View allAll Photos Tagged mealtime
Macro Mondays - Carbon
"Ouch!", said the pencil as mad as could be
Some naughty school child is chewing on me
"Y'all", said the pencil, (he came from the south)
You NEVER should put me inside of your mouth.
I often am dirty, I fall on the floor,
I'm probably covered in germs, and what's more,
Your teeth are for chewing, that's easy to see.
But use them at mealtime and NOT ON POOR ME!!
In a nutshell, what I learned in first grade. =)
Every day since about 2 weeks ago, this squirrel wiggles over at mealtimes, hoping for a peanut, since figuring out that I pander to a Steller's jay trio with one nut apiece on the railing, and crush a few for tiny chickadees in the golden hour ... While Wayne the cat might be imagining Mssr. Squirrel as a meal himself, as observed today. A delicate balance, these joys, these anxieties, when you love wild critters.
Excerpt from the plaque:
“Madonna”: This sculpture of the Madonna was the first sculpture I created during my training with Gary Sassi, my instructor and mentor to this day. Barre, Vermont is where I studied under the guidance of several great Italian sculptors. It seemed traditional and respectful that my training started replicating a model of The Madonna.
Guidance came with direct teaching, however I soon discovered that while I was working, I was also looking over my shoulder, observing the way the masters worked. How they held the chisels, the frequency with which they moved around the sculptures and observed them in progress and the countless small nuances that came natural to them and could only be learned through observation. What truly amazed me is what I learned during our mid-day mealtime together. It was a time of haring food and beverage together, a time when we spoke of sculpture, carving, of their passion and of the countless creations they had been involved in. This was where the true learning happened. Taking the technical teachings and joining them to the heart.
I will always remember that moment…after weeks of chiseling and bloody fingers…suddenly I could see her face emerging from the stone. A joy that I do my best to replicate in all I do. I do not have the words to describe that feeling, I do know the hair on my arms stand up straight.
Carved from Barre, Vermont granite. Gifted to me by the Granite Industries of Vermont Company.
A few years ago I was doing a lot of hummingbird photography at my sister's house where she has multiple feeders and swarms of hummers trying to take them over.
Lighting stuff. I used a six strobe setup to photograph this tiny terror. I learned the lighting from a book by Linda Robbins called The Hummingbird Guide. Her method is to use a minimum of 5 to 6 strobes, a supplied background (which you have to provide), and photograph the birds in the shade so that you don't have to overpower the sunlight. When you use multiple strobes on a subject in the shade you can use lower power settings for each flash which results in shorter flash duration which means it freezes the wing blur. I used a total of 6 Yongnuo manual strobes. One strobe was pointed at the background, one was underneath the feeder, and the other 4 strobes surrounded the feeder. The strobes were all at about 1/16th power, in manual mode, and were triggered by a Yongnuo RF-603N., and you can see the EXIF info on the side. This is the only way I've ever been able to photograph one of these birds without wing blur.
I've taken quite a few pictures of hummers over the years and put them an album creatively called Hummingbirds.
www.flickr.com/photos/9422878@N08/sets/72157627149575339/
Anything lit with off camera strobes can be seen in my Strobe Lit Objects album which has over 1600 images in it. www.flickr.com/photos/9422878@N08/albums/72157628079460544
The beautiful Female Peregrine Falcon bringing home the evening meal to her family of 4 youngsters yesterday in New Milton. 😍
Northern mockingbird
He zooms right to the oranges that I put out and all the other birds (including the loud bossy Orioles) get out of his way.
He’s bigger than the Orioles and can outsing any other songbirds while poising on top of the highest branches.
Mockingbirds Length: 8.3-10.2 in (21-26 cm)
On an isolated sandy beach, a one week old Hawaiian monk seal pup rapidly gains necessary body mass suckling rich milk while mom enjoys a nap. One of the rarest marine mammals, they are generally solitary, hence the common name “monk” seal. Endemic to Hawaii, these seals were established in the archipelago millions of years before the currently populated main volcanic islands appeared above sea level. This was the third pup born on Oahu in 2021. (RL42 Leia, PO3)
Here at the Hummingbird Ranch, it can get kind of busy around mealtime (especially dawn and dusk). One factor I've read is take the amount of hummers you can see at one time and multiply by 6 to get total population -- based on 20 hummers here and 16 total feeders hanging I've got some 480 of these little guys around.
I can believe it to as I spend at least an hour a day cooking 3 1/2 gallons of solution and then distributing to each feeder and doing the daily cleaning.
They seem to prefer corners of the house (the easier to get away I suppose) and like a nearby tree or large bush to hang out at. They spend much of the day perched and conserving the vast amounts of energy they expend.
Looking at my notes they were active last year until about February when they depart for places unknown and start to filter back June of each year -- by July we're pretty fully occupied again.
This little (big) guy had a huge meal and is now stuffed. Here he is cleaning his teeth with a make-shift tooth-pic.
While touring companies near our old farm yesterday, I decided to pull into the driveway and reminisce a bit. While sitting there surely grinning with memories of good times playing basketball with the boys and birthing alpaca cria with the Mrs, this Coopers hawk landed on the fence not more than 25 yards away.
Blessed with my camera and a few extra minutes, I took a few safety shots and then proceeded to close the distance gap between my subject and me. As I approached he quickly pivoted away and started to take flight. My thought was that I had exceeded his comfort zone and he would now quickly fly into the distance. As is often the case, I was wrong as he quickly pounced on either a large mouse or mole and returned abruptly to the same spot to devour his/her prey right in front of me.
I rattled off several dozen shots of its mealtime, but it wasn’t pretty and for those with a weak constitution I will save. With absolutely nothing left of its catch but a single undesirable blade of grass, he decided to give me the “death to you” stare (captured here) prior to pivoting once again and pouncing on a large grub worm and returning once again to enjoy the second (and even more disgusting) course of his dinner.
Returning to my car now, extremely grateful for this gifted wildlife encounter that took place exactly when I needed it. I know it isn’t factual, but I feel as if I have been spending far too much time photographing people lately and am in a wildlife drought…I need some alone time with my camera and the woods!
Jasper usually has a lot to say at mealtimes and let us know when we're taking too long preparing his food.😤
Fire up the grill, we got the kebabs
Chefs, today I've prepared you a Shrimp and Chorizo kebab with corn, tomato, and bell pepper. I've paired it with a serving of Couscous, a fresh lemon, and a dallop of avocado.
Built for Redemption round 3
Epic mealtime: Lunch
This House Finch was seen really enjoying a meal of Barrel Cactus seeds in the Desert Garden at the Huntington Libreary & Botanical Gardens. Taken in January 2018. The finches and squirrels seem to love these seeds.
It has been ages since I have focused on shooting birds. No pun intended. This morning was simply delightful.
This raccoon was chowing down in a hanging feeder at a local nature center when I spotted him, and I don’t think he was happy to have his meal interrupted by a photographer. When he saw me edging closer for a shot, he showed his teeth momentarily before scurrying away.
For Our Daily Challenge: Mealtimes
« My Reincarnation Project »
During our holidays in the Var, a friendly neighbor came to see us, strangely, at mealtimes. Snake eyes, a multicolored coat of camouflage type and a pierced ear gave him a devastating look.
Pendant nos vacances dans le Var, un sympathique voisin est venu nous voir, étrangement, à l’heure des repas. Des yeux de serpent, un pelage multicolore de type camouflage et une oreille percée lui donnaient un look ravageur. .
Normally, the cats have 3 feedings; two of those occur when Camille might be outside. She shows up at a door or window at 2:00pm, and again at 9:00pm, for mealtime. I let her in, feed her with all of the indoor cats, then attend to Gracie Jo outside--before letting Camille back out.
Then, over the course of a few days, I noticed a pattern. Camille started not showing up at mealtime, so I put her food aside for when she did. (It happens sometimes, especially when the weather is warm.) But I noticed that what she was doing is lingering near the back door--in the shadows, or even under a shrub--until I put Gracie Jo's food down & went back inside. Then, she would hover (& stare) and make GJ uncomfortable. That's what happened here. You can see that Gracie Jo left her food unfinished.
This Lesser Goldfinch (m) was seen feeding in the Crescent Farm Section of the Los Angeles County Arboretum !! Hit "L" for a closer look !
I'm not positive about this one, but it looks like a Blue Dasher munching on a Common Buckeye. Weldon Springs State Park, Illinois.
Enjoy in LARGE and smile at least one tag line on right. Have many Blessings!
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Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day today, tomorrow, and Monday 3.17.2008, by blessing your family and yourself at www.e-water.net/viewflash.php?flash=irishblessing_en
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Pope: Augustine Is Model of Humility
Says His Conversion Lasted Until He Died
VATICAN CITY, FEB. 26, 2008 (Zenit.org).- In his final reflection on St. Augustine, Benedict XVI spoke of the saint's interior conversion, calling it "one of the greatest" in Christian history.
The Pope affirmed this today during the general audience given in Paul VI Hall. He recalled how his trip last year to pay homage to the mortal remains of Augustine was meant to "demonstrate the admiration and reverence of the entire Catholic Church toward St. Augustine, and my own personal devotion and recognition of a figure with whom I feel I have close ties to due to the part he has played in my theological life, in my life as a priest and a pastor."
Recalling Augustine's own retelling of his conversion in the "Confessions," the Holy Father said that the process is best "described as a journey that remains a true example for each one of us." It was a journey that "continued with humility until the end of his life."
"We can state that all the stages of his life -- and we can easily distinguish three phases -- together make up a single long conversion," the Pontiff explained.
Truth seeking
Benedict XVI characterized the first phase as a "gradual approach to Christianity," since Augustine was a "passionate seeker of the truth."
He explained: "Philosophy, and especially Platonic philosophy, led him closer to Christ by revealing to him the existence of the Logos, or creative reason. The books of the philosophers showed him the existence of 'reason' from which the whole world is derived, but did not tell him how to reach this Logos, which seemed so inaccessible.
"It was only through reading the letters of St. Paul, in the faith of the Catholic Church, that he came to a fuller understanding. […] His eyes fell on the passage of the Letter to the Romans, in which the apostle urges the abandonment of the pleasures of the flesh in favor of Christ. He understood that those words were specifically meant for him. They came from God, through the Apostle, and showed him what he had to do in that moment."
Augustine thus began to seek God, the Pope explained, "the great and inaccessible."
"His faith in Christ made him understand that God, seemingly so distant, was in truth not distant at all. In fact he has come near us, becoming one of us," the Holy Father said. "In this sense his faith in Christ allowed Augustine to accomplish his long search for truth. Only a God who made himself 'touchable,' one of us, was a God to whom one could pray, for whom and with whom one could live."
Mercy
Benedict XVI said a last step, or "third conversion" in the journey, "led [Augustine] to ask God for forgiveness every day of his life."
The Pope explained: "At first he thought that once christened, in a life in communion with Christ, in the sacraments, and in the celebration of the Eucharist, he would attain a life as proposed in the Sermon on the Mount, which is one of perfection given through baptism and confirmed in the Eucharist.
"In the latter period of his life he understood that what he had said in his first homilies on the Sermon on the Mount -- that we as Christians permanently live this ideal life -- was a mistake. Only Christ himself realizes truly and completely the Sermon on the Mount. We always need to be cleansed by Christ, who washes our feet, and be renewed by him.
"We need a permanent conversion. Up to the end we need to demonstrate a humility that acknowledges that we are sinners on a journey, until the Lord gives us his hand and leads us to eternal life. It is with this attitude of humility that Augustine lived out his final days until his death."
A model
The Holy Father said that Augustine, once "converted to Christ, who is truth and love," became a model for every human being, "for all of us in search of God."
"Today, as then," the Pontiff said, "mankind needs to know and to live this fundamental reality: God is love and meeting him is the only answer to the fears of the human heart.
"In a beautiful text St. Augustine defines prayer as an expression of desire, and affirms that God answers by moving our hearts closer to him. For our part we should purify our desires and our hopes in order to receive God's gentleness."
"In fact," the Holy Father concluded, "this alone -- opening ourselves up to others -- can save us."
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2nd post on 20080315
I am emailed below from www.medjugorje.org
or Steve Shawl
Peace to All! Below please find the official English translation of Our Lady's February 25, 2008 message to the world as provided by the Information Center in Medjugorje.
“Dear children! In this time of grace, I call you anew to prayer and renunciation. May your day be interwoven with little ardent prayers for all those who have not come to know God´s love. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
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The Abandoned Valley
Can you understand being alone so long
you would go out in the middle of the night
and put a bucket into the well
so you could feel something down there
tug at the other end of the rope?
Poem by Jack Gilbert in
“Refusing Heaven” (Alfred Knopf 2007)
winner of National Book Critics
Circle Award For Poetry
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In 2006, the local electorate blessed Dallas County, Texas with a new District Attorney (DA) who has been exemplifying extremely different philosophies like: “Society wins when justice is done, even if the Government fails to convict and lengthy imprison in most cases”.
What leadership qualities resulted in Texas’ old Dallas County DA’s Office causing Dallas County to be the “Send Innocent People to Prison Capital of the USA”. Is it worth studying those procedures, goals, attitudes, techniques to encourage or discourage their continued use else where?
Question: Is the criminal justice system dysfunctional and merely about the sneaker attorney winning?
Question: How do we start drastically altering such a screwed up trophy system? Does innocents being imprisoned, embarrass no one anymore? Why? Because there is so much of it going on?
Answer below please: ______
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Sunday, March 16, 2008
Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion
Reflections on Holy Scripture at the Procession of Palms:
Matthew 21:1-11
At the Mass:
Isaiah 50:4-7
Responsorial Psalm:
Psalm 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24
Reading II:
Philippians 2:6-11
The Gospel:
Matthew 26:14—27:66 or 27:11-54
Today we begin the most sacred week of the year—Holy Week.
It all begins with the Lord's triumphant entry into Jerusalem, seated astride a donkey, with the crowd shouting "Hosanna!" and it ends with the most astounding event in history, the God-man Jesus, rising from a borrowed tomb. He rises with the light shining from the wounds of His horrible passion and death.
As our Savior rode toward His great confrontation with the powers of evil, the words of today's first reading were very possibly in His mind:
I have set my face like flint, knowing that I will not be put to shame.
(Isaiah 50:7)
No, the shame is ours that our sins and those of the millions before us have brought Him to this hour. This is the week for us to bow our heads and hearts in sorrow and compassion as we put aside our daily distractions and focus on the events of the dying and rising of our loving Redeemer. We need to reflect prayerfully on the ancient Christian hymn that forms our second reading for this Mass:
He emptied himself, taking the form of a slave . . .
he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death,
even death on a cross. (see Philippians 2:7-8)
No wonder every knee must bow at the mention of His name! The early Church fought long and hard to establish the doctrine for all time that it was both God and man that took up that cross for our redemption.
So what is our cross?
It's the cross of responsibilities, the cross of sickness, the cross of loneliness and failure. We gain so much strength to carry those crosses when we take time this week to journey with Jesus to Calvary.
The Church is a master of drama in the liturgies of this week. Through the use of the celebrant and two readers for the Passion this week, and in the voices of the congregation, we all become part of the action. Most of us feel embarrassed to cry "Crucify Him" with the palm branches still in our hands. We feel like hypocrites. Yet it was our sins which brought Him to Calvary.
The Passion Narrative of Matthew is a reminder of the ugliness of sin—Christ's betrayal by Judas, the denial of Peter, the hearings before Caiaphas and Pilate—the awful scourging by the Roman soldiers, the thorny crown jammed upon His weary head, the whip cutting slashes into His flesh, the blood running down his shoulders and back, the cursing by the crowd, the nails tearing through His hands, the thud of the cross into the ground. As He hangs on the Cross, He cries, "I thirst!" How that cry echoes down the centuries as a reminder of His search for our love!
The shock of Palm Sunday's liturgy compresses nearly two thousand years into this present moment. We have no place to hide.
We need to suspend all other activities, quiet our busy-ness, and focus on the events of this week—the local penance services, the Stations of the Cross, the Thursday night adoration and the Good Friday veneration of the Cross.
All this will prepare us for the coming out of darkness into the new fire, the new light, the new saving water of the Easter Vigil—and the Resurrection.
- Msgr. Paul Whitmore | email: pwhitmore29@yahoo.com
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Ona and I were driving the North Fork when we came across several eagles and crows fighting over a fresh kill. She quickly climbed into the backseat and photographed this adult from an open window with my DA*300 lens and the K-3 II. We only had one lens so we had to pass it back and forth, but her shots turned out much better than anything I got with my K-1. We watched the birds for a few minutes and then quietly moved on so as not to disrupt them during mealtime.
From Glacier National Park in West Glacier, Montana.
Another 'window blind' shot of a backyard Eastern gray squirrel. It took a piece of pumpkin from the front yard to this back yard perch for consumption. The morning sun leaves the background dark and there are no cars or dog walkers to disrupt the mealtime.
Our little Jack, the rescue pig, seen here on the right, has been in intensive care for ten days, but is now much improved and well on the way to recovery. During his illness, his loving companion Antipig behaved very sweetly towards him and stayed by his side through the worst of it. She is very happy to have her mealtime friend back again and here they are enjoying some newly picked and precious winter time garden grass.
Mealtime ~ and final photograph in this tribute. The unconditional love, devotion and sheer peacefulness so keenly observed in this astonishing family by so many photographers speak highly of both Sandhill Cranes and Canada Geese and is a fine teaching lesson for all of us. May our young gosling rest in peace ~ we all miss you.
Many thanks, my fellow photographers and Flickr friends ~ for your visits, likes and notes.
On this day in December 2016, the elusive American Kestrel and I evidently made peace. This beautiful female shared her bug-catching skills with me, and looked right proud as she dismantled her prizes. While my kestrel breakthrough continues, I haven't had recurrence of that very special mealtime.
Idaho spent 4 nights at the "vet school" (University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine) a couple of weeks ago. He's 14 yrs old and was diagnosed with Asthma/Bronchitis, an upper respiratory infection, and a second bacterial infection that requires an additional antibiotic. Idaho is doing very well, but I'm currently giving him 4 doses of liquid meds per day. They all have to be taken with food, so they are definitely linked to mealtime. Usually he comes bounding in when I open this window from the cat enclosure, but here he's assessing whether he really wants to come in.
Luckily, he is a great sport and forgives me quickly. When he was at the vet school, I asked the veterinarian if their COVID regulations would prevent us from visiting Idaho (as we have done with a cat in the past). She said we could not visit, but assured me that Idaho was getting a lot of attention while in the oxygen "tent" and everybody loved him. Then she giggled. I said, "Idaho let you rub his belly, didn't he?" And she laughed and said, "yeah, he rolled over on his back, making biscuits."
Sally and I feel lucky to live in a town with a veterinary hospital. Actually, there's been one in both cities where we've lived a substantial amount of time.