark for early explorers. It may have been the "Promontory of Vinland" mentioned by the Norse voyagers (985-1025). Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524 approached it from the south. He named Martha's Vineyard Claudia, after the mother of the King of France.[18] The next year the explorer Esteban Gómez called it Cape St. James.

 

In 1602 Bartholomew Gosnold named it Cape Cod, the surviving term and the ninth oldest English place-name in the U.S.[19] Samuel de Champlain charted its sand-silted harbors in 1606 and Henry Hudson landed there in 1609. Captain John Smith noted it on his map of 1614 and at last the Pilgrims entered the "Cape Harbor" and – contrary to the popular myth of Plymouth Rock – made their first landing near present-day Provincetown on November 11, 1620. Nearby, in what is now Eastham, they had their first encounter with Native Americans.

 

Cape Cod was among the first places settled by the English in North America. Aside from Barnstable (1639), Sandwich (1637) and Yarmouth (1639), the Cape's fifteen towns developed slowly. The final town to be established on the Cape was Bourne in 1884.[20] Provincetown was a group of huts until the 18th century. A channel from Massachusetts Bay to Buzzards Bay is shown on Southack's map of 1717. The present Cape Cod Canal was slowly developed from 1870 to 1914. The Federal government purchased it in 1928.

 

Thanks to early colonial settlement and intensive land use, by the time Henry Thoreau saw Cape Cod during his four visits over 1849 to 1857[21], its vegetation was depauperate and trees were scarce. As the settlers heated by fires, and it took 10 to 20 cords (40 to 80 m³) of wood to heat a home, they cleared most of Cape Cod of timber early on. They planted familiar crops, but these were unsuited to Cape Cod's thin, glacially derived soils. For instance, much of Eastham was planted to wheat. The settlers practiced burning of woodlands to release nutrients into the soil. Improper and intensive farming led to erosion and the loss of topsoil. Farmers grazed their cattle on the grassy dunes of coastal Massachusetts, only to watch "in horror as the denuded sands `walked' over richer lands, burying cultivated fields and fences." Dunes on the outer Cape became more common and many harbors filled in with eroded soils.[22]

 

By 1800, most of Cape Cod's firewood had to be transported by boat from Maine. The paucity of vegetation was worsened by the raising of merino sheep that reached its peak in New England around 1840. The early industrial revolution, which occurred through much of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, mostly bypassed Cape Cod due to a lack of significant water power in the area. As a result, and also because of its geographic position, the Cape developed as a large fishing and whaling center. After 1860 and the opening of the American West, farmers abandoned agriculture on the Cape. By 1950 forests had recovered to an extent not seen since the 18th century.

 

Cape Cod became a summer haven for city dwellers beginning at the end of the 19th century. Improved rail transportation made the towns of the Upper Cape, such as Bourne and Falmouth, accessible to Bostonians. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Northeastern mercantile elite built many large, shingled "cottages" along Buzzards Bay. The relaxed summer environment offered by Cape Cod was highlighted by writers including Joseph C. Lincoln, who published novels and countless short stories about Cape Cod folks in popular magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post and the Delineator.

 

Guglielmo Marconi made the first transatlantic wireless transmission originating in the United States from Cape Cod, at Wellfleet. The beach from which he transmitted has since been called Marconi Beach. In 1914 he opened the maritime wireless station WCC in Chatham. It supported the communications of Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, Admiral Byrd, and the Hindenburg. Marconi chose Chatham due to its vantage point on the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded on three sides by water. Walter Cronkite narrated a 17-minute documentary in 2005 about the history of the Chatham Station.

 

Much of the East-facing Atlantic seacoast of Cape Cod consists of wide, sandy beaches. In 1961, a significant portion of this coastline, already slated for housing subdivisions, was made a part of the Cape Cod National Seashore by President John F. Kennedy. It was protected from private development and preserved for public use. Large portions are open to the public, including the Marconi Site in Wellfleet. This is a park encompassing the site of the first two-way transoceanic radio transmission from the United States. (Theodore Roosevelt used Marconi's equipment for this transmission).

 

The Kennedy Compound in Hyannisport was President Kennedy's summer White House during his presidency. The Kennedy family continues to maintain residences on the compound. Other notable residents of Cape Cod have included actress Julie Harris, US Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis, figure skater Todd Eldredge, and novelists Norman Mailer and Kurt Vonnegut. Influential natives included the patriot James Otis, historian and writer Mercy Otis Warren, jurist Lemuel Shaw, and naval officer John Percival.

[edit] Lighthouses of Cape Cod

Race Point Lighthouse in Provincetown (1876)

 

Lighthouses, from ancient times, have fascinated members of the human race. There is something about a lighted beacon that suggests hope and trust and appeals to the better instincts of mankind.

“

”

Edward Rowe Snow

 

Due to its dangerous constantly moving shoals, Cape Cod's shores have featured beacons which warn ships of the danger since very early in its history. There are numerous working lighthouses on Cape Cod and the Islands, including Highland Light, Nauset Light, Chatham Light, Race Point Light, and Nobska Light, mostly operated by the U.S. Coast Guard. The exception is Nauset Light, which was decommissioned in 1996 and is now maintained by the Nauset Light Preservation Society under the auspices of Cape Cod National Seashore. These lighthouses are frequently photographed symbols of Cape Cod.

 

Others include:

 

Upper Cape: Wings Neck

 

Mid Cape: Sandy Neck, South Hyannis, Lewis Bay, Bishop and Clerks, Bass River

 

Lower Cape: Wood End, Long Point, Monomoy, Stage Harbor, Pamet, Mayo Beach, Billingsgate, Three Sisters, Nauset, Highland

[edit] Transportation

 

Cape Cod is connected to the mainland by a pair of canal-spanning highway bridges from Bourne and Sagamore that were constructed in the 1930s, and a vertical-lift railroad bridge. The limited number of access points to the peninsula can result in large traffic backups during the tourist season.

 

The entire Cape is roughly bisected lengthwise by U.S. Route 6, locally known as the Mid-Cape Highway and officially as the Grand Army of the Republic Highway.

 

Commercial air service to Cape Cod operates out of Barnstable Municipal Airport and Provincetown Municipal Airport. Several bus lines service the Cape. There are ferry connections from Boston to Provincetown, as well as from Hyannis and Woods Hole to the islands.

 

Cape Cod has a public transportation network comprising buses operated by three different companies, a rail line, taxis and paratransit services.

The Bourne Bridge over the Cape Cod Canal, with the Cape Cod Canal Railroad Bridge in the background

[edit] Bus

 

Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority operates a year-round public bus system comprising three long distance routes and a local bus in Hyannis and Barnstable Village. From mid June until October, additional local routes are added in Falmouth and Provincetown. CCRTA also operates Barnstable County's ADA required paratransit (dial-a-ride) service, under the name "B-Bus."

 

Long distance bus service is available through Plymouth and Brockton Street Railway, with regular service to Boston and Logan Airport, as well as less frequent service to Provincetown. Peter Pan Bus Lines also runs long distance service to Providence T.F. Green Airport and New York City.

[edit] Rail

 

Regular passenger rail service through Cape Cod ended in 1959, quite possibly on June 30 of that year. In 1978, the tracks east of South Dennis were abandoned and replaced with the very popular bicycle path, known as the Cape Cod Rail Trail. Another bike path, the Shining Sea Bikeway, was built over tracks between Woods Hole and Falmouth in 1975; construction to extend this path to North Falmouth over 6.3 miles (10.1 km) of inactive rail bed began in April 2008[23] and ended in early 2009. Active freight service remains in the Upper Cape area in Sandwich and in Bourne, largely due to a trash transfer station located at Massachusetts Military Reservation along the Bourne-Falmouth rail line. In 1986, Amtrak ran a seasonal service in the summer from New York City to Hyannis called the Cape Codder. From 1988, Amtrak and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation increased service to a daily frequency.[24] Since its demise in 1996, there have been periodic discussions about reinstating passenger rail service from Boston to reduce car traffic to and from the Cape, with officials in Bourne seeking to re-extend MBTA Commuter Rail service from Middleboro to Buzzards Bay[25], despite a reluctant Beacon Hill legislature.

 

Cape Cod Central Railroad operates passenger train service on Cape Cod. The service is primarily tourist oriented and includes a dinner train. The scenic route between Downtown Hyannis and the Cape Cod Canal is about 2½ hours round trip. Massachusetts Coastal Railroad is also planning to return passenger railroad services eventually to the Bourne-Falmouth rail line in the future. An August 5, 2009 article on the New England Cable News channel, entitled South Coast rail project a priority for Mass. lawmakers, mentions a $1.4-billion railroad reconstruction plan by Governor Deval Patrick, and could mean rebuilding of old rail lines on the Cape. On November 21, 2009, the town of Falmouth saw its first passenger train in 12 years, a set of dinner train cars from Cape Cod Central. And a trip from the Mass Bay Railroad Enthusiasts on May 15, 2010 revealed a second trip along the Falmouth line.

[edit] Taxi

 

Taxicabs are plentiful, with several different companies operating out of different parts of the Cape. Except at the airport and some bus terminals with taxi stands, cabs must be booked ahead of time, with most operators preferring two to three hours notice. Cabs cannot be "hailed" anywhere in Barnstable County, this was outlawed in the early nineties after several robbery attempts on drivers.

 

Most companies utilize a New York City-style taximeter and charge based on distance plus an initial fee of $2 to $3. In Provincetown, cabs charge a flat fare per person anywhere in the town.

[edit] Tourism

Hyannis Harbor on Nantucket Sound

 

Although Cape Cod has a year-round population of about 230,000, it experiences a tourist season each summer, the beginning and end of which can be roughly approximated as Memorial Day and Labor Day, respectively. Many businesses are specifically targeted to summer visitors, and close during the eight to nine months of the "off season" (although the "on season" has been expanding somewhat in recent years due to Indian Summer, reduced lodging rates, and the number of people visiting the Cape after Labor Day who either have no school-age children, and the elderly, reducing the true "off season" to six or seven months). In the late 20th century, tourists and owners of second homes began visiting the Cape more and more in the spring and fall, softening the definition of the high season and expanding it somewhat (see above). Some particularly well-known Cape products and industries include cranberries, shellfish (particularly oysters and clams) and lobstering.

 

Provincetown, at the tip of Cape Cod, also berths several whale watching fleets who patrol the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Most fleets guarantee a whale sighting (mostly humpback whale, fin whale, minke whale, sei whale, and critically endangered, the North Atlantic Right Whale), and one is the only federally certified operation qualified to rescue whales. Provincetown has also long been known as an art colony, attracting writers and artists. The town is home to the Cape's most attended art museum, the Provincetown Art Association and Museum. Many hotels and resorts are friendly to or cater to gay and lesbian tourists and it is known as a gay mecca in the summer.[26]

 

Cape Cod is a popular destination for beachgoers from all over. With 559.6 miles (900.6 km) of coastline, beaches, both public and private, are easily accessible. The Cape has upwards of sixty public beaches, many of which offer parking for non-residents for a daily fee (in summer). The Cape Cod National Seashore has 40 miles (64 km) of sandy beach and many walking paths.

 

Cape Cod is also popular for its outdoor activities like beach walking, biking, boating, fishing, go-karts, golfing, kayaking, miniature golf, and unique shopping. There are 27 public, daily-fee golf courses and 15 private courses on Cape Cod.[27] Bed and breakfasts or vacation houses are often used for lodging.

 

Each summer the Naukabout Music Festival is held at the Barnstable County Fair Grounds located in East Falmouth,(typically) during the first weekend of August. This Music festival features local, regional and national talent along with food, arts and family friendly activities.

[edit] Sport fishing

 

Cape Cod is known around the world as a spring-to-fall destination for sport anglers. Among the species most widely pursued are striped bass, bluefish, bluefin tuna, false albacore (little tunny), bonito, tautog, flounder and fluke. The Cape Cod Bay side of the Cape, from Sandwich to Provincetown, has several harbors, saltwater creeks, and shoals that hold bait fish and attract the larger game fish, such as striped bass, bluefish and bluefin tuna.

 

The outer edge of the Cape, from Provincetown to Falmouth, faces the open Atlantic from Provincetown to Chatham, and then the more protected water of Nantucket and Vineyard Sounds, from Chatham to Falmouth. The bays, harbors and shoals along this coastline also provide a robust habitat for game species, and during the late summer months warm-water species such as mahi-mahi and marlin will also appear on the southern edge of Cape Cod's waters. Nearly every harbor on Cape Cod hosts sport fishing charter boats, which run from May through October.[28]

[edit] Sports

 

The Cape has nine amateur baseball franchises playing within Barnstable County in the Cape Cod Baseball League. The Wareham Gatemen also play in the Cape Cod Baseball League in nearby Wareham, Massachusetts in Plymouth County. The league originated 1923, although intertown competition traces to 1866. Teams in the league are the Bourne Braves, Brewster Whitecaps, Chatham Anglers (formerly the Chatham Athletics), Cotuit Kettleers, Falmouth Commodores, Harwich Mariners, Hyannis Harbor Hawks (formerly the Hyannis Mets), Orleans Firebirds (formerly the Orleans Cardinals), Wareham Gatemen and the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox. Pro ball scouts frequent the games in the summer, looking for stars of the future.

 

Cape Cod is also a national hot bed for baseball and hockey. Along with the Cape Cod Baseball League and the new Junior Hockey League team, the Cape Cod Cubs, many high school players are being seriously recruited as well. Barnstable and Harwich have each sent multiple players to Division 1 colleges for baseball, Harwich has also won three State titles in the past 12 years (1996, 2006, 2007). Bourne and Sandwich, known rivals in hockey have won state championships recently. Bourne in 2004, and Sandwich in 2007. Nauset, Barnstable, and Martha's Vineyard are also state hockey powerhouses. Barnstable and Falmouth also hold the title of having one of the longest Thanksgiving football rivalries in the country. The teams have played each other every year on the Thanksgiving since 1895. The Bourne and Barnstable girl's volleyball teams are two of the best teams in the state and Barnstable in the country. With Bourne winning the State title in 2003 and 2007. In the past 15 years, Barnstable has won 12 Division 1 State titles and has won the state title the past two years.

 

The Cape also is home to the Cape Cod Frenzy, a team in the American Basketball Association.

 

Soccer on Cape Cod is represented by the Cape Cod Crusaders, playing in the USL Premier Development League (PDL) soccer based in Hyannis. In addition, a summer Cape Cod Adult Soccer League (CCASL) is active in several towns on the Cape.

 

Cape Cod is also the home of the Cape Cod Cubs, a new junior league hockey team that is based out of Hyannis at the new communtiy center being built of Bearses Way.

 

The end of each summer is marked with the running of the world famous Falmouth Road Race which is held on the 3rd Saturday in August. It draws about 10,000 runners to the Cape and showcases the finest runners in the world (mainly for the large purse that the race is able to offer). The race is 7.2 miles (11.6 km) long, which is a non-standard distance. The reason for the unusual distance is that the man who thought the race up (Tommy Leonard) was a bartender who wanted a race along the coast from one bar (The Cap'n Kidd in Woods Hole) to another (The Brothers Four in Falmouth Heights). While the bar in Falmouth Heights is no longer there, the race still starts at the front door of the Cap'n Kidd in Woods Hole and now finishes at the beach in Falmouth Heights. Prior to the Falmouth race is an annual 5-mile (8.0 km) race through Brewster called the Brew Run, held early in August.

[edit] Education

 

Each town usually consists of a few elementary schools, one or two middle schools and one large public high school that services the entire town. Exceptions to this include Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School located in Yarmouth which services both the town of Yarmouth as well as Dennis and Nauset Regional High School located in Eastham which services the town of Brewster, Orleans, Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro, and Provincetown (optional). Bourne High School is the public school for students residing in the town of Bourne, which is gathered from villages in Bourne, including Sagamore, Sagamore Beach, and Buzzards Bay. Barnstable High School is the largest high school and is known for its girls' volleyball team which have been state champions a total of 12 times. Barnstable High School also boasts one of the country's best high school drama clubs which were awarded with a contract by Warner Brothers to created a documentary in webisode format based on their production of Wizard of Oz. Sturgis Charter Public School is a public school in Hyannis which was featured in Newsweek's Magazine's "Best High Schools" ranking. It ranked 28th in the country and 1st in the state of Massachusetts in the 2009 edition and ranked 43rd and 55th in the 2008 and 2007 edition, respectively. Sturgis offers the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in their junior and senior year and is open to students as far as Plymouth. The Cape also contains two vocational high schools. One is the Cape Cod Regional Technical High School in Harwich and the other is Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical High School located in Bourne. Lastly, Mashpee High School is home to the Mashpee Chapter of (SMPTE,) the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. This chapter is the first and only high school chapter in the world to be a part of this organization and has received much recognition within the Los Angeles broadcasting industry as a result. The officers of this group who have made history are listed below:

 

* President: Ryan D. Stanley '11

* Vice-President Kenneth J. Peters '13

* Treasurer Eric N. Bergquist '11

* Secretary Andrew L. Medlar '11

 

In addition to public schools, Cape Cod has a wide range of private schools. The town of Barnstable has Trinity Christian Academy, Cape Cod Academy, St. Francis Xavier Preparatory School, and Pope John Paul II High School. Bourne offers the Waldorf School of Cape Cod, Orleans offers the Lighthouse Charter School for elementary and middle school students, and Falmouth offers Falmouth Academy. Riverview School is located in East Sandwich and is a special co-ed boarding school which services students as old as 22 who have learning disabilities. Another specialized school is the Penikese Island School located on Penikese Island, part of the Elizabeth Islands off southwestern Cape Cod, which services struggling and troubled teenage boys.

 

Cape Cod also contains two institutions of higher education. One is the Cape Cod Community College located in West Barnstable, Barnstable. The other is Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay, Bourne. Massachusetts Maritime Academy is the oldest continuously operating maritime college in the United States.

[edit] Islands off Cape Cod

 

Like Cape Cod itself, the islands south of the Cape have evolved from whaling and trading areas to resort destinations, attracting wealthy families, celebrities, and other tourists. The islands include Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, as well as Forbes family-owned Naushon Island, which was purchased by John Murray Forbes with profits from opium dealing in the China trade during the Opium War. Naushon is one of the Elizabeth Islands, many of which are privately owned. One of the publicly accessible Elizabeths is the southernmost island in the chain, Cuttyhunk, with a year-round population of 52 people. Several prominent families have established compounds or estates on the larger islands, making these islands some of the wealthiest resorts in the Northeast, yet they retain much of the early merchant trading and whaling culture.

This is one of those photographic instances when you wish the sun was not out and it is a bright but cloudy day. The sunshine and long autumn shadows caused some awkward lighting conditions on the initial colour result. However, after a number of attempts and iterations with todays technology and conversion to black and white I have managed to achieve an acceptable image.

 

Northern 158869 stands in the single remaining platform at Bishop Auckland having just arrived working 2D07. 10:57 Saltburn – Bishop Auckland, 7th November 2021.

 

At its height after its 1905 rebuild Bishop Auckland was an extensive station with platforms on all three sides of the triangle of lines and substantial station buildings in the middle of the triangle. The current single platform is on the site of the original platform 1 which had an overall roof.

  

A rare instance, the beach boxes at Brighton with virtually no one around. Mind you I had to choose my moment, there was a busload of tourists around when I first arrived.

 

You'd be hard-pressed to find a handful of my photos where I've used the camera's built-in flash. However, in this instance, I really needed it to capture the underside of Bishop's Bridge ("Pont del Bisbe"). It's just that there's a story about this bridge that I'd really like to tell you.

Legend has it that Rubió intended to demolish several buildings near the cathedral to rebuild them in the Neo-Gothic style. Since he was only permitted to build this one bridge, he became so furious that he cursed it, carving a skull pierced by a dagger onto its underside. Anyone passing beneath the bridge and looking at the skull would suffer great misfortune in life. Worse still, if anyone dared to remove the dagger, the entire city of Barcelona would crumble. However, there is also a legend claiming that if you walk backwards under the bridge without looking at the skull and make a wish, that wish will come true. Apparently, there are legends to suit every taste. 😏

In any case, these legends draw tourists in droves, so... I suppose you could say it’s a case of mission accomplished. 😉 And I faced that skull head-on and nothing bad happened to me—so, when you go to Barcelona, you can admire every aspect of that bridge to your heart's content; no need to thank me. Just maybe don't remove the dagger from the skull... 😄😏

 

Barcelona - Spain

 

Será difícil encontrar uma mão-cheia de fotos minhas em que usei o flash incorporado da câmara. No entanto, neste caso, precisei dele para mostrar a parte inferior da Ponte do Bispo ("Pont del Bisbe"). É que há uma história sobre esta ponte que eu quero mesmo contar.

Reza a lenda que Rubió pretendia demolir vários edifícios nas redondezas da catedral para os reconstruir ao estilo Neo-Gótico. Como apenas lhe foi permitido construir esta ponte, ficou tão irado que a amaldiçoou, esculpindo na parte inferior uma caveira atravessada por um punhal. Quem passasse por baixo da ponte a olhar para a caveira, teria um grande azar na vida. Pior ainda, se alguém se atrevesse a retirar o punhal, toda a cidade de Barcelona iria ruir.

No entanto, também existe uma lenda segundo a qual quem passar por baixo da ponte a andar de costas, sem olhar para a caveira e pedir um desejo, terá esse desejo realizado. Pelos vistos, há lendas para todos os gostos. 😏

De qualquer forma, estas lendas atraem turistas aos magotes, por isso... acho que se pode dizer que é um caso de missão cumprida. 😉 Eu encarei a caveira e não me aconteceu qualquer desgraça — por isso, quando forem a Barcelona, podem admirar a ponte à vontade, de todos os ângulos; não precisam de me agradecer. Só talvez não seja boa ideia retirar o punhal... 😄😏

 

Barcelona - Espanha

Taken from Yari Hut. Routes to tackle are separated in 2ways, for instance, the left-hand side ladders are for ascending, the right-hand side descending. Each route takes 30min to complete (standard duration time, so give or take a few/some min, depending on your pace when you're at it).

Not a day goes by when I don't spot a Mourning Dove, usually but not always in pairs. Mourning Doves are much more colorful than your would think. Since my camera is terrible in low light, every once in a while, I use the flash (which is none too powerful), and all those subtle colors come out beautifully ... as well as the catchlight in the eye.

 

A few facts that you probably don't know about Mourning Doves (Dove and Pigeons in most instances). First, they are fantastic fliers, often outmaneuvering the fastest of predators. Those pointed tail feathers tell the story. Second, they feed their young with "milk" made from seed in their crops. And, third, Doves and Pigeons are the only birds that can drink without lifting their heads. They're really not the plain birds we think of...

Some photographs communicate the photographer's state of mind to the viewer. For instance, a majestic mountain top sunrise might convey the photographer's state of awe, whereas a placid lake conveys his or her feelings of tranquility and calm, or a solitary leaf conveys feelings of loneliness or isolation.

 

This is probably not one of those photographs.

 

As a photographer, it's impossible to totally isolate yourself afterwards from the experience of taking the photograph and view it entirely objectively, like any other person would viewing it fresh for the first time.

 

But I can try.

 

Looking at this photo, I think most folks would see the zig-zag trail heading into a bright clearing and, perhaps depending on whether they are optimists or pessimists, think about the phrases "light at the end of the tunnel" or "not out of the woods yet," respectively. The soft snow looks sleepy and comfortable, but the shadowy woods along the path are a little spooky and mysterious. And the cool blue tones are icy and refreshing, like a stick of winterfresh gum.

 

While those thoughts may have subconsciously played a part in me making this photograph, I can assure you that is not what was going through my head at the time. This was the day after my three-year-old daughter's birthday party, which was Beauty and the Beast themed, and the only thing running through my head on loop all day -- throughout my entire 4.5 hour hike -- was that little candlestick singing "Be our Guest."

But please, if I am wrong and that got through to anyone viewing this photo, please let me know.

Q is not so difficult as I first imagined. I actually thought of QUITE a number of things beginning with Q. For instance, QUEEN, QUARRY, QUEUE, QUINAG and QUIRAING (The last 2 are Scottish mountains).

 

Or I could have used a picture (if I had one) of fish and chips, or roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding. Two things which are QUINTESSENTIALLY English!!!!!

 

Maybe I will post another one later........

 

But back to the image at hand. (excuse the pun!!! lol) Why quarter to four and not quarter to five or eleven or any other? Well, there are four quarters in a whole so it was a logical choice!! Notice also the position of the second hand!! - I removed the battery to achieve that!! :-))

If you're wondering why not quarter past, well that would have made things a bit crowded on that side, giving a less well balanced image!!! It's all about the composition!!

I have hidden the hand for setting the alarm out of sight behind the minute hand. Maybe I should have set it for half eight as that is also 4!!!!! LOL

 

The more perceptive among you will also notice that there is something else beginning with Q. I won't spoil the fun. Let's see if you can spot it! I wonder who will be first to add a note to it!!!! :-)))

 

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Day 17 of a 26 day challenge to post something each day that begins with a different letter of the alphabet, from A through to Z (in order)

 

My friends Saint-Exupery (www.flickr.com/photos/38025693@N06/) and Cluster One (www.flickr.com/photos/21517311@N06) will endeavour to do the same. But our results should all be very different as they shall do it in Spanish and Italian respectively and I shall do it in English!

 

We are also joined by Sunrise-sunrise (www.flickr.com/photos/naita29/) who will do the same in French.

 

I am now joined by my friend Western Dreamer (www.flickr.com/photos/lawanda_wilson-candid_captures_phot...) who will also do it in (American) English!

Happy I could frame this moment with Luce spreading her wings, just about to take off. This is the conclusive photo of my shooting as, after this frame, the entire Family decided the posing was concluded and begun to fly around in my studio.

 

By clicking twice the zoom function, you will see them about twice their actual size. Advise: to rate a macro as well as a close-up in all its details, the photo should be attentively watched and magnified from a PC desktop, never from small screens of tablets nor from even tinier screens as smartphones...And, oh boys, if you don't watch a picture from a large monitor, you will never notice nor realize how many errors there can be in an apparently fine pic, included editing mistakes!

 

Notice for the viewers: there is a technical misunderstanding I think on photos that are surrounded by a solid colour space, like, in my case, the black background. This does definitely NOT prevent the photo to be a close-up or a macro* (*even if Not academically meant). In this, for instance, the parrots appear double their real size and, although I humbly tend to define it as a close-up, it is by all means a macro, no matter if the subjects don't completely fill the space. Surrounding them with black (true existing background, no cropping) is my original way to naturally obtain a more balanced image for the eyes and to avoid to frame my photos with inelegant thick black or white frames.

Furthermore, since my parrots belong to the Nature, I tend to rarely photograph them close to man-made objects preferring, instead, natural displays like trunks or branches that are those where my parrots usually rest and play, free in situ in their usual environment!

 

Ref.PAPPAGALLI 2022\Pappagalli up-dates\La famigliola 087 okkk VM DEF

 

©WhiteAngel Photography. All rights reserved.

glorious fall colours right in front of our house this morning :)

There have been a few instances a while back last year when I posted a picture that got almost no hits for a couple days, as if it was not showing up correctly on Flickr. Once such case is the STL 673, which I am reposting here in the D&H album. Thanks to those who saw it before; for those who didn't, I present the RPPY of 11 November 1985, heading west at BD in Binghamton, part of the great tunnel detour that routed all D&H traffic over the Penn Division in one last blaze of glory. Leading a bunch of Alco power is C-424m No. 456.

I've always wanted to do one of these. I know, how original, right? lol. I actually had a lot of fun doing this, and laughing at myself.

 

well...what can I tell you about me? hmmm....well, I can tell you that I don't mine sharing (smile)....okay, okay...I have to be the most low maintenance woman that you would ever meet. For instance, purses and shoes aren't my thing. I mean what is the purpose in having a ton of purses w/no money to put in it. If I didn't carry so much stuff around I wouldn't even carry a purse. Oh, but I do love hello kitty, earrings and necklaces...See there's a girlie girl in there somewhere;p Other than that, give me a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, oh and flip flops if it's warm and I'm a happy camper....

I know this the third image in a row with a super wide crop. It just worked so well for these images. Warblers are quite small and unless you get them on a vertical or diagonal perch you're often left with a lot of dead space. That being said, you can't control where a bird lands. You can recommend a particular branch all you want but a Warbler is going to Warble wherever it so pleases. Sometimes a bird will land on that perfect perch and other times you are not so lucky. For instance, this Worm-eating Warbler gave quite the performance while the Warbler Crazy team and myself looked on. He mainly stuck to an old and long dead tree in the middle of a small clearing near the trail, only coming down to nice photographable perch one or two times. After singing to his hearts content he made a quick stop on this perch giving us one last look before hitting the road. That was a lie, he came back but in a dense shrub for all of thirty seconds.

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My technique is alway the same:

Three exposures -2EV, 0, +2EV and then temperature adjustement using Lightroom and layering with luminosity mask using photoshop. Removal of distracting stuff with the stamp tool or patch tool. High pass filter to enhance details. Then saturation, contrast selectively control, dodge and burn where need...

DRI stand for Dynamic Range Increase. Three RAW files are used to achieve this. Rather than using a software like Photomatix for instance, I simply use mask to blend, my own way, the light, dark and normal shot with Photoshop and Lightroom.. To me, It looks more natural than the usual HDR treatment that I would normally applied.

  

Merci pour les visites, commentaires, récompenses, invitations et favoris. S.V.P. n'utilisez pas mes images sur des sites web, blogs ou autres médias sans ma permission.

Merci!

© Tous droits réservés

 

Ma technique est toujours la même:

Trois prises de vue -2EV, 0, +2EV. Ensuite ajustement de la température de couleur avec Lightroom et usage de calques et masques de luminosités avec Photoshop. Retrait d'éléments de distraction avec l'outil tampon. Filtre High pass pour le rehaussement des détails. Ensuite saturation et contraste ajustés de façon sélectives et locales. Dodge and burn là où requis...

DRI vient de l'anglais Dynmic Range Increase, qui pourrait se traduire par étendue dynamique améliorée. Les même 3 fichiers RAW entrent dans la composition d'un DRI. Plutôt que de se servir d'un logiciel comme Photomatix qui fait tout le travail, je me sers plutôt de masques pour filtrer l'éclairage dans photoshop et Lightroom. De mon point de vue, cette façon de faire donne une image plus naturel que le traitement HDR que j'employais auparavant.

 

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Another gorgeous sunset right outside my front door! At this instance, birds were flying by settling in for the night.

One of the photos taken for this week's Macro Mondays theme of Brands and Logos. I wanted something with a bit of interest rather than a flat printed logo, so I was looking for logos that were, for instance etched or embossed.

Click here for large version

 

On all our tours I encourage our guests to also shoot verticals, not only horizontals. Magazines for instance, are all based on verticals, so if you ever want your picture to grace the cover or to be published on a full page, you'll need to shoot verticals as well.

 

A little while back I got an email from British Airways, asking whether I had a vertical version of my famous picture The Edge, of an elephant at Victoria Falls. And as a matter of fact I did, I just never processed it. When I started processing the image, I wondered why I hadn't done it earlier - the vertical version seems to make more sense because you can actually see the height of the falls and you can see all the water falling down.

 

Anyway, British Airways published the shot and I was happy they had given me a good reason to dive into my image library again.

 

Here's the background story that I wrote for the horizontal version:

 

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It's hard enough to make original pictures, but with some subjects it simply borders the impossible.

 

When I was at Victoria Falls last year, I thought about the billions of photographs that must have been taken there, and I almost decided to just visit the place without my camera. That was until I spoke with some of the local people, who told me that they had seen a bull elephant crossing the Zambezi river the day before. During my research I had not seen any images of the falls with an elephant in it, so I decided to stay a few extra days and try my luck.

 

The course of the Zambezi is dotted with numerous tree-covered islands, which increase in number as the river approaches the falls. As the dry season takes effect, the islets on the crest become wider and more numerous, and with the water level of the Zambezi dropping, once submerged walkways and fresh foraging possibilities present themselves. This elephant was apparently aware of this.

 

On the third day I left very early with a small boat to reach my location. On my way to the edge I suddenly saw the lone bull wading through shallow parts of the river, but it was far away and light levels were low, so I decided to continue to the falls. I took some sunrise shots and half an hour later I saw the elephant approaching the falls. I quickly collected my gear and moved carefully towards the edge where the water plummeted into a 360ft chasm - not particularly nice when you're afraid of heights... I set everything up in order to include as much as possible of the falls and made a composition. Luckily the elephant was aware of my preference to shoot into the light, so his position couldn't be better.

 

After I took the shots, I knew I had just witnessed and captured something very special. Later that day local people confirmed this by telling me that they had never seen an elephant so close to the edge of the falls before - exactly what I wanted to hear!

 

This image was featured as a double page spread in National Geographic, and won First Prize in the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards.

 

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If you would like to join me on our next photo tour in Zambia and learn everything about wildlife photography, please check out my website for more information and tour impression video clips:

 

Squiver Photo Tours & Workshops

 

Hope to see you there!

 

Marsel

 

©2013 Marsel van Oosten, All Rights Reserved. This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.

For the car in this instance

April 19, 2009

 

I have always wanted to grace a cover of any magazine. Maybe one day that dream will come true. I've kind of always wanted to follow in the footsteps of Miley's success. It is very inspiring. I am probably a bigger Miley fan than Jonas. Hmmm... Today, I also found out that the simplest things are quite amusing. Ants, for instance. When I'm sitting down with my best friend to talk, I notice the little creatures on the ground just scurrying along.

 

P.S. My old Flickr name was luvjb_ordiee. But, I started hating it. So, my Flickaaa name is now my name!(:

Finally I get a 10 stopper that doesn't take many minutes of standing in the cold, in this instance the beautiful gardens at RHS in late, hot, May 2026.