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The garden at Sissinghurst Castle in the Weald of Kent, in England at Sissinghurst village, is owned and maintained by the National Trust. It is among the most famous gardens in England and is grade I listed.
Sissinghurst's garden was created in the 1930s by Vita Sackville-West, poet and gardening writer, and her husband Harold Nicolson, author and diplomat. Sackville-West was a writer on the fringes of the Bloomsbury Group who found her greatest popularity in the weekly columns she contributed as gardening correspondent of The Observer, which incidentally—for she never touted it—made her own garden famous. The garden itself is designed as a series of 'rooms', each with a different character of colour and/or theme, the walls being high clipped hedges and many pink brick walls. The rooms and 'doors' are so arranged that, as one enjoys the beauty in a given room, one suddenly discovers a new vista into another part of the garden, making a walk a series of discoveries that keeps leading one into yet another area of the garden. Nicolson spent his efforts coming up with interesting new interconnections, while Sackville-West focused on making the flowers in the interior of each room exciting.
For Sackville-West, Sissinghurst and its garden rooms came to be a poignant and romantic substitute for Knole, reputedly the largest house in Britain, which as the only child of Lionel, the 3rd Lord Sackville she would have inherited had she been a male, but which had passed to her cousin as the male heir.
The site is ancient; "hurst" is the Saxon term for an enclosed wood. A manor house with a three-armed moat was built here in the Middle Ages. In 1305, King Edward I spent a night here. It was long thought that in 1490 Thomas Baker, a man from Cranbrook, purchased Sissinghurst, although there is no evidence for it. What is certain is that the house was given a new brick gatehouse in the 1530s by Sir John Baker, one of Henry VIII's Privy Councillors, and greatly enlarged in the 1560s by his son Sir Richard Baker, when it became the centre of a 700-acre (2.8 km2) deer park. In August 1573 Queen Elizabeth I spent three nights at Sissinghurst.
After the collapse of the Baker family in the late 17th century, the building had many uses: as a prisoner-of-war camp during the Seven Years' War; as the workhouse for the Cranbrook Union; after which it became homes for farm labourers.
Sackville-West and Nicolson found Sissinghurst in 1930 after concern that their property Long Barn, near Sevenoaks, Kent, was close to development over which they had no control. Although Sissinghurst was derelict, they purchased the ruins and the farm around it and began constructing the garden we know today. The layout by Nicolson and planting by Sackville-West were both strongly influenced by the gardens of Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens; by the earlier Cothay Manor in Somerset, laid out by Nicolson's friend Reginald Cooper, and described by one garden writer as the "Sissinghurst of the West Country"; and by Hidcote Manor Garden, designed and owned by Lawrence Johnston, which Sackville-West helped to preserve. Sissinghurst was first opened to the public in 1938.
The National Trust took over the whole of Sissinghurst, its garden, farm and buildings, in 1967. The garden epitomises the English garden of the mid-20th century. It is now very popular and can be crowded in peak holiday periods. In 2009, BBC Four broadcast an eight-part television documentary series called Sissinghurst, describing the house and garden and the attempts by Adam Nicolson and his wife Sarah Raven, who are 'Resident Donors', to restore a form of traditional Wealden agriculture to the Castle Farm. Their plan is to use the land to grow ingredients for lunches in the Sissinghurst restaurant. A fuller version of the story can be found in Nicolson's book, Sissinghurst: An Unfinished History (2008).
For further information please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sissinghurst_Castle_Garden and www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sissinghurst-castle-garden
Germany, Mainau, … a peaceful "place”, near to the shore & the city of Konstanz is the location of island Mainau in Lake Constance, opposite to the shore of the City of Überlingen. It is maintained as a garden island & a model of excellent environmental practices. The island can be reached via a bridge & has a jetty for ferries.
Dahlia, there are over 40 species of dahlia, with hybrids commonly grown as garden plants. The majority types do not produce fragrant flowers, like most plants that do not attract pollinating insects through scent, they are brightly coloured, displaying most hues, with the exception of blue.
Spaniards reported finding the plants growing in Mexico in 1525, in 1787 the French botanist Nicolas-Joseph Thiéry de Menonville, sent to Mexico to steal the cochineal insect valued for its scarlet dye.
In 1963 the dahlia was declared the national flower of Mexico. The tubers were grown as a food crop by the Aztecs, attempts to introduce the tubers as a food crop in Europe were unsuccessful.
Due to the for Germany unusual advantageous climate on the island at the lake the island is called the "Flowering Island". Famous for its parks & gardens with even full-grown palm trees, cypresses & countless other Mediterranean plants, partly even tropical vegetation can grow on the drop-shaped island.
The Plants & flower-beds with are constantly renewed by the gardeners, not only the over approximately 20,000 dahlia bushes Rhododendrons of 180 different species, Azaleas or the Italian rose garden, strictly geometric, consisting of pergolas, sculptures fountains, over 1200 kinds of roses can be found on the island.
A million daffodils, hyacinth, tulips, 500-year-old wild roses & more than 30,000 other rose bushes, also palm trees & citrus fruits grow here, the palms go into the greenhouse over the winter, with a changing climate soon maybe it will not be necessary anymore.
But that has nothing to do with the island's sometimes claimed tropical climate; the lake does level out temperatures & acts a little as central heating in winter because it has stored summer heat.
But above all, the art of the skilled gardeners & their work on the Mainau making this island so unique.
👉 One World one Dream,
🙏...Danke, Xièxie 谢谢, Thanks, Gracias, Merci, Grazie, Obrigado, Arigatô, Dhanyavad, Chokrane to you & over
17 million visits in my photostream with countless motivating comments
Another longish RP I thought I'd share, just for the watchability of the scene I felt!
It starts off with Kamy teasing Serafina (Fin) that *she* got a key /and/ a book from the Ranger cabin.. and Fin has neither of these things. Fin quickly turns the tables on her, and her aggression and jealousy amuses Kamy so much that she does the same... with Fin's boyfriend.
The first few posts are a touch edited to protect the not-so-innocent (other rp'ers ;) ).
Thanks to Phoebe for patiently teaching me how to split-screen!
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Kamy was beyond the flirtations and deviant looks at this point, at least alone when the girls could just be girls. She leaned in then and kissed her full on the lips, far more sensual then anyone would expect from the outrider, letting it pull but linger before popping happily back. "I got a fucking key to the cabin..." she snickered with the very intention of making her jealous and started off then, wiggling her hips as she silently began them on a walk through the park.
Fin kissed back, but while it started off with a sensual little lapping growl, it quickly *did* turn jealous, and she sought to *bite* her lip. Hard. Before she slipped away. Her eyes glittered and quite literally turned greener. ".. Oh yeah? How nice for you," she shoots back and falls into step to follow her through the trees, pushing limbs gently out of the way.
Kamy sunk an arm into hers so they might walk like school girls, licking where her lip had bruised from that chomp and pulling her to the bridge. Most tended to use this one sparingly, a careful step here and there. Kamy walks upon it full force, naturally taking to its bouncing sways and creaking protests without hesitation.
Fin delights in their raping of the bridge. So what if they pingponged off and flew into the river? She was filled with this dangerous rush of adrenaline and unconcern, driving her steps onto the planks all punk rock style. Hipbumps and rowdy hollers. ".. Yeah.. well.. ain't that somethin'. I don't know, man," her tune changing some. ".. I just wish they were all -around- more. I got shit to ask! You know? Th'fuck am I supposed to do?" She hopped to the other side and stretched her arms high above her head, then cracking neck to either shoulder. ".. Build a doghouse next to the cabin and be all, 'Bark Bark lemme in'?"
Kamy laughed when Fina bounced upon the bridge recklessly. She had just been walking like normal but it didn't mean she didn't appreciate the recklessness of it. She laughed when her foot nearly lost it but the book she held was clutched tight, quick to run free from its swaying surface. Would probably collapse on the next person who crossed it carefully. She reached out and took Fina by the belt, dragging her back to hook a knee between her thighs. "talk to one of the others then," she ran a nose along her jaw line, oblivious to anyone else's approach.
Serafina spun back towards Kamy by her own momentum and the Dreg's own tug of Fin's belt. Bare, dark skin *smacked* against her suspenders and covered-for-damn-good-reason skin. While that nose ran along her jawline, it drew out a loose growl, like something had just broken and was crashing down over their heads. ".. Fuck /talking/," she hissed, and yes, her legs parted, but they did so to square off, and grab Kamy by the shoulders to shove her down. Hard. Harder than she'd pulled on the woman before. Her hand would try to pin her throat, her hips, Kamy's pelvis, while her free would skate over her clothing, into bindings and straps, sensually fast. ".. I'm /taking/ ..that key."
Dylon sent his boots into the dirt to stop on the sudden appearance of the girls, it was still a chocolatey-clustery-headfuck for the guy to process. Shit, every time he thought he got a handle on the situation there it was, the diagram. The scissoring of fingers that explained how the two girls ended up, that enough was a struggle, what did you do? What the fuck were you meant to do?! Jack off? Raise that questioning brow to your girlfriend? The answer like all things in life were sometimes obvious, maybe it was Kamy's nose into Fin's face. That image alone made him think of their bed, they were going to need a bigger boat. Chin up and spark up. When he was about to raise his head to speak he stopped, why ruin the moment with a hello. Instead, the man just stood there enjoying the remains of that cigarette held between his fingers.
Kamy squealed when she went down, a very unusual noise for a Dreg to make but she was unraveling fast in the private company of Finn, her dark predatory facade that kept her fat and alive in the outpost abandoned for something far more girly. She couldn't stop laughing when Fina pinned her, hips lifting the girl off the ground with a thrust of her core, enjoying the site of those freckled swells bouncing. Kamy sighed when the girl's hands easily parted the handmade top from her chest, knuckled persed beneath leather and feathers. She nodded at the assessment. "yes good idea...I am tired of sharing you with him anyway" she stated rather boldly, unusual since she'd always liked Dylon from afar. She unbuckled Fina's pants and shimmied them down. "MY fucking key bitch...ug why don't you ever wear skirts..."
Fin squeezed her thighs so her pants could only unzip *enough*, the belt having gone unbuckled by Kamy's swift fingers. ".. I do," she snarked. "just for the men.. for you.. I make it hard." But green-eyedness wins over her again, the jealousy of Kamy having that key, and a book. Since talking hadn't gotten her far, she'd scythe through with force. ".. MINE!" she hurls at her, real anger dominating her voice, or perhaps, she's simply trying to /dominate/ her. ".. Hi Dylon.. " she singsongs between her next *firmly* growled statement. ".. MY. Fucking. ...Key." She'd try to grab Kamy's wrists, probably a battle of sorts while they scurried at her own pants. Her aim to drive them over the woman's head so she could use her free to keep searching.
Dylon sent those arms of his to fold across that chest of his, as that weight of his frame shifted from one foot to another. Just like that, something got that back of his up, a instinctual reaction to double taking on hearing Kamy's words, were they about him? and what was this fucking key?!. That figure of his turned side on then, yanking the cigarette from his lips harshly as his eyes bored down upon the air while that smoke wielding hand rested up against his chest. Maybe it was the twitch of his left cheek and the billow of smoke that was the sign of a vented thought. When that hello came from Fin that head jerked in a greeting nod before stilling.
The book was off to the side, Kamy's hand had carefully set it aside even in the collapse, perhaps indicating she had more control then she'd let on. It was her error to think Fina was only playing however, the surprise obvious when the girl snatched her wrists and pinned them to the earth. She'd lost her chance to truly resist, arms flexing with the push but only coming an inch off the grass. She snarled when the girl started searching her for real, pleased at least that Fina would have a hard time finding it considering the position. Hips popped her up again. "FINA...she gave it to me!" she looked over in surprise at Dylon, laughing despite herself. "Hey clit kicker! Mind holding her down for me?" spoken as if she hadn't even made mention of him before.
Fin let out a victorious "... HA!" when she pinned her wrists overhead. Serious, she was, was Kamy's own fault for digging at her jealousy. ".. I -know- she gave them to you that's th'fucking point," she growled, a touch smoother. As her hand roamed the woman, sliding over hip, scooping a buttock (and here, she'd grin at her, tongue held at her tooth) up, exploring behind her thigh, then her arm bands, she offered a similar suggestion. ".. Mmhm! Yes, Dylon. Why don't you help hold her down for me. And stop laughing, you're gonna make this harder," she grumbled.
It wasn't often Dylon got to break up two girl's who were getting hot and heavy over a game of hide and go fucking seek. Though as he stood there towering over both of them that look of his went to the bridge, blinking at it swayed in the light breeze. "What are you two up to?" he said with a rather strained and exhausted tone. A grimace of pain fell upon his face for a moment, sending a hand against that jacket to palm lightly the spot under his ribs. "And then part of me is just too damned scared to ask.." A breath of air was pulled in through nostrils, causing them to flare before looking back down to the pair.
Kamy was sulking HARD that her key was stolen, tempted to bash Fina upside the head and take it back which was likely the sensible thing to do. But that would just be petty, no way she was giving her the gratification of fighting for it back. Of course she'd forgotten all about taking her wrist phone. She looked around for something to take while the girl was doubled over. She looked up at Dylon as he held her, watching him with a devious sneer. She broke from his grasp with a yank, leaping up and jumping on him with intensive vertical. His weight might hold her but she'd hit him hard, knees grasping his ribs with a crushing squeeze, her lips just smashed upon his. She'd grip the back of his head, sure he'd resist at first, but an insistant roll of her head and a thrust of her tongue within his stubbled lips was downright lewdly performed. Eyes hung to the corners of her gaze,watching for Fina's reaction.
Fin gave him a wriggling eyebrow, like wasn't she just the cockiest bully, mowing down the smartass nerd as she left school with her lunch money and favorite paperback clutched to her chest. Fin was just sitting up to secure her prizes when she *gawped* at Kamy climbing on top of -her boyfriend-. She watched that slide of her tongue to his, their mouths open and grasping as if she was being treated to a close-up of a cinematic still. She gawped and then glowered, pissed off like a firecracker. ".. HEY," she bared her teeth jealously and clamored to her feet, standing next to them and hovering as she tried to think fast. "... Fine, *Elephant Ass*. You fight mean and fair. Who th'fuck am *I* supposed to kiss to piss YOU off huh?" She narrowed eyes at them both and stalked to the cliff edge, dangling the key over the river. ".. Oo, a gust of wind!" she fake-cried.
Lost balance, Dylon was too busy distracted on looking to Fin when Kamy's body launched at him. By the time that back of his hit the dirt she was already upon his ribs, her squeeze, sending that bandage around his side to tighten, ripping open the stitches to the wound that caused him to growl. Well he would of growled, if it wasn't for Kamy's tongue shoved between his lips. A arm came up to his side to try and elbow the Dreg's face out of his to at least giving him some breathing room. "..." A breath of air, a blink or two and he was trying to focus, seeing Fin then holding that key out, leaving him to perk a brow as he tried to process what the hell was going on.
Kamy's eyes lit up at the insult, not sure if the girl was just being clever or if she actually knew that elephant was one of the translations to her name. She came off gasping when he elbowed her chin off his mouth, the wet POP of their lips disconnecting leaving her just as breathless. She sat atop Dylon and glared back at her. "You could kiss people! You could kiss a lot of people!" she defended, not realizing in that moment what a whore she sounded like. In truth there weren't many she'd be jealous over, maintaining the share and share alike concept. She watched the key dangle with an unfair unf. "go ahead and drop it! I fish those waters freckle pussy!" she upped the stakes, the crack of her bum sticking out good as she sliiiid back down Dylon's waist. She'd rip those pants open with impressive skill, born from skinning animals but it worked here too. She shoved a hand down his pants, far more gentle then the kiss in grasping his shaft and trying to forcefully coax it hard and free. "I got a much bigger key anyway..."
Fin STOMPED so hard dirt kicked and coughed and she left a deep imprint. ".. GodDAMN it Kamy!" she hollered at her. "... Fine. Last thing I'm going to do is give you the satisfaction of turning me into a whining mall rat not getting her fucking ice cream cone at the food court." She'd heard about those places, course - most of them were abandoned buildings these days. She'd whirled to find her mid-pants rip... and growled. "If he gets a hardon I'm fucking you in the ass with Marsqueeze's cigar." She pauses, and crouches down to them both. She's -livid-, a boiling anger baking from her skin, breasts heaving with a racing pulse. ".. Just.. lay there, Dylon," she remarks lowly, a sneer touching her lip. Fingers snake into the back of Kamy's waistband, pull it away, and *drop* the key down her ass crack. She keeps the chesspiece though, and moves aside.
The week has just taken a turn for the strange, it was starting to feel like Dylon had dropped acid, again. In twenty four hours he had gone through the motions of violence and all the way to jealousy of seeing Kamy upon his girlfriend, his Fin. Now he was sat there, hand clutched to his side while looking to Fin, by the time it registered on what Kamy was doing her hand was around around his shaft, gripping up his length. That hard on was going to prove more than difficult, blood was already seeping through the side of his jacket, that was something no man had managed to quite maintain, shit, it was like telling your body to multi-task without having control. "Get...your..fuckin...hand...off...my...cock" Words hissed through gritted teeth. As he found himself sandwiched between the girl's power play, but what a sandwich!.
Kamy didn't feel bad for the man at all, hardly even letting him factor in. He had kicked her in the cunt after all. She felt the key slip between her butt cheeks and smiled victoriously. Hands came off his meat and she stuck them in the air in victory. She watched Fina and just found the anger pouring from the woman absolutely sexy. She reached out and tried to snatch the girl's belt as Dylon had done. This whole thing was so ridiculous and it certainly didn't escape Kamy. She'd try to pull at the back of the girl's knees while yanking her down back on top of Kamy. The arms of a wrestler would try to wrangle the angry girl in for another kiss, falling over Dylon and churning her ass upon him like a bar stool. "I win...give me my prize..."
Fin had moved off, too far away to be grabbed, and when Kamy's hand reaches for her, Fin strikes her palm with a boot, hard enough to shove her back, not hard enough to hurt. ".. I *did*. Was going to give it back anyway, asshole. With my record the rangers would be all scowly tellin' me I don't play nice. Then I'd -never- get one. What's in there, a hot-- JESUS DYLON!" she just *spins* off exasperated. ".. Just gonna FUCK her right there in'frunna me??" She's rooted in place, and pulling her bandanna away from her neck side to side.
Dylon tried to clutch for his jeans the moment Kamy's hand released from his prick. "What the fuck yo..." Those words died upon the Dreg's ass slapping over over his lap to grind over. "STOP..." Sending a heavy handed palming slap towards the girl's ass cheeks to grind her right off his lap. Once again he would try to shift himself back, a hand sliding over his jacket that came up with a smear of blood. "...She should be so fuckin lucky..." he said with a hiss as he wiped that hand of his upon the grass. "Whose dream am I in?" Either way, no alarm clock was getting him out of this one.
Kamy rolled her eyes at Fina's tantrum, climbing off Dylon with a jump and fishing the key from her ass, one eye going crooked as she had to fish deep to get it. She produced it just in time to get struck on the ass, a small leap in Fina's direction. "oh calm down...it worked did it not?" she inched the key back into her pocket and sauntered to where Fina was. "you should have seen your face..." she laughed and pranced from foot to foot, clearly teasing Fina for being so worked up with little fake boxing stances. "you think I want to fuck your boyfriend? hmm?" she asked her, waiting for that ridiculous notion to sink into the red head. She was already fucking the sister and the brother, was she going to hit the boyfriend too? "now you don't love Ka-ma-ma anymore?" she asked with a faux pout. "maybe I take you to the cabin and show you. hmm? Did you think to ask?" she had flaunted the key after all for a reason.
Fin snapped shut a plastic lighter and tossed it in the creek. She sucked a full drag of the rolled cigarette's herbal shit and cut her eyes hard to them both, him laying there even as Kamy bounds off to join her. ".. Oh god. Oh no," she mimics in a half-hearted monotone that didn't try at *all*, ".. Please stop. Please don't fuck me. Oh god. Get off. Stop." She pauses, to flick the lit cigarette towards Dylon's lap, while his pants are still undone. ".. And your cock is still out, holmes." To Kamy she shrugs. The anger's dimmed leaving her in dry unconcern. ".. Yes I still love you. And no.. I didn't ask .. thought of it yes, but they're as hard to run into like a priest in a whorehouse. Actually, no. Not that hard!" she sings faux-brightly back.
Breathed long and slow as Dylon was finally free from the pressures of Kamy's body, this would be the moment to gather yourself, instead he listened to the girl's exchange of quips at each other before that rogue cigarette of Fin's landed right into lap, hitting the open fly of his jeans to send a shower of sparks over his crotch. Never had a man stood up so fast with the self harming need of slapping his cock and balls. Ridding himself of the burning glows "....ARGH FUCK SA..." Harshly was that belt closed up, shaking out his legs as he yanked open the buttons of his jacket, shedding himself of the material to then look down his side.
Kamy choked back a laugh when she flicked the cig at Dylon's crotch, a lazy smile as she just inhaled upon the aggressive pheromones coming off the feisty girl. "Fuck you should have been a Dreg Fina...the damage we would cause..." like they weren't already causing problems for the city. She knew the girl was pissed at her but just enjoyed it all the more. She hooked thumbs from her belt and swayed beside her, annoying little hip checks popped into the girl to provoke her further. "we will go when the rangers are not around...it does not seem like such a big deal..." she lied a bit.
Fin spared him a glance. Was that smell the whistling burn of ... hair? Her narrow shoulders jump with a smirk, and she gathers her hair to the other side of her neck, rounding her long spine in a wide hipcheck in return. Thwunk. She held power in her hips and back, moreso than arms and legs, even as bony as they sometimes felt to be. ".. Don't think it would be .. " she agreed, and made the breathy noise that showed she had more to say on the subject.. but stopped herself. Instead, she glanced to Kamy, then back at Dylon. She wasn't even sure if Kamy had successfully "brought the cock home to roost", and wasn't even sure it mattered at this point. ".. So. I'm going to .. buy some birth control. For -everyone-," she adds.
Dylon kept that hand locked to his side as he looked at the pair of girls. "You know what you two are.....a big bag of fuckin troubles...." Shaking his head at them slowly. "...Fuckin hell...." A chuckle, it was rolling over his shoulders as he doubled over a bit. "Somehow Kamy....I get the impression I'm goin to have to get used to you..." That jaw of his clenched then, a throaty grunt before allowing himself to straighten up. "...wait wait....you're not on birth control now?"
"Birth control?" Kamy asked a little confused. "oooh you mean to keep from birth, I get it." she nodded. "the Dreg men blow it on the girl usually, or some use the tubes not used for the sausages" she explained casually. She eyed Dylon with a soft sneer at his comment, reaching out to hang on Fina like he was going to take a picture of them. "why you not think we make a good pair?" she asked and shook a few dreads into the red head's face. "She is too much woman for one man to handle Dylon. You should be happy there is someone like me in her life" she explained.
Fin remains unimpressed by Dylon, and though Kamy didn't get off scoff-free either, she's neither angry nor pleased with them both. There's a strange resignation she feels - she wasn't even sure she'd be the jealous type - never thought she had that kind of .... possession in her. It's there, but it rears its furious head with no warning. For now, she's just left with a dull, faint soundtrack in her mind, some rhythm in her head that's sweeping distance between her and her friends. The dreads thwapping her in the face bring a funny wincing smirk, and she moves between them, arm around either one of their backs. As close as they are, her mind is to those elsewhere thoughts and music. ".. Mm, no, not now," she murmurs. "This afternoon?" She laughs some to Kamy's remark, and bites each of their shoulders.
This small city along the Ohio River does a good job of maintaining it's vintage buildings. Lot of antique stores and restaurants. One of Indiana's more interesting cities.
Tagged by a wonderful photographer and friend, Rhythm:
16 things about myself:
1) Thinks that Vladimir Nabokov is one of the greatest writers which English language has ever produced.
2) Until now, black is his favorite color.
3) Intermittently suffers from a short term memory loss. Has lost his bicycle several times before remembering where he left it.
4) Likes snow but not snowfall.
5) Is amazingly good at forgetting names but remembering faces.
6) Thinks bantering comes to him naturally. Once he gets to know someone (i.e. gather initial required data to start bantering), it could be fun ;-).
7) Has tried several times to start and maintain a blog but has never made it.
8) In some cultures 8 is an auspicious number. But what does this has to do with me?
9) Firmly believes that in a movie/novel, more important than a story is the manner in which it is unrolled to the viewer/reader. Take “Pulp Fiction” as an example. Well, this doesn’t apply to most Bollywood movies, since they lack both.
10) Is trying very hard to learn French. Mais, quel dommage! :-)
11) Loves Italian cuisine, apart from Indian, offcourse!
12) Firmly believes that inventor of the microwave should be laureated with a Nobel Prize. Probably a peace prize for his invention which has quelled several social unrests ;-)
13) Wada Pav and Misal Pav are two of his favorite snacks.
14) Loves to watch Roger Federer play Tennis.
15) Thinks that there’s probably no God.
16) One of his favorite lines is:
"Men have forgotten this truth," said the fox. "But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed."
Original Version:
"Les hommes ont oublié cette vérité, dit le renard. Mais tu ne dois pas l’oublier. Tu deviens responsable pour toujours de ce que tu as apprivoisé. "
-- The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint Exupéry
I was stunned to see such a big and well-maintained monastery at such a remote place, where it used to take at least four days of trek to reach even a few years back, with just a small village having hardly fifty households.
Yes, Lingshed monastery is one of the oldest remote monasteries in Zanskar valley. It was established in the 15th century around the same time when Kasrsha and Padum monstaries were also established in Zanskar, a region of Ladakh, which still lies cuf off from the mainland in winter due to unbearably low temperature,
The new monstery has replaced the old cave monasteries.
Taken in Lingshed, Zanskar valley, Ladakh Himalayas, India
The rain ran down the dirty window leaving a pattern that would have even made Pollock proud. Only, this was truly random. The Universe had spoken or rather, continued to speak as it always has/d done: like Kerouac, without paragraphs, without chapters, without a pause. It said, “Everything is ephemeral”. But no one understood. “Even before you stopped to look, it had already changed. It is truly random, without purpose, without meaning.”
The wind came to share its opinion. Everyone heard it whisper, hiss and moan dolefully; but, it too, spoke in an unknown, unknowable language. “We've heard it all before, time immemorial.”
“Time immemorial? Questioned the Universe. “What about before you existed?.” The Universe always answered questions with a question.
Frustrated, the window gave a disapproving squeak and closed, shutting out this endless, hollow drivel and got on with its job of maintaining a comfortable atmosphere inside.
Climbing out from Prestwick airport near Glasgow in Ayrshire Scotland is this Travis Air Air Force Base Lockheed C5 Super Galaxy.
The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft originally designed and built by Lockheed, and now maintained and upgraded by its successor, Lockheed Martin. It provides the United States Air Force (USAF) with a heavy intercontinental-range strategic airlift capability, one that can carry outsized and oversized loads, including all air-certifiable cargo.
Wash your hands.
Maintain social distancing.
Only go out if it's absolutely necessary.
Flatten the Curve!
Artwork ©jackiecrossley
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*VIVID VIRUS ART* Challenge 22.0
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Maintaining utilities in "old towns" can be a tricky process when you don't want to damage buildings that are over 500 years old.
During the 13th and 14th centuries, Honiton flourished as a market town, benefiting from its strategic location along the busy Exeter to London road.
A well maintained bank building in Ripley, Ohio. The quiet Ohio River village has fewer than 1800 residents.
The geological term for this metamorphic rock is prismatic
sandstone. Ku-ring-gai Council mined this quarry for ‘white metal', a hard stone used for road building, railway tracks and local houses. The quarry commenced operations in the 1890s and may have been called Wilkes Quarry after the family that owned it. In 1915, newspaper records stated:
'The shire council' of Ku-ring-gai ...is properly reconstructing and efficiently repairing the Lane Cove Road from Roseville to Wahroonga… with a foundation of 4 inches of white metal from the Council’s quarry in Killara. "
In 1946 the quarry land was transferred for public park purposes and fell into disrepair until 1992 when the site was upgraded to its current layout for use by local residents. In 2007 local residents, with the support of Ku-ring-gai Council, formed a Parkcare group (QUARRY MASONS FOREST PARKCARE GROUP) to maintain the reserve for the community which enables them to improve their environment in a hands-on way. Council provides.a Parkcare trainer who assists the group with education and training, jncluding plant identification and weed removal techniques. The Parkcare program directly contributes to improving the park and surrounding bushland for the residents of the future. S20N_347
This poor bird maintains a body temperature averaging 107 degrees and so "panting", and by remaining in the shade, where it's non-feathered feet dissipating heat is the only way it can cool itself in the 84 degree temps at 9:23 AM in Arcadia, CA on September 29, 2016
The temperature was 94 at 11:31 AM
Samburu National Reserve
Kenya
East Africa
Elephants are a keystone species. It means they create and maintain the ecosystems in which they live and make it possible for a myriad of plant and animal species to live in those environments as well. The loss of elephants gravely affects many species that depend on elephant-maintained ecosystems and causes major habitat chaos and a weakening to the structure and diversity of nature itself. To lose the elephant is to lose an environmental caretaker and an animal from which we have much to learn.
Only a bell and a bird break the silence…
It seems that the two talk with the setting sun.
Golden colored silence, the afternoon is made of crystals.
A roving purity sways the cool trees,
And beyond all that,
A transparent river dreams that trampling over pearls
It breaks loose
And flows into infinity.
Hora Inmensa – Juan Ramon Jimenez
We humans seem to prefer parkland over natural forest and we'll go to considerable lengths to create it. Here, the forest floor has been cleared of all natural vegetation--except for the little strip of goldenrods along the edge--and the hummocks neatly leveled. A carefully maintained lawn takes its place.
I have to admit though, with the morning sun streaming in, I'm drawn to it, even though I find it hard to condone.
Italy, Venice, Italy, illustrator drawing a sketch of the Canal Grande at the corner of the vegetable market near the Ponte Rialto.
The lagoon city hides many picturesque places offside the tourist roads. If the buildings would be straight, painted & well maintained, I think Venice without this patina, the gondolas & gondolieri, channels, little bridges & the at all-time busy Canal Grande; all these main ingredients altogether express the romantic charm of Venice.
👉 One World one Dream,
🙏...Danke, Xièxie 谢谢, Thanks, Gracias, Merci, Grazie, Obrigado, Arigatô, Dhanyavad, Chokrane to you & over
16 million visits in my photostream with countless motivating comments
The chalk cliffs of the south-west coast of the Isle of Wight reach their highest point on what is now known as Tennyson Down, but was previously known as High Down - 147 metres above the waters of the English Channel.
After Tennyson's death in 1892 a local committee was formed to decide on an appropriate memorial to the poet who had made the island his home for 40 years.
The memorial - an Iona cross of Cornish granite - was almost certainly designed by Frank Loughborough Pearson, R.A., son of the well-known architect John Loughborough Pearson.
The site already had a beacon, a tarred wooden structure erected by Trinity House in 1893 and known as Nodes Beacon. Trinity House had to be approached for agreement to build a more permanent structure, and change the name to Tennyson Beacon.
As Douglas Freshfield, a Freshwater member of the committee, wrote to The Times:
The beacon cross should form a conspicuous and fitting memorial to one of England's greatest poets.
The beacon is 32 feet high and the cross itself is 24 feet high.
In 1895 the Board of Trade and Trinity House agreed to accept the memorial, that it should be known as 'The Tennyson Beacon' and that they would maintain it in future.
The cost of the memorial was estimated at £1,000 raised through subscription. The American poet Oliver Wendell Holmes formed a committee and raised £200 towards the cost.
By 1897 it had been completed and at 3pm on Friday 6th August the Archbishop of Canterbury performed the dedication ceremony. It was - intentionally - the 88th anniversary of the poet's birth.
The weather, as in this photograph - was glorious with sun and a cooling breeze.
The inscription reads:
In memory of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, this cross is raised as a beacon to sailors, by the people of Freshwater, and other friends in Europe and America.
I feel quite sure, said the second Lord Tennyson, after the dedication, that it is the memorial my father would have liked the best.
That is the positive side of the event. There was another, however, recorded in the pages of The Times a few days later:
that ill-organised, flat affair the other day, the unveiling of the Tennyson Beacon.
Whatever happened on that day, the cross stands almost unaffected by over one hundred years exposure to wind and weather.
acrylic on canvas, 2015 , 70 x 100 cm
I will maintain
Vienne la nuit sonne l’heure
Les jours s’en vont je demeure
avec l'aide de mon béni Créateur
Jan Theuninck is a Belgian painter
www.boekgrrls.nl/BgDiversen/Onderwerpen/gedichten_over_sc...
www.forumeerstewereldoorlog.be/wiki/index.php/Yperite-Jan...
www.graphiste-webdesigner.fr/blog/2013/04/la-peinture-bel...
Finally found one couple with a little modesty. As you can see in the following 2 images, they weren't quite so modest.
47776 'Respected' is captured at Hunt's Lock, along the Weaver navigation at Northwich working 5K44 Manchester Piccadilly - Crewe empty coaching stock which, instead of working direct to Crewe took a round about route via the Mid Cheshire line and reversal at Chester. I can only think to maintain driver route knowledge?
Tug 'Clifton', operated by KD Marine UK and was working on the river with hopper barges Halton & Sutton. One of which can just about be seen in the big lock behind.
Taxing out for departure from Prestwick airport near Glasgow in Ayrshire Scotland is this Travis Air Air Force Base Lockheed C5 Super Galaxy.
The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft originally designed and built by Lockheed, and now maintained and upgraded by its successor, Lockheed Martin. It provides the United States Air Force (USAF) with a heavy intercontinental-range strategic airlift capability, one that can carry outsized and oversized loads, including all air-certifiable cargo.
The garden at Sissinghurst Castle in the Weald of Kent, in England at Sissinghurst village, is owned and maintained by the National Trust. It is among the most famous gardens in England and is grade I listed.
Sissinghurst's garden was created in the 1930s by Vita Sackville-West, poet and gardening writer, and her husband Harold Nicolson, author and diplomat. Sackville-West was a writer on the fringes of the Bloomsbury Group who found her greatest popularity in the weekly columns she contributed as gardening correspondent of The Observer, which incidentally—for she never touted it—made her own garden famous. The garden itself is designed as a series of 'rooms', each with a different character of colour and/or theme, the walls being high clipped hedges and many pink brick walls. The rooms and 'doors' are so arranged that, as one enjoys the beauty in a given room, one suddenly discovers a new vista into another part of the garden, making a walk a series of discoveries that keeps leading one into yet another area of the garden. Nicolson spent his efforts coming up with interesting new interconnections, while Sackville-West focused on making the flowers in the interior of each room exciting.
For Sackville-West, Sissinghurst and its garden rooms came to be a poignant and romantic substitute for Knole, reputedly the largest house in Britain, which as the only child of Lionel, the 3rd Lord Sackville she would have inherited had she been a male, but which had passed to her cousin as the male heir.
The site is ancient; "hurst" is the Saxon term for an enclosed wood. A manor house with a three-armed moat was built here in the Middle Ages. In 1305, King Edward I spent a night here. It was long thought that in 1490 Thomas Baker, a man from Cranbrook, purchased Sissinghurst, although there is no evidence for it. What is certain is that the house was given a new brick gatehouse in the 1530s by Sir John Baker, one of Henry VIII's Privy Councillors, and greatly enlarged in the 1560s by his son Sir Richard Baker, when it became the centre of a 700-acre (2.8 km2) deer park. In August 1573 Queen Elizabeth I spent three nights at Sissinghurst.
After the collapse of the Baker family in the late 17th century, the building had many uses: as a prisoner-of-war camp during the Seven Years' War; as the workhouse for the Cranbrook Union; after which it became homes for farm labourers.
Sackville-West and Nicolson found Sissinghurst in 1930 after concern that their property Long Barn, near Sevenoaks, Kent, was close to development over which they had no control. Although Sissinghurst was derelict, they purchased the ruins and the farm around it and began constructing the garden we know today. The layout by Nicolson and planting by Sackville-West were both strongly influenced by the gardens of Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens; by the earlier Cothay Manor in Somerset, laid out by Nicolson's friend Reginald Cooper, and described by one garden writer as the "Sissinghurst of the West Country"; and by Hidcote Manor Garden, designed and owned by Lawrence Johnston, which Sackville-West helped to preserve. Sissinghurst was first opened to the public in 1938.
The National Trust took over the whole of Sissinghurst, its garden, farm and buildings, in 1967. The garden epitomises the English garden of the mid-20th century. It is now very popular and can be crowded in peak holiday periods. In 2009, BBC Four broadcast an eight-part television documentary series called Sissinghurst, describing the house and garden and the attempts by Adam Nicolson and his wife Sarah Raven, who are 'Resident Donors', to restore a form of traditional Wealden agriculture to the Castle Farm. Their plan is to use the land to grow ingredients for lunches in the Sissinghurst restaurant. A fuller version of the story can be found in Nicolson's book, Sissinghurst: An Unfinished History (2008).
For further information please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sissinghurst_Castle_Garden and www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sissinghurst-castle-garden
Built in 1960 alongside the Langford Aqueduct. It would have been used by workers maintaining the aqueduct.
The National Trust is usually thought of as an organisation to protect historic buildings but as I learnt in Dorset they all protect precious habitats. These delightful sand dunes on Studland Bay are managed by the Trust and appear to be thriving . Maintaining a sand dune is clearly a complex process . The following notes are from the Trust website the information contained I thought was fascinating .
“What we know about sand dunes, how they function and thrive, has changed. Previously, we thought dunes should be stabilised – protected from disturbance and cornered off from people. And so, fences were put up, we were told to stay away, and the dunes had nothing to keep them dynamic. Climate change and air pollution only made matters worse. They sent a boost of energy and nutrients into an ecosystem that had formed on the bare minimum, catalysing plant growth. Combine our intentional and unintentional efforts, and we began to lose the essence of our sand dunes.
We removed factors that would normally result in cycles of dune formation and instead accelerated the forward process. Now Studland’s mosaic landscape is slowly becoming smothered by gorse and trees. Open sandy habitats are being buried and rare wildlife pushed out. Data from the Cyril Diver citizen science project in 2016, reveals species like the Sand Lizard and Meadow Pipit shrinking in distribution, their numbers squeezed to the dune edges.
Studland’s dunes need our help. We need to slow down the acceleration of plant growth, restore Studland’s mosaic landscape and bring back the dynamic nature of our dunes into a self-regulating system. These are the aims of the Dynamic Dunescapes project. The project is a partnership between Natural England, Plantlife, Natural Resources Wales, The Wildlife Trusts and the National Trust, with National Trust sites including Woolacombe and Studland Bay.
At Studland Bay, four routes will be taken to restore the dunes:
1 Bare ground creation: Using tractors and mechanical excavators to clear sections of dense vegetation and re-create areas of bare sandy ground.
2 Reintroducing cattle grazing: Cattle mimic the benefits wild herbivores have on an ecosystem; they create bare ground, crop vegetation and form mosaic landscapes. In 2021, ten Red Devon cattle will arrive to Studland and start grazing the dense vegetation at the centre of the dunes.
3 Removing invasive carp from Little Sea: Carp were illegally introduced to a freshwater lake, known as Little Sea, triggering an ecological collapse. Dynamic Dunescapes will provide funding to remove carp from Little Sea and restore the ecosystem.
4 People: What better way to open the land, limit vegetation growth and create some much-needed disturbance than our very own feet? We want to remove the presumption that exploring the dunes will harm them. Instead we want to encourage people into the dunes, to learn about them, experience their beauty and help get them back to their sandy ways.
THANKS FOR YOUR VISITING BUT CAN I ASK YOU NOT TO FAVE AN IMAGE WITHOUT ALSO MAKING A COMMENT. MANY THANKS KEITH.
ANYONE MAKING MULTIPLE FAVES WITHOUT COMMENTS WILL SIMPLY BE BLOCKED
Ostara V2
Created with Midjourney engine.
PP work in Adobe PS Elements 2024 Raw filters.
Jakob Grimm, in his Teutonic Mythology, maintained that "Ostara, Eástre, was goddess of the growing light of spring." Holy water in the form of the dew, or water collected from brooks, was gathered at this time; washing with it was said to restore youth. Beautiful maidens in sheer white were said to seen frolicking in the country side. Also according to Grimm, the white maiden of Osterrode was said to appear with a large batch of keys at her belt, and stride to the brook to collect water on Easter morning. Ostara is usually experienced as a young maiden wreathed in flowers or new greenery, and often dances. She is often joyous, but can just as easily turn suddenly solemn, like the spring weather that can quickly turn to rain. Like Spring itself, she is capricious, innocent and knowing by turns. Hail to the Maiden of Spring, the dawning of the year! Bring freshness into all our lives. The Wheel of the Year is an annual cycle of seasonal festivals, observed by many modern Pagans, consisting of the year's chief solar events (solstices and equinoxes) and the midpoints between them. While names for each festival vary among diverse pagan traditions, syncretic treatments often refer to the four solar events as "quarter days" and the four midpoint events as "cross-quarter days", particularly in Wicca. Differing sects of modern Paganism also vary regarding the precise timing of each celebration, based on distinctions such as lunar phase and geographic hemisphere. Observing the cycle of the seasons has been important to many people, both ancient and modern. Contemporary Pagan festivals that rely on the Wheel are based to varying degrees on folk traditions, regardless of actual historical pagan practices. Among Wiccans, each festival is also referred to as a sabbat, based on the term was passed down from the Middle Ages, when the terminology for Jewish Shabbat was commingled with that of other heretical celebrations. Contemporary conceptions of the Wheel of the Year calendar were largely influenced by mid-20th century British Paganism.
Thank you all for the visit, kind remarks and invites, they are very much appreciated! 💝 I may reply to only a few comments due to my restricted time spent at the computer.
All art works on this website are fully protected by Canadian and international copyright laws, all rights reserved. The images may not be copied, reproduced, manipulated or used in any way, without written permission from the artist. Link to copyright registration:
www.canada.ca Intellectual property and copyright.
Thanks for 5,915,702 views 🙏
Instead of maintaining own locomotives, DB is renting locomotives from private companies. Railsystems RP is one of these companies and their locomotives are really beauties. All having nice liveries, some with heritage liveries like 295 067.
02-november-2021: thanks to the "Supercar" I reached the limit of transit allowed with motor vehicles, the one in the photo, one of the highest in the whole of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and which arrives in one of the most spectacular environments of this Alpine sector.
It did not seem true to me, also given the impossibility for my ankles to do more than 8-9km and 3-400m in altitude on foot, to be able to get up there, one step away from the sky of 2000m of altitude, without prohibition signs transit, without barriers, without ambiguous signs such as "if you go ahead it's just your choice, don't cry then!", widely used by the mountain municipalities of this region in order to avoid the heavy expenses to keep these roads, subject to landslides and avalanches, or the typical knowledge of the rainy and tormented Carnia, maintained.
The "Supercar", for its part, did not betray and in the top part, the fresh snow (average 12-15cm, with sections of about 30-40cm due to windy accumulations) was still floury and therefore with good grip despite the hairpin bends, the tires summer/all terrain type, rather worn, but the 4x4 made up for it.
I do these roads without a goal, in the sense that if they are passable I go as long as the road conditions allow, ready to reverse if I am not sure of my means.
Here everything went well, but there was a surprise, a nasty surprise, after all it all seemed TOO easy to me.
On the way back, descending from 2000m to about 1600m, just above the second houses (tourist houses) of "Pian delle Streghe" (1450m), where, from the valley, the road is perfect and largely asphalted, the snow had melted on the pavement and I noticed how the ground chosen for this cart was not gravel or beaten earth, but stones, as big as a fist (railway embankment type!), messily placed, according irregularly to fords and water work, decidedly pointed (probably only tracked vehicles go there...uhm...), absolutely not rounded by the (evidently) non-existent traffic, to the point that I went down with the small electronics of my non-off-road vehicle (it's a well-equipped SUV, not a real off-road vehicle) trying to avoid the sharpest stones, but almost all of them were sharp, and, as they say in Italian, I felt like "walking on eggs".
After Mount Tenchia and the detour to the summer farm "Zoufplan bassa", around 1600m, the ground changes and becomes accessible to all vehicles, while from Pian delle Streghe, as mentioned, the road is mainly asphalted down to the valley bottom, in Cercivento (607m a.s.l.).
The ridge of the Zoufplan, widely panoramic, grassy and flowery, with glacial lakes and marine origin fossils, is one of the most beautiful environments in Carnia, and it is possible, on foot, to do the whole soft chain, which reaches the first (and highest) summit, to the west, that of Mount Crostis (2251m a.s.l.), at the base of which peak, at a little less than 2000m, there is a summer farm/farmhouse, also reachable from the valley by car (for short periods), from Tualis village, thus being able to take a long circle, the highest part of which, between Crostis and Zoufplan, must be on foot.
If the road from Tualis to Crostis is often closed and inaccessible, the one from Cercivento to Zoufplan is, on the contrary, almost always open and the responsibility of continuing it as far as I was is left to the driver...and I agree with this choice: if you are not able/willing to maintain a road, the person who chooses to continue on (partly) abandoned roads must have the necessary to change a tire (and know how to do it) must have a sense of measure and must know how to get out of trouble by himself to a large extent, preferably with a full tank, clothes, a portable hoist and a shovel in winter.
Always better than bans on bans.
Anyway..., I strongly recommend everyone not to go beyond 1600m of altitude, best of all to stop at the comfortable "Pian delle Streghe" and, for those who can do it, do everything else exclusively on foot.
The cart track is still many kilometers long, but there is an almost "vertical path" that cuts through all the hairpin bends, for those with thighs and lungs in excellent condition.
My driving experience up to the top was certainly good from a naturalistic and photographic point of view, but I returned to Trieste with a flat tire, and the others, already worn, further shredded.
Fortunately, the day after, I had an appointment for the new set of thermal tires and the decision to do away with that day's A/T tires had been made a long time ago.
This is a beautifully designed and fully functioning phone booth/s. The Post office interiors are well maintained and very orderly.
The Merchant Navy Locomotive Preservation Society's stunningly preserved and maintained Bulleid Merchant Navy pacific locomotive "Clan Line" takes its rake of Bulleid coaches through the station in the dead of night.
Friends of the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge is a community-based 501(c) 3 non-profit organization coming together to design, create and maintain a flowering pedestrian bridge across the Rocky Broad River and the walkways at both ends of the bridge for the joy and benefit of all who come our way. The bridge, completed in 1925, served as a part of the US 64/US 74-A/NC 9 highway until 2011 when a new bridge was opened to traffic. The Historic Bridge #7 was turned over to the Town of Lake Lure to allow for the creation of this unique community garden bridge, to be developed by local people to further enhance the natural beauty of the Hickory Nut Gorge for generations to come.
www.lakelurefloweringbridge.org
www.facebook.com/lakelurefloweringbridge
www.romanticasheville.com/lake_lure_flowering_bridge.htm
Lake Lure is a town in Rutherford County, North Carolina, United States. In 2010 the town population was 1,192. Lake Lure was incorporated in 1927, and acquired the lake after which it is named in 1965.
The GP40-2 slug set is struggling to maintain 15-20mph as it heads towards Island Avenue Yard with what I would guess to be at least 60-80 cars.
Malbork Castle, Zamek w Malborku
The Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork is a 13th-century Teutonic castle and fortress located near the town of Malbork, Poland. It is the largest castle in the world measured by land area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Wikipedia
It was originally constructed by the Teutonic Knights, a German Catholic religious order of crusaders, in a form of an Ordensburg fortress. The Order named it Marienburg in honour of Mary, mother of Jesus. In 1457, it since served as one of the several Polish royal residences and the seat of Polish offices and institutions to 1772. From then on the castle was under German rule for over 170 years until 1945.
The castle is a classic example of a medieval fortress and, on its completion in 1406, was the world's largest brick castle. UNESCO designated the "Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork" and the Malbork Castle Museum a World Heritage Site in December 1997. It is one of two World Heritage Sites in the region (north-central Poland), together with the "Medieval Town of Toruń", which was founded in 1231.
Malbork Castle is also one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments (Pomnik historii), as designated on 16 September 1994. Its listing is maintained by the National Heritage Board of Poland.
With the rise of Adolf Hitler to power in the early 1930s, the Nazis used the castle as a destination for annual pilgrimages of both the Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls. The Teutonic Castle at Marienburg served as a blueprint for the Order Castles of the Third Reich built under Hitler's reign. In 1945 during World War II combat in the area, more than half the castle was destroyed. At the conclusion of the war, the city of Malbork and the castle became again part of Poland. The castle has been mostly reconstructed, with restoration ongoing since 1962. A new restoration was completed in April 2016. Malbork Castle remains the largest brick complex in Europe.
Pastel on newsprint
I made this shortly after I started doing art at age 56. There was no preconceived idea. I just picked up a piece of pastel and started moving my hand and arm on the paper. This is the image that resulted. When I showed it to the teacher of an art class I had just started, he said "What were you on when you did THAT?", lol! The answer: nothing. I was just following the impulses as they popped up within. I made this in the horizontal orientation. It was only after it was done and I turned it to this vertical orientation that I saw that it resembled a serpent.
At the time, and for years prior, I spent many hours each day in mantra meditation, pranayama breathing, and yoga asanas, and had experienced many moments of expanded awareness and bliss. But I knew almost nothing about kundalini or its awakening.
I now know that the Sanskrit word "kundalini" means "coiled one". In the Dharma religions, it is a primal energy, or shakti, located at the base of the spine. Different spiritual traditions teach methods of "awakening" kundalini for the purpose of reaching spiritual enlightenment. Kundalini is described as lying "coiled" at the base of the spine, represented as either a goddess or sleeping serpent waiting to be awakened. ... To me, this image reflects the creative phase of the creation/maintenance/destruction cycle.
Kundalini awakening is said to result in deep meditation, enlightenment and bliss. This awakening involves the Kundalini physically moving up the central channel to reach within the Sahasrara Chakra at the top of the head. Many systems of yoga focus on the awakening of Kundalini through meditation, pranayama breathing, the practice of asana and chanting of mantras. In physical terms, many report the Kundalini experience to be a feeling of electric current running along the spine.
—Adapted from Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kundalini
Also, " ... The Supreme Brahman is described as the swallower, devourer (attā = soul) of the universe; for just as he creates and maintains it, he destroys it also. But where does it go when it is destroyed? One answer may be that it simply vanishes. But the Upanishads are opposed to such an idea of destruction. Only the forms and shapes of the world are gone, but not the being of the world, which is the Being of the Brahman. Then what happens to the world? It is absorbed, assimilated to the Brahman. The Brahman swallows, absorbs, assimilates the world to itself."
—P.T. Raju, Structural Depths of Indian Thought, p. 420
Registration: N583UP
Type: 747-4R7F
Engines: 4 × GE CF6-80C2B1F
Serial Number: 25867
First flight: Nov 24, 1993
UPS Airlines, a major American cargo airline based in Louisville, Kentucky, is among the world’s largest in terms of traffic volume. The history of its parent company, United Parcel Service (UPS), in the air cargo industry dates back to 1929 when it began transporting parcels as baggage on commercial flights. This service ceased in 1931 due to the Great Depression, but in the 1950s, UPS reentered the air travel market with its Blue Label Air service, offering two-day coast-to-coast delivery. UPS Airlines was formally established in 1988 as a subsidiary of UPS.
Currently, UPS Airlines operates flights to 815 destinations worldwide, utilizing the "hub-and-spoke" system. Its primary hub is Worldport at Muhammad Ali International Airport in Louisville. The airline also maintains several international hubs, including two in North America, two in Europe, three in China, one in Malaysia, and one in the Philippines.
The active fleet of UPS Airlines comprises 291 aircraft, including 43 Boeing 747F aircraft, 13 of which are 747-400F models.
Poster for Aviators
Situated at the intersection of Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico this cemetery dates from the 1880s and located on the Westside of El Paso. One can see the border wall snaking up the mountain on left side of the photo. The black trestles cross over the Rio Grande below. The tiny white speck on the top left is the international boundary marker. These markers are evenly spaced all along the Southern border. The cross at the top of the mountain is Mt. Cristo Rey. Photographed with Canon 2K film camera with Velvia.