aumentar

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Ahora en Biodiversidad virtual

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Aunque de aspecto primitivo y algo extraterrestre, Keratella serrulata es un rotífero de nuestro planeta y de nuestro tiempo, que con su gruesa y rígida coraza de tortuga armada, se abre paso entre los caminos del agua. Cuando esos caminos están libres de obstáculos, Keratella serrulata vuela en planeo suave con la agilidad de un ave que se deja llevar confiada por el aire, pero cuando cualquier pequeño obstáculo se interpone a su paso, el vuelo de Keratella se transforma en travesía de barquito en medio de un temporal y dando tumbos intenta llegar a tierra, con la seguridad siempre de llegar a buen puerto.

Hoy Keratella ha volado como ave y ha estado dando tumbos como un barquito a punto de un naufragio imposible, pero al final ha llegado, quizá sin proponérselo, al puerto que buscaba. De este modo, anclada con su espinoso casco a una orilla llena de grumos de vida, descansa y reposta tomando su alimento. Los cilios de la pequeña corona de Keratella crean corrientes y barren el agua arrastrando hacia el interior de su cuerpo las pequeñas algas de las que se alimenta, fundamentalmente doradas crisofitas y otras minúsculas transparentes, verdes o pintadas por cualquier pigmento que tome la energía de la luz del sol.

La robusta lorica de Keratella está repujada en amplias placas que recuerdan gruesas escamas de pez dispuestas como tejas y adornada de minúsculos botoncitos granulados. La parte anterior de esta armadura se prolonga en varias espinas suavemente curvadas y dentadas en los bordes que confieren a este pacífico rotífero un aspecto agresivo, se trata de una estrategia de defensa para hacer frente a los innumerables peligros que la acechan en este universo de lo desconocido y de las sorpresas que encierra una simple gota de agua. Las esquinas laterales posteriores de la lorica pueden estar o no armadas con dos espinas de longitud variable que cuando están presentes, ayudan a estabilizar el cuerpo de este rotífero cuando navega.

Keratella serrulata es un rotífero cosmopolita que no se encuentra en las regiones tropicales, tiene preferencia por las aguas ácidas y es relativamente común en turberas en las que se alimenta de pequeñas algas. En la Península Ibérica la mayor parte de las citas proceden de masas de agua embalsada situadas en el NW.

El ejemplar de hoy se ha fotografiado a 400 aumentos con la técnica de contraste de interferencia y ha sido encontrado en una muestra recogida en la Laguna de las Sanguijuelas, en las inmediaciones del Lago de Sanabria (Zamora).

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Oh, how I admire these marvelously engineered, composed and exposed hi-tech Strobist shots, such as of a floating CFL shining brightly without being mated to a socket or any wires visible. For example, this floating CFL, the Strobist explanation and the link to the article by David Hobby were an inspiration to try a lo-tech version.

Strobist Info:

Bulb is a 110V 5W as bought, with a red coating and old-fashioned tungsten filament. Although the thread and contact are dark and hard to see in this shot, no wires are attached to it. No photo editing, simply not needed. This is the image straight out of the camera, just cropped. No fancy floating either, this bulb just rests on the dark backdrop inside my small lightbox that is illuminated by a rainy day cloudy sky through the window shade pulled up about a hand wide. No flash used, no snooting. Why then Strobist? Well, the creative spirit of sharing explanations may have to do with it.

Before I bluntly share, can you guess how I lighted up that bulb? It is without wiring, without building an LED into it, with neither radio frequency transmission nor microwave energy, and not resorting to magic hands energy or wishful positive thinking, either.

Three visual cues:

1. the reflection on the Edison socket,

2. the reflection on the bulb body

3. a bit of light spill to the right side of the bulb. View On Black

Got an idea? The light source is (drum roll) a laser pointer, carefully aimed at the far side of the red globe. See that same little red light bulb when OFF.

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Today, I chilled on the couch all day. Why you may ask? I totally had a headache ALL DAY long. Still have one while I'm typing this. My headaches link to change in weather, so although I've been enjoying the rain, the changing weather is really messing up my head. :(

This weekend is going to be crazy because I have to cram a bunch of school assignments because I'm a procrastinator. :/

I sat around and watched all sort of videos such as:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvrcdQWzH-8

and

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgnRKyPLxng

Can I have both of those for pets?!? PLZ!!!!?

Anyways, cute videos make my head not hurt so badly.

Okay so this QOTD should be fun! :):

What is your FAVORITE Youtube video?

Here's some of mine (These are in no order):

WIZARD SWEARS:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqTHmzMk0Cw

This guy is an amazing pianist:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQ0E3dsHRV4

SEVERAL gymnastics videos!!!

Mary Lou Retton:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uvxNzOTKNc

Shannon Miller:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTtR17QkZ_Y

Shawn Johnson:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qQq9lhNwHA

Mitchell Davis:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp7iOwRySwY

(I've met him, and Kyle for all you people who know lots about Mitchell)

Me meeting David Archuleta's family:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G96F00fGH0

Me, Madison and Cristen being really stupid a long time ago:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxwxipxGG5c

Hope you all enjoy! :D Give me one or more of your favorites!

ALSO I MADE A LIKE PAGE ON FACEBOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMGGG

like it please?!!! :)

www.facebook.com/pages/Holly-DeVane-Photography/128303547...

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Inside one of Las Vegas' casinos (I think it's the MGM, but not sure).

Part of my US West Coast set.

www.theislandwiki.org/index.php/Noirmont

"Batterie Lothringen was only German naval coastal artillery battery to be established in Jersey during the Occupation."

www.vibrantjersey.je/destination/the-channel-islands-occu...

"The Channel Islands Occupation Society (Jersey) has been opening and restoring German fortifications for 45 years and arguably boasts some of the best-preserved fortifications today that originally formed and defended part of Hitler’s much vaunted “Atlantikwall” which stretched from inside the arctic circle of northern Norway to the French/Spanish boarder with about 10% of the fortifications constructed found in the Channel Islands!"

www.jersey.com/inspire-me/inspiration/jersey-occupation-s...

"The Channel Islands were the only part of the Britain Isles to be occupied by German forces in WW2. The five-year occupation came to an end on 09 May 1945 – Liberation Day, an event still celebrated in Jersey with an annual Bank Holiday."

"Hitler ordered the conversion of Jersey into an impregnable fortress. Some 6000 forced workers from countries like Russia, Spain, France, Poland, and Algeria built hundreds of bunkers, anti-tank walls, railway systems, as well as many tunnel complexes.... All of the fortifications built around the island were part of Hitler’s “Atlantic Wall”."

Madrid (Spain).

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High, in the centre of town, ventilated and sunny.

Alto, céntrico, ventilado y soleado.

ENGLISH

The Plaza Mayor built during the Habsburg period is a central plaza in the city of Madrid, Spain. It is located only a few blocks away from another famous plaza, the Puerta del Sol. The Plaza Mayor is rectangular in shape, measuring 129 by 94 meters, and is surrounded by three-story residential buildings having 237 balconies facing the Plaza. It has a total of nine entranceways. The Casa de la Panadería, serving municipal and cultural functions, dominates the Plaza Mayor.

The origins of the Plaza go back to 1581 when Philip II of Spain asked Juan de Herrera, a renowned Renaissance architect, to devise a plan to remodel the busy and chaotic area of the old Plaza del Arrabal. Juan de Herrera was the architect who designed the first project in 1581 to remodel the old Plaza del Arrabal but construction didn't start until 1617, during Philip III's reign. The king asked Juan Gomez de Mora to continue with the project, and he finished the porticoes in 1619. Nevertheless, the Plaza Mayor as we know it today is the work of the architect Juan de Villanueva who was entrusted with its reconstruction in 1790 after a spate of big fires. Giambologna's equestrian statue of Philip III dates to 1616, but it was not placed in the center of the square until 1848. Amazingly enough if you go in there today you can still see the blood on the walls from some of the bull fights held there in earlier years.

The Plaza Mayor has been the scene of multitudinous events: markets, bullfights, soccer games, public executions, and, during the Spanish Inquistion, "autos de fe" against supposed heretics and the executions of those condemned to death. The Plaza Mayor also has a ring of old and traditional shops and cafes under its porticoes. Celebrations for San Isidro, patron saint of Madrid, are also held here. The Plaza Mayor is now a major tourist attraction, visited by thousands of tourists a year.

More info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaza_Mayor_of_Madrid

-----------------------------

CASTELLANO

La Plaza Mayor de Madrid está situada en el centro de la ciudad, a pocos metros de la plaza de la Puerta del Sol y de la Plaza de la Villa junto a la calle Mayor.

Los orígenes de la plaza se remontan al siglo XV, cuando en la confluencia de los caminos (hoy en día calles) de Toledo y Atocha, a las afueras de la villa medieval, se celebraba en este sitio, conocido como "Plaza del Arrabal", el mercado principal de la villa, construyéndose en esta época una primera casa porticada, o lonja, para regular el comercio en la plaza.

En 1580, tras haber trasladado la corte a Madrid en 1561, Felipe II encargó el proyecto de remodelación de la plaza a Juan de Herrera, comenzándose el derribo de las "casas de manzanas" de la antigua plaza ese mismo año. La construcción del primer edificio de la nueva plaza, la Casa de la Panadería, comenzaría en 1590 a cargo de Diego Sillero, en el solar de la antigua lonja. En 1617, Felipe III, encargó la finalización de las obras a Juan Gómez de Mora, quién concluirá la plaza en 1619.

La Plaza Mayor ha sufrido tres grandes incendios en su historia, el primero de ellos en 1631, encargándose el mismo Juan Gómez de Mora de las obras de reconstrucción. El segundo de los incendios ocurrió en 1670 siendo el arquitecto Tomás Román el encargado de la reconstrucción. El último de los incendios, que arrasó un tercio de la plaza, tuvo lugar en 1790, dirigiendo las labores de extinción Sabatini. Se encargó la reconstrucción a Juan de Villanueva, que rebajó la altura del caserío que rodea la plaza de cinco a tres plantas y cerró las esquinas habilitando grandes arcadas para su acceso. Las obras de reconstrucción se prolongarían hasta 1854, continuándolas, tras la muerte de Villanueva, sus discípulos Antonio López Aguado y Custodio Moreno.

La Plaza Mayor se convirtió desde sus inicios, no solo en el principal mercado de la villa, tanto de alimentación (surtida por los numerosos tablajeros vigilados por el Repeso) como de otros géneros (instalándose en sus soportales los principales gremios); sino también en el escenario de numerosos actos públicos, como corridas de toros, autos de fe, inmortalizando el pintor Francisco Ricci el celebrado en 1680, ejecuciones públicas, colocándose el patíbulo delante del portal de pañeros si la pena era de garrote; frente a la Casa de la Panadería, si era de horca, y ante la Casa de la Carnicería, si era de cuchillo o hacha. También se celebró en la Plaza Mayor la beatificación de San Isidro, santo patrón de Madrid.

La Plaza Mayor es actualmente un importante punto turístico, visitado por miles de turistas al año. En los locales comerciales ubicados bajo los soportales, abundan los comercios de hostelería, que instalan terrazas junto a los soportales de la plaza.

Todos los meses de diciembre, se celebra el tradicional mercado navideño, costumbre que se mantiene vigente desde el año 1860.

También se celebra todos los domingos y festivos por la mañana el mercado de Filatelia y Numismática.

Más info: es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaza_Mayor_de_Madrid

Engine: D70s + Nikkor DX 18-55mm VR

Location: Chemerong Waterfall,Hulu Terengganu.

Info :

Konservasi Chemerong Berembun Lasir

Lokasi : AT Chemerong, Gng. Berembun, AT Lansir

Tarikh : 7 – 9 Feb 2009 (3 Hari)

Kos : RM150

For others photos activity can be review here - markas.bintang3.net/viewtopic.php?t=2581

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Please, no banners, awards or logos! Thank You.

Maybe the best Library I visited in Portugal. The space, the light and the beautiful views, including views to the river and to the sea, made me wish to be a citizen of Viana do Castelo. I would love to come here regularly and be part of the reader's community. I am proud of this place!

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Bas-relief Number 3 from the 2nd century AD in the Tang-e Chowgan gorge by Bishapur is extremely worn by a flooding after an aqueduct was constructed in the gorge in the 1960s. The aqueduct wasn't removed until the 1970s, by which time a deep groove had formed throughout the gorge damaging this relief between the fourth and fifth register, near the bottom. Regardless of the damage, the rich detailing of its former glory can still clearly be distinguished.

There are many Sassanid bas reliefs in throughout the Sassanid Empire, with some excellent examples of 'vistory' and 'equestrian' reliefs found in Naqsh-e Rostam and Nasqsh-e Rajab (photos coming soon).

Bishapur' s 'Relief Number 3' is often referred to as Shapur's Victory. 'Triple Victory' would have been a more apt description. The great quantity of horsemen firmly makes this an equestrian victory relief, but the gift bearers are reminiscent of the Achaemenid Eastern Apadana Staircase reliefs in Persepolis, while the cavalries are similar to those depicted on Trajan's Column in Rome.

Sassanid King Shapur I is depicted at the heart of the relief, roughly in the centre of the third register, on his horse and victorious over three Roman Emperors.

The upper left first and second registers and lower left fourth and fifth registers the show the cavalry approaching from the left, as with all Sassanid reliefs. Notwithstanding the flood groove in the fifth register, the use of less well defined figures located on the lower registers would suggest this to represent lower orders of the cavalry.

The middle left third register shows the best defined horse riding figures, probably representing the courtiers and officers of the cavalry.

The upper right first and second registers depict people carrying tribute by way of gifts and offerings to Shapur. Unlike the identifyiable Eastern Apadana Staircase reliefs of Persepolis the graphical identitfication of the ethnicity of the gift bearers is somewhat open to speculation, but the most agreeable interpretation is that these figures depict Romans.

The middle right third register shows the well defined infantry section approaching Shapur from the right. Apart from he Romans there is also the curious presence of an elephant on the extreme right...

The lower right fourth and fifthe registers are damaged by the flooding, which makes identification of the gift bearing figures more difficult, but even before the erosion there has always been speculation about these figures

See also Bishapur Reliefs Number 1, Number 2, Number 4, Number 5, Number 6

Due to the challenging form and placement of this relief, this is not strictly speaking a photo (hence no EXIF metadata), but a rather composite, like the Chehel Sotun composite.

The uploaded version is a much lower resolution version than the actual composite, but seven detail shots are uploaded individually at about half the original resolution, while the centre piece featuring Shapur is uploaded at full resolution.

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The other day I was watching this male Mute Swan strut his stuff around two Trumpeter Swans. Every once and awhile he'd swim in circles and puff out his feathers........The two Trumpeter Swans tagged E90 and O38 would let out a few honks then go about their own business. The two Trumpeter Swans seemed completely uninterested in this lone Mute..I never saw his mate. Perhaps he's a lonely bachelor.........?? ;)

"The Mute Swan is reported to mate for life. However, changing of mates does occur infrequently, and swans will remate if their partner dies. If a male loses his mate and pairs with a young female, she joins him on his territory. If he mates with an older female, they go to hers. If a female loses her mate, she remates quickly and usually chooses a younger male."

Enjoy!! :)

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It’s my first time with texture and PS, so please, be placable =)

Saturday, 15.11.2009.

It was exceptional day, even if I felt so tired later.

It was day without sleep at night before (because I was afraid that I miss my (really!) morning train), 4 hours at train, than wonderful time with someone really special and than another 4 hours at bus on my way back home.

Some people make us smile, some make us happy, some make us special and some wake up to live and than keep us still alive.

Yep, that’s right: so close no matter how far and now nothing else matters.

Thank you my dear.

trust I seek and I find in you

every day for us something new

open mind for a different view

and nothing else matters

so close no matter how far

couldn't be much more from the heart

forever trusting who we are

no nothing else matters

/Metallica - Nothing else matters/

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talk to me

A surrealist story:

It breaks my heart leaving my little tree (and her three new borns) every morning in the loneliness of my kitchen... When I arrive home she looks so unhappy with her fallen leaves... Then I give her some water and clean every leaf with a wet cloth, and at the same time I talk to her and tell her how hard my day was. In the end of this process, that lasts around 10', she looks happier and her leaves get crispy and alive...

I don't think I am the only person on earth doing this...

If I had a dog or a cat I would do the same! :)

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This is the first time I've attempted to apply an "Orton" effect to a photo... I kind of like it :-) What do you think my Flickr friends? (I'd never eve heard of "Orton" until I joined Flickr!)

When I was in high school in the mid-1960's, we lived near "The City" of San Francisco, in Pacifica, California, and I fell in love with San Francisco forever. I hadn't visited in many years when in March 2007 my cousin and her husband treated me to a trip to Union Square and the Theater District - and we went to see the hit play "The Jersey Boys" at the Curran Theater on Geary Street. (The play was absolutely FABULOUS!) Before and after the play, we walked around the area of Union Square and just enjoyed the beautiful weather, the "street scene", the cable cars, and the interesting and historic architecture. What a great day in a great city!

MORE INFORMATION ON THE CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO:

The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the fourteenth-most populous in the United States, with a 2006 estimated population of 744,041. San Francisco is the second most densely populated major city in the U.S. San Francisco is located on the tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, with the Pacific Ocean to the west, the San Francisco Bay to the east, and the Golden Gate to the north.

In 1776, the Spanish settled the tip of the peninsula, establishing a fort at the Golden Gate and a mission named for Francis of Assisi. The California Gold Rush in 1848 propelled the city into a period of rapid growth. After being devastated by the 1906 earthquake and fire, San Francisco was quickly rebuilt.

San Francisco is a popular international tourist destination renowned for its chilly summer fog, steep rolling hills, an eclectic mix of Victorian and modern architecture, its large LGBT population, and its peninsular location. There are more than 50 hills within city limits. Famous landmarks include the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, the cable cars, Coit Tower, and Chinatown.

The San Andreas and Hayward Faults are responsible for much earthquake activity, even though neither passes through the city itself. It was the San Andreas Fault which slipped and caused the earthquakes in 1906 and 1989. Minor earthquakes occur on a regular basis. The threat of major earthquakes plays a large role in the city's infrastructure development. New buildings must meet high structural standards, and older buildings and bridges must be retrofitted to comply with new building codes.

Source: Wikipedia

The kids live in a sleep-deprived culture. Our society has been very cavalier about our disregard for needing sleep. Changing school times is just a small piece of the discussion.

So yeah... Last night was bad. I couldn't sleep no matter how hard I tried, so I stayed up texting a friend of mine because he was sick and not able to sleep either. We kept each other company. I tossed and turned and just gave up.

Then I thought... I started to pray. Not the regular, "Our father, who art in heaven..." but I just started talking.... It was kind of nice to just talk. Then I directed it towards my aunt. I spent a good half an hour to an hour doing that. After I was finished, I just lied still and waited until the alarm went off.

But the weird thing was... I was completely hyper and energetic running on empty. My friends were getting a bit annoyed/scared haha.

Anyway, I'm off to teach karate! I have to be a hard-ass tonight =/ Well, oh well. It's their promotional tomorrow.

Anyway, now that teaching is over... I have more and more shit to deal with. Have you every felt so useless as your best friend tells you how much she wants to die? I have. I feel it right now. If she goes through with this, it will be another death on my hands, more blood. Another death I had to sit by and watch because there was nothing I could do. What's wrong with me? I used to be so good at helping people.

And now I don't know if she's listening.

"As I look out outside

I can see the rain about to start

The air is damp but warm

And I remember how you used to feel

I've lost you."

("Only A Day" by Goldfinger)

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Built on a basalt outcrop, the castle was known to the native Britons as Din Guardi and had been the capital of the British Kingdom of Bryneich from the realm's foundation in c.420 until 547, the year of the first written reference to the castle. In that year the citadel was captured by the Anglo-Saxon ruler Ida of Bernicia and became Ida's seat. It was briefly retaken by the Britons from his son Hussa during the war of 590 before being relieved later that same year.

His grandson Æðelfriþ passed it on to his wife Bebba, from which the early name Bebbanburgh was derived. The Vikings destroyed the original fortification in 993.

The Normans built a new castle on the site, which forms the core of the present castle. William II unsuccessfully besieged it in 1095 during a revolt supported by its owner, Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland. After Robert was captured, his wife continued the defence until coerced to surrender by the king's threat to blind her husband.

Bamburgh then became the property of the reigning English monarch. Henry II probably built the keep. As an important English outpost, the castle was the target of occasional raids from Scotland. In 1464 during the Wars of the Roses, it became the first castle in England to be defeated by artillery, at the end of a nine-month long siege by Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick.

The Forster family of Northumberland provided the Crown with twelve successive governors of the castle for some 400 years until the Crown granted ownership to Sir John Forster. The Forster family retained ownership until Sir William Forster (d. 1700) was posthumously declared bankrupt and his estates, including the castle, were sold to Lord Crew, Bishop of Durham ( husband of his sister Dorothy) under an Act of Parliament to settle the debts.

The castle deteriorated but was restored by various owners during the 18th and 19th centuries. It was finally bought by the Victorian industrialist William Armstrong, who completed the restoration.

During the Second World War, the Royal Navy corvette HMS Bamborough Castle was named after it.

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It was a great sunrise yesterday. I left the house at 4:30 am to drive out to Roosevelt Lake before the 7 o'clock sunrise. I arrived at Roosevelt with hardly a moment to spare and pulled off at the first suitable spot I found. Not having previously scouted the area for a nice sunrise spot, I was ever so happy/lucky to run into this one. With all of those puffy clouds on the horizon, I had great expectations for a colorful sunrise, but as it turned out the clouds were a bit too thick and my expectations (like my colorful sunrise) fizzled in the end. However, I did get a wonderful moody blue morning and a pretty funny story, so all was not lost.

I pulled in to the sandy little cove called Orange Peel at Roosevelt Lake to find all of these interesting silhouetted trees and things. I decided to stay and hopped out of the car. Immediately, I was assaulted by the aroma of skunk. (They only live in North America, so for my friends abroad, here's why you never want to meet a skunk up close) It was almost pitch black out, and I couldn't see one even if it had been standing right in front of me but I decided that I wouldn't be deterred. This was my sunrise spot and I wasn't giving it up, even if I risked agitating a skunk. I crossed my fingers, plugged my nose, and spent a good half-hour transfixed by light and clouds and at least a hundred jumping fish. I moved about now and then for different angles and hardly noticed that the skunk smell seemed to intermittently get stronger and weaker in certain spots. Eventually the light show was over and I began to pack up to leave. For the first time since my arrival (and the arrival of daylight) I looked down and discovered the source of the offensive odor. Apparently I wasn't the only one who approved of my location. In fact the coyotes appeared to have had a picnic there just before I intruded. The new morning light revealed the scattered remains of their predawn skunk breakfast, and I had been walking amongst it the whole time. EW!

Moral of the story: BRING A FLASHLIGHT FOR SUNRISE PHOTOS!

Camera: Nikon D300

Lens: Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8

Exposure: 25 seconds at f/16

(tiniest noise adjustment via Nik Dfine, otherwise straight out of the camera)

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Hilo de la Fotohistoria en Pullip .es: THE DATE (1 of 1) /

LA CITA (1 de 1)

(Read in order, this is: SHOT/FOTO 18 of 36) PAG: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36.

FOTOHISTORY: In English / En Español

Reira: Here you are! ^^

Shin: Hi Reira...

/

Reira: Has venido! ^^

Shin: Hola Reira...

LINKS:

- FOTOHISTORIAS en casa de Sheryl en el Foro de Pullips: Pullip .es

- Sheryl Photostories at Flickr

- Ayrin and Sheryl PHOTOSTORIES at Flickr

- Saw Canceled and Sheryl PHOTOSTORIES at Flickr

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Beyoncè (Tibetan or Pymy goat) decided to go out with Oswald to have a walk on the snow, but both prefer the spring because it's warmer and there is fresh grass for eating.

She is pregnant but we don't know she will get the babies.

The Tibetan/Pygmy Goats are easy to raise and handle and they are affectionate, cute, lovable and playful. Their docile and affectionate temperament makes them an excellent family pet. They also make great companions for other animals, especially horses.

*© All rights reserved *

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Chapel of Panagia Tsampika at Pera Chorio - Nisou community, Cyprus.

Ο ναός χτίστηκε από Κύπριους, προσκυνητές της ομώνυμης Παναγίας Τσαμπίκα στη Ρόδο.

"...η θαυματουργική εικόνα της Παναγίας Τσαμπίκας ήλθε τρεις φορές από το βυζαντινό μοναστήρι της Παναγίας Κυκκώτισσας η Ελεούσης της Κύπρου.Όταν οι μοναχοί από την Κύπρο εντόπισαν την εικόνα στη Ρόδο, ήρθαν να την επαναφέρουν πίσω στο μοναστήρι τους· η εικόνα, όμως, επέστρεψε πάλι στο λόφο της στη Ρόδο. Οι Κύπριοι για να πιστοποιήσουν ότι πράγματι ήταν αυτή η εικόνα που έφευγε, την έκαψαν στο πίσω μέρος της, προκειμένου να έχουν κάποιο αποδεικτικό σημάδι. Το κάψιμο διακρίνεται πολύ καθαρά και σήμερα.

Η Παναγία Τσαμπίκα μέχρι σήμερα δείχνει την αγάπη της στα άτεκνα ζευγάρια δίνοντάς τους τη χαρά της μητρότητας και πατρότητας".

www.imr.gr/tsampika_proskinima.html

uniform.wingzero.tw/high-school.php?id=209

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陳世承

www.facebook.com/edward.chen.9803150?fref=ts

簡廷倪

www.facebook.com/ohninigerrr?fref=ts

湯思祈

www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004023167785&fref=ts

陳亭妤

www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001360149209&fref=ts

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張家偉

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Hilo de la Fotohistoria en Pullip .es: LIVING ROOM (4 of 7): MUSE /

LA SALA DE ESTAR (4 de 7): MUSE

(Read in order, this is: SHOT/FOTO 56 of 106) PAG: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106.

FOTOSTORY: In English / En Español

Dom: See you there, then?

Akari: Sure! *_* I'll be there! :D (Yyyyyyesss! *___*)

/

Dom: Te veo en el concierto pues?

Akari: Claro! *_* Allí estaré! :D (Siiiiiii! *___*)

LINKS:

- Las FOTOHISTORIAS de Sheryl en el Foro de Pullips: Pullip .es

- Sheryl Photostories at Flickr

Ferrari 360 Modena On Black

The Ferrari 360 is a mid-engine midsize two-seater sports car produced from late 1999 until 2005. The 360 replaced the Ferrari F355 and was itself replaced by the fairly similar Ferrari F430. For the 360, Ferrari partnered with Alcoa to produce an entirely new all-aluminum space-frame chassis that was 40% stiffer than the F355, yet 28% lighter despite a 10% increase in overall dimensions. Along with the new frame was a new Pininfarina body styling that broke ranks with the last decade's sharp angles and flip-up headlights, replacing them with a rounded appearance that harkened to the 1960s. The new V8 engine, common to all versions, was only slightly larger and more powerful than the F355's at 3.6 litres and 400 bhp (300 kW) of power, but the lighter frame and added stiffness improved performance; the 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) acceleration performance improved from 4.6 to 4.4 seconds, . An engine replacement resulted in the V8 road model that followed, the F430 (internally referred to as the evoluzione or evo) which came out in 2004.

Wikipedia

I was on my way to the store where I bought my Nikon D90 to change the Nikon Camerabag, which was falling apart after only half a year, with a friend of mine when I saw this Ferrari appearing in my rearview mirrors.

I quicky grabbed my Nikon from the backseats and set the settings so I would be able to get some decent shots.

When I was to busy watching the traffic and trying to keep up with the yellow beast, I passed my camera to my friend which managed to get some shots too.

View On Black

Carved by Maximilian Colte, who later carved the monument to Elizabeth I in Westminster Abbey, London. The detail shows Manwood's first wife, Dorothy ("Dorothea"), and their five children.

Sir Roger Manwood, who resided in St Stephen's, Canterbury, was a senior judge and Member of Parliament for Sandwich, Kent. He was a member of the Commission that examined Mary Queen of Scots at Fotheringay Castle in 1586.

The monument - a cadaver monument - was fashioned prior to Manwood's death, its prominent skeleton designed to focus the mind on mortality. The monument lies in the south trancept of St Stephen's Church, Hackington, Canterbury. It includes a bust of Manwood, carved figures of his two wives and five children, and a reclining skeleton.

For a portrait of Manwood in the National Portrait Gallery, London, see: www.npg.org.uk/live/search/portrait.asp?LinkID=mp02948&am...

It is often suggested that Christopher Marlowe's fees for his attendence at King's School, Canterbury, were paid by Manwood. For an epitaph to Manwood attributed to Marlowe, see: www2.prestel.co.uk/rey/manwood.htm

View On Black

- She was very much half-dressed

And big indiscreet trees

Threw out their leaves against the pane

Cunningly, and close, quite close.

Sitting half naked in my big chair,

She clasped her hands.

Her small and so delicate feet

Trembled with pleasure on the floor.

- The colour of wax, I watched

A little wild ray of light

Flutter on her smiling lips

And on her breast, - an insect on the rose-bush.

- I kissed her delicate ankles.

She laughed softly and suddenly

A string of clear trills,

A lovely laugh of crystal.

The small feet fled beneath

Her petticoat: "Stop it, do!"

- The first act of daring permitted,

Her laugh pretended to punish me!

- Softly I kissed her eyes,

Trembling beneath my lips, poor things:

- She threw back her fragile head

"Oh! come now that's going too far!...

Listen, Sir, I have something to say to you..."

- I transferred the rest to her breast

In a kiss which made her laugh

With a kind laugh that was willing...

- She was very much half-dressed

And big indiscreet trees threw

Out their leaves against the pane

Cunningly, and close, quite close.

- As translated by Oliver Bernard: Arthur Rimbaud, Collected Poems (1962)

ver en grande

*

*

Aunque no es un collar, Palmodictyon lo parece, no son perlas de esmeralda quienes lo tejen, aunque tienen su color y hacen de ella una joya de agua. El alga Palmodictyon es alga individual, pero nunca solitaria, se desarrolla sola pero siempre vive acompañada.

Palmodictyon forma filamentos casi invisibles, las células verdes y esféricas en estas algas se agrupan dentro de tenues tubos de mucílago que evitan su dispersión. Unas veces los tubos son rectos, otras veces se curvan o ramifican ensanchándose o haciéndose más estrechos y dando cabida así a más o menos células verdes.

Palmodictyon vive en zonas de agua de leve corriente, a veces en turberas, en otras ocasiones en lagunas o estanques, siempre en zonas poco profundas y cerca de la orilla.

Palmodictyon está emparentada con la bella Tetraspora que vive más extendida formando colonias que son redes de lunares.

Dos son las especies más comunes que representan a este género, Palmodictyon varium que es la que se muestra aquí y Palmodictyon viride, muy parecida a ella, pero diferente porque cada célula, además de la vaina que recubre a todas, está protegida por otra individual que rodea su cuerpo en una cápsula.

Hemos fotografiado a Palmodictyon varium con la técnica de campo oscuro, brillan así con más intensidad las esmeraldas que no son esmeraldas de este collar que no lo es aunque sí una joya.

Palmodictyon varium procede de un arroyo de aguas limpias y frescas situado en las inmediaciones de Mahíde en las estribaciones de la zamorana Sierra de la Culebra y ha sido fotografiada a 400 aumentos.

Con nuestra gratitud para Pilar Gil por la publicación en Qúo, a Antonio Martínez Ron ...y también Paul/

Puedes tener otra infomación en la exposición LA VIDA OCULTA DEL AGUA

Y en este catálogo

También en la galería de Fotolog

Y nuestro granito de arena por la Paz

José Honorato Lozano (1821 - 1885)

Letras y’ Figuras (Views of Manila)

signed (lower right)

Ca. 1850

gouache and watercolor on paper

22” x 33” (56 cm x 84 cm)

Opening bid: PHP 5,000,000

Literature:

Roces, Alfredo. Felix Resurrección Hidalgo & The Generation of 1872.

Eugenio Lopez Foundation, Inc., 1998, p. 66.

Provenance: The Benito J. Legarda, Jr. Collection

This enchanting work in watercolor by Jose Honorato Lozano from the 1840s shows a vanished, magnificent Manila inevitably altered by the 1863 and 1880 earthquakes, Spanish decline, Revolution, American modernization, the World War II holocaust, postwar demolitions, and careless city administrations. The painting is composed of three horizontal panels: the top and bottom panels have three sections each while the middle panel is a panoramic view of the Manila Bay.

The first section of the top panel shows Calle Anloague in Binondo (“Street of the Carpenters,” now Juan Luna street leading to the Divisoria entrepot) where several foreign trading firms are headquartered. We see an all–stone building or house on the left with the flag of the United States of America (in the 1840s), it is likely the head office of an American trading firm. (It can be disputed that this is a view of Calzada de San Sebastian [now R Hidalgo street] with its rows of elegant houses. The said street rose in importance during the 1830s when the rich of the long–established arrabales (districts) of Intramuros, Binondo, and Santa Cruz, in an effort to escape their crowded and smelly communities, started constructing big urban villas with the (then unheard–of) luxury of fruit and vegetable gardens and passable, clean estuaries/waterways at the back which were impossible to build in the older arrabales. However, the view really seems to be that of Calle Anloague, which is a much more important street at the time than Calzada de San Sebastian.)

The initial letter V is composed of well–dressed, hat–wearing laborers carrying logs. The letter I is formed by a well dressed native woman with a parasol and her companions. The second/middle section of the top panel shows a view of the commercial buildings, warehouses, and big houses lining the Pasig river from Santa Cruz to Binondo to Tondo (right to left). (This brings to mind personalities like the very rich Don Narciso Padilla, who during this exact time owns a fleet of ships, boats, and cascos [big bamboo rafts] which carries goods from the Pasig river all the way up north to the Ilocos and all the way down south to the Visayas, as well as rows of warehouses that stretch from Binondo to Tondo. This shipping and logistics empire is inherited by his daughter Dona Maria Barbara Padilla y Flores [“Dona Baritay”] who subsequently becomes known as La Reina de Rio Pasig because of her immense shipping and warehousing businesses; she becomes the mother of the master painter Don Felix Resurrección Hidalgo y Padilla.)

The letter E is formed by laborers carrying logs and an ambulant Chinese vendor selling lugaw rice porridge and its condiments as well as gupit noodles to his hungry customers. The letters W and S are composed of veiled women and well–dressed men. The third section of the top panel shows a bahay kubo/nipa hut in a rustic setting which is probably the Gagalangin area in Tondo, even then the most populous district of the city. There is a simple couple huddling in a bamboo shed. Tondo in the 1800s, specially the Gagalangin area with its charming front gardens, is a pleasant residential district inhabited by people of modest means but also by some of the richest families in Manila with fortunes from international and domestic trading, warehousing, manufacturing, financing, and even micro-financing. Tondo in the 1800s up to the prewar was a vastly different community compared to what it is today.

The second section is a panoramic view of the Manila Bay with many ships and boats. It is a beautiful, swimmable beach with fine sand, just like all the lovely beaches of Las Islas Filipinas. Tragically, the Americans would fill it with boulders, stones, and sand to make Dewey boulevard (now Roxas boulevard) during the early 1900s. There is a succession of interesting vignettes on the beachfront. From the left going right, we see a young, well–dressed principalia couple of the ruling class on their horses; two men with sparring roosters (cockfighting); a man on a carabao; the letter O formed by a man inside a casco (raft) or a boat; a mother and child just finished bathing in the sea; the letter F formed by a couple pounding rice on a wooden mortar; a female vendor with a small tapayan / earthenware water container on her head, a male vendor balancing a pole hung with 2 baskets, a mature, well–dressed principalia couple, and a female vendor selling rice cakes she is preparing on a papag or bamboo daybed.

The first section of the bottom panel shows a view outside Intramuros looking north to the Pasig river. From the left, we see the Puente de Espana (Bridge of Spain) which has been there since 1630, the Pasig river, the Magellan monument, and the Maestranza wall. The Maestranza is a long portion of the Intramuros walls facing north to the Pasig river with many chambers built in the early 1600s to accommodate soldiers as well as all sorts of goods being traded downstream and upstream. There is a big woven rice thresher in the middle of it all, likely for the processing of rice being grown in the areas around Intramuros.

The letter M is formed by musicians with a harp and guitar with chickens on top. The letter A is composed of a man amidst bamboo.

The second/middle section of the bottom panel shows the Plaza Mayor of Intramuros with the three major buildings flanking it: We see the Manila Cathedral in the middle (south), the Palacio del Gobernador on the right (west), and the Ayuntamiento/Casas Consistoriales on the left (east). It is still about 20 years before the great earthquake of 1863 which will level them all. (It is after that devastation that the Governor–General will transfer the seat of power to the far more modest riverside villa in the nearby San Miguel district that is the Palacio de Malacanan. The transfer of the Governor–General to San Miguel impels the rich --- specially the Spanish peninsular and the Spanish mestizo rich --- to construct grand villas with sprawling lush gardens in the area, setting off the most European incarnations of the Filipino bahay–na–bato. The idea of luxurious urban villas conceived in Calzada de San Sebastian achieves perfection in nearby San Miguel. Calle General Solano and Calle Aviles become the most fashionable addresses of the Filipino rich towards the end of the Spanish regime in 1898.)

The letter N is formed by women with a horse. The letter I is composed of a group of men with top hats and women. The letter L is made up of a bahay kubo, a big woven rice thresher, a man with sacks, and other men.

The third section of the bottom panel shows the Binondo church with a frontage of greenery (unbelievable to contemporary eyes). It looks like an orchard with rows of fruit trees.

The final letter A is formed by an old woman cooking with palayok earthenware pots, and there is a Chinese vendor balancing a pole from which hang a pair of tapayan vessels, probably filled with clean water.

Jose Honorato Lozano was one of several painters in Manila during the first half of the 1800s, along with the pioneering Damian Domingo, Juan Arzeo, and the younger Antonio Malantic and Justiniano Asuncion (“Capitan Ting”). In the tradition of miniaturismo (highly detailed art) popular in those days, Lozano specialized in the quaint art of letras y figuras, in which a full name was exquisitely spelled out with letters formed by vignettes with all kinds of subjects --- people, animals, plants, musical instruments, conveyances, landscape views, etc. These incredibly detailed works charmed the affluent locals who hung them in their reception rooms as well as the expatriate Spaniards and other Europeans who commissioned and brought them home as souvenirs of an exotic Asian sojourn.

This utterly charming Views of Manila from the erudite Benito J. Legarda , Jr. collection was likely commissioned by a British or American client. The work in watercolor was signed por Jose Honorato Lozano in elegant script on the lower right side. It is not known how it made its way to Legarda’s collection; it could have been acquired from a prominent Filipino family but it was most likely purchased from leading rare maps and books dealers in the USA or the UK (many of whom were his longtime friends), as were many of Legarda’s Filipiniana collections. This Jose Honorato Lozano Views of Manila stands on its own as a great Filipino work of art and an important, unassailable pictorial document of Spanish Manila as it was in the 1840s, almost two hundred years ago.

Lot 70 of the Leon Gallery auction in February 2021. Please see leon-gallery.com for more details.

View On Black

I've promised to some friends to show the roses of my rose garden ... here are some shots without post-production, a rough overview, just to bring you a ride!

Unfortunately I cannot upload their scent

Ho promesso ad alcuni amici che avrei fatto vedere loro alcune rose del mio roseto ....ecco qui alcuni scatti, un veloce e grezzo giretto tra la fioritura di maggio!

Sfortunatamente non son son riuscito a caricare pure il loro profumo ...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDiTuTQAvzo

[Gabriel Fauré - 'Impromptu' for Harp in D flat major (Catrin Finch)]

ROSA MOZART

Famiglia: synstylae

Ibrido: moschata

Ibridatore: Lambert (Germania)

Anno: 1937

Portamento: cespuglio

Altezza: 120 cm

Utilizzo: siepe media

Larger

It started long ago when she left her first footstep from an warm woumb,

It's the life who pushed her, it's the nature who enlightened her;

It's the time which leads her to the end,

The more she is enlightened, the more she reaches to the end

The curse of enlightenment never ends!!

Shimulia Paul Para, Dhamrai, Dhaka. Bangladesh 2010

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright: Adnan Arsalan

E-mail: adnan.arsalan@gmail.com

Luz Casal - Entre Mis Recuerdos

Cuando la pena cae sobre mí

el mundo deja ya de existir,

miro hacia atrás y busco

entre mis recuerdos

Para encontrar la niña que fui

y algo de todo lo que perdí

miro hacia atrás y busco

entre mis recuerdos

Sueño con noches brillantes al borde

de un mar de aguas claras y puras

y un aire cubierto de azahar.

Cada momento era especial

días sin prisas, tardes de paz,

miro hacia atrás y busco

entre mis recuerdos.

Yo quisiera volver a encontrar la pureza

nostalgia de tanta inocencia

que tan poco tiempo duró.

Con el veneno sobre mi piel

frente a las sombras de la pared

miro hacia atrás y busco

entre mis recuerdos,

vuelvo hacia atrás y busco

entre mis recuerdos.

Y si las lágrimas vuelven

ellas me harán más fuerte.

Yo quisiera volver a encontrar la pureza

nostalgia de tanta inocencia

que tan poco tiempo duró.

Cuando la pena cae sobre mí,

quiero encontrar aquello que fui,

miro hacia atrás y busco entre mis recuerdos.

Vuelvo hacia atrás y busco entre mis recuerdos...

Esta niña de aquí arriba vestida a la última moda, despeinada y con una liebre en la mano... soy yo!! jajajaja :D

Solamente aclarar que la liebre estaba viva, je. Era mi mascota. Pobrecita... menos mal que un día me decidí a soltarla en el monte y, por lo tanto, así pudiera ser libre. Como véis la fotografía es bastante antigua y la hizo mi madre con su reflex. El lugar de la fotogradí es mi casita del pueblo (Valdeavellano).

A veces, que bonito es mirar hacia atrás y buscar entre los recuerdos...

PD. Disculpar mi ausencia. Estoy bastante ocupada con el trabajo y estudiándo para los exámenes finales.

¡¡Besitos para todos/as!! : )

Please View On Black

We were here first

(i-gv-ya o-gi-lu-tsv a-ha-ni)

Maybe the Cherokee cry

But we wanted their land

So they had to die

How could their rights

Have been explained?

The bow and arrow -

Against the gun ordained?

We took their homes -

(Do-ge-nv-sv do-ge-gi-gi-e-lv)

They were mostly dead - when the deeds were done

What was theirs is ours - Yes! we have won

They had to die - we had no choice

Their punishment for owning - our land first

The Indians had been the custodians of the land.

(a-ni-yv-wi-ya o-s-da i-yu-nv-na-de-ga ga-do-hi)

But the cowboy turned the pastures into sand

And buffalo herds - very soon were damned

Sustainability was more the Indians way

a-ni-yv-wi-ya u-nv-sv a-na-li-s-de-li-s-gv.

But luxury to excess was more our "cup of tea"

We brought the Indians smallpox, pollution and T.B.

After two Hundred years we now see our wrongs

And we begin to listen to the Indian Songs

na-quu-no a-nv-da-di-s-do-di-quu i-ga

di-ga-ka-no-gi-s-do-di a-le i-ga-da

da-ni-na-s-da-tli tsu-na-ni-gi-da.

But sadly most of their tribes are gone

Now in the souvenir shops throughout the U.S.A

Indian proverbs are on display

Pictures of Geronimo, Sitting Bull and Chief Joseph

Are sort by tourist looking for proverbs and Indian motifs

Sayings of American Presidents are not bought

But Chief Red Cloud of the Sioux is eagerly sought

Why do we see the wisdom - yet our ancestors couldn't?

Or is it that they could - but wouldn't

The American Indians say

"There is one God looking down on us all"

(sa-quu u-ne-la-nv-hi)

Has the Native American salvation come at last

And will the "Great One" now be just.

Albert Gazeley © 2003

Better Bigger

Who is that girl I see

Staring straight back at me?

Why is my reflection

Someone I don't know?

Must I pretend that I'm

Someone else for all time?

When will my reflection show

Who I am inside?

- Christina Aguilera, Reflection

A couple days ago, my friend Kevin decided it would be fun to get a couple of us together and do a music challenge. The idea was simple. We would each assign the others with songs that they would have to create shots from. We made a group so that we would have a spot to post our shots. This is my first shot for that group. Right now there are five of us playing. If this sounds like something you'd like to do too, let me know and you can join us for next week. :)

This song was assigned to me by Mind Meld. When I first saw that I got a Christina Aguilera song, I laughed. I do love me some Christina. But then I saw it was a song from a Disney cartoon and got a little nervous. I was pleasantly surprised when I listened to it. It's pretty. Kind of cheesey, but you know, that's to be expected from a Disney tune.

Michigan is in the middle of thrashing a high school football team. Oh wait, no, that's just Delaware State. Why we're playing them in the middle of the Big Ten season, I don't know. But hopefully it'll be a spirit-booster for the team after two tough road losses to Michigan State and Iowa. I skipped going to the game today. I'm watching it on my parents' huge flat screen in high def. Not a bad alternative. But I'm about to head out to hang with Andy for the afternoon, so I hope my boys can manage with me only checking in during commercials. Go Blue!

Oh, and again, I feel like I look totally weird in this because I took it without any makeup on. Hair pulled back with a headband, no makeup...definitely not my usual look. But I thought it worked for the song. I wanted to do a simple, stripped down, "real me" kind of shot. I'm not sure how well I like it, though.

**edited to add: apparently Tara is the genius behind the new group. My mistake. ;)

365 Days (self portraits): Day 200

Musically Challenged: Reflection - Christina Aguilera

Please View On Black and/or View On White

See where this picture was taken. [?]

The only species of hummingbird that breeds in eastern North America, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird is found throughout the eastern deciduous and mixed forests. It flies nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico to winter in Central America.

Cool Facts

The Ruby-throated Hummingbird beats its wings 53 times a second.

The extremely short legs of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird prevent it from walking or hopping. The best it can do is shuffle along a perch. Nevertheless, it scratches its head and neck by raising its foot up and over its wing.

The Ruby-throated Hummingbird does not show a strong preference for any particular color of feeder. Instead, it prefers specific feeder locations

Description

Size: 7-9 cm (3-4 in)

Wingspan: 8-11 cm (3-4 in)

Weight: 2-6 g (0.07-0.21 ounces)

Tiny bird.

Back iridescent green.

Hovers at flowers.

Male with brilliant iridescent red throat.

Sex Differences

Male with red throat, female with white. Female with white tips to tail feathers. Female larger.

Male

Gorget (throat) brilliant metallic red. Back and head metallic bronze-green. Tail feathers pointed and dark purplish or black. Wing feathers dark slate. Chin, malar region, around eyes, and auriculars black. Small white spot behind eyes. Chest dull brownish white, changing to darker brownish gray on breast and abdomen; sides and flanks darker and overlaid with bronze-green. Tufts on side of rump white. Undertail coverts brownish gray, edged with dull white.

Female

Back, top of head, and two central tail feathers metallic bronze-green. Three outer tail feathers on each side with broad white tips, black central portions, and bronzy green bases. Wing feathers dark. Small white spot behind eye. Auriculars dusky. Throat and underparts dull grayish white or brownish gray. Flanks and undertail coverts tinged with buffy. Tufts on side of rump white.

Immature

Similar to adult female. Male with dusky streaks on throat and a few metallic red feathers.

Similar Species

Male Black-chinned Hummingbird has purple gorget.

Female hummingbirds are difficult to distinguish.

Sound

Rapid squeaky chipping. Humming sound from wings.

Summer Range

Breeds from central Alberta eastward to Nova Scotia, southward from eastern North Dakota to eastern Texas and Florida.

Winter Range

Winters in southern Mexico and Central America south to Costa Rica.

Habitat

Breeds in mixed woodlands and eastern deciduous forest, gardens, and orchards.

Winters in tropical deciduous forest, tropical dry forests, scrubland, citrus groves, and second growth.

Food

Flower nectar, small insects, and tree sap. Comes to hummingbird feeders.

Foraging

Hovers at flowers and sap wells, catches insects in flight and plucks them from leaves, plucks spiders from their webs.

Nest Type

Nest an open cup placed on top of small tree branch. Made of thistle and dandelion down, held together with spider web and covered on outside with lichens. Placed at 6-50 feet height, average of 10-20 feet.

Egg Description

Color: White.

Size: 12.2–14.0 mm x 8.38-9.14 mm.

(0.48-0.55 in X 0.33-0.36 in)

Incubation period: 12-14 days.

Clutch Size

Usually 2 eggs. Range: 1-3.

Condition at Hatching

Helpless, naked, and black.

Chicks fledge in 18-20 days.

Conservation Status

Populations appear stable

Happy Butterfly Wednesday

Metamorphosis is the scientific name for the change of an ungainly, crawling caterpillar into a delicate, flying butterfly. The word is from a Greek word meaning "transformed." Metamorphosis occurs not only in butterflies but also in thousands of insect and amphibian species. Christians are also transformed (metamorphosed) when they go to heaven.

This transformation is even more spectacular then that of butterflies. It will happen when we are resurrected from the dead to be with Christ in heaven. When a person becomes a Christian, a follower of Christ, that person will show a change in his life style here on earth, and then the complete transformation will happen in the future when Jesus comes to claim His own.

Some who call themselves Christian and expect to go to heaven will not get there. This is very sad and they are to be greatly pitied for they are like the caterpillars who have parasites or diseases and die before becoming a butterfly. Your answer to "Who is Jesus?" determines if you will go to heaven and be transformed.

"One who believes in the Son has eternal life,

but one who disobeys the Son won't see life,

but the wrath of God remains on him." John 3:36

Barra

Salvador

Bahia

Brasil

bighugelabs.com/dna.php

" A palmeira-imperial (Roystonea oleracea (Palmae) ou Oreodoxa oleracea), também chamada palmeira-real[2], é uma palmeira originária das Antilhas[3]. Pertence ao género botânico Roystonea da família Arecaceae. Foi aclimatada pelos franceses no jardim botânico La Gabrielle, instalado na Guiana Francesa e depois transferida para o Jardin de Pamplemousse, nas Ilhas Maurício[3].

No Brasil, o primeiro exemplar de Roystonea oleracea, a Palma Mater, foi plantada no Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro pelo príncipe regente dom João VI, em 1809 [4] [5]. Fora presenteada a dom João VI por um dos sobreviventes de uma fragata, o oficial da Armada Real Luís Vieira e Silva. Por um erro histórico, dizia-se que tinha sido trazida do Jardim Gabrielle, de onde vieram muitas plantas, principalmente durante as Guerras Napoleônicas. Porém o Jardim Gabrielle era nas Guianas e as primeiras plantas que chegaram ao Brasil, na verdade, vieram das Ilhas Maurício, do Jardim La Pamplemousse, obtidas clandestinamente por Luiz de Abreu Vieira e Silva, que as ofereceu a dom João VI. Quando foi plantada por dom João VI, a primeira Roystonea oleracea (Palmae) brasileira passou a ser conhecida como palmeira-imperial [6]. A Palma Mater floresceu pela primeira vez em 1829. Deste exemplar plantado em 1809, descendem todas as palmeiras-imperiais do Brasil, daí sua denominação de Palma Mater. A Palma Mater foi destruída por um raio em 1972.

Tinha, naquela época, 38,70 metros de altura. O tronco foi preservado e encontra-se em exposição no Museu Botânico. Em seu lugar, foi plantado outro exemplar, simbolicamente chamado de Palma Filia, oriunda de uma semente da palmeira original. Segundo Roseli Maria Martins d’ Elboux, mestre em história e fundamentos da arquitetura e do urbanismo, o plantio das palmeiras-imperiais se tornou comum no Rio de Janeiro em meados do século XIX, diante da "necessidade do fortalecimento simbólico do Segundo Império". Pode ser procedente a história segundo a qual as sementes da palmeira-imperial foram distribuídas aos súditos como sinal de proximidade ou lealdade ao poder central e tenham, assim, se tornado o "símbolo do Império". "Desse modo, depois de alguns anos, a espécie vincula-se definitivamente à imagem do poder monárquico, à ideia de nobreza, distinção e classe."

View On Black and LARGE

For a long time, I never used my tripod. I got used to having just my camera with my nifty 50 and all was happy and nice. I was pumped up to use it for this photo series together with my Sigma 70-300mm Macro DG but when I arrived at the famous garden, I did not even bothered to set it up and just use my breathing technique to keep the camera steady. Hahaha! I just felt tired and annoyed to level the tripod head, adjust the legs, etc. It was too much work for me and I had no patience for that haha! So this is the reason why most of the photos in this series in not so sharp.

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Situata nella parte sud-occidentale della Basilicata, la Valle prende il nome dal fiume Agri ed è una delle valli più belle e caratteristiche dell'Italia Meridionale.

La forma della valle è quella di un'ampia varice, circondata dai rilievi montuosi, e presenta ambienti e zone molto diversificate.

I centri abitati sono posti sulle colline situate lungo la parte iniziale del tragitto del fiume (lungo 136 Km) che nasce alle pendici del monte Volturino e sfocia in mare nei pressi di Policoro.

La zona è dominata da due monti: il Volturino (1856 m.) ed il Monte di Viggiano (1725 m.) sul quale ha sede il Santuario della Madonna di Viggiano, uno dei più noti di tutta l'Italia Meridionale.

Le bellezze naturali in Val d'Agri sono innumerevoli; degne di nota sono la faggeta del Volturino, ricchissima di fiori di bosco come i ciclamini rosso scuro, l'agrifoglio, i gigli rossi ed i narcisi; la faggeta di Moliterno dagli alberi imponenti e i castagneti di Tramutola.

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A crop of an earlier upload for use in my upcoming magazine, World View Two.

See all 36 images in the magazine's set as a slideshow:

www.flickr.com/photos/p0ps/sets/72157626154871427/show/

Found on the east side of Norfolk just south of Rivington. I really like Judith Supine's work, admire his demo video.

This shot was an experiment in using my camcorder-calico method for making hi-res photos by pano-stitching together hundreds of lo-res video stills. Why don't I just buy a 10+ megapixel SLR? It would be too easy.

I shot this in motion video holding the camcorder about 18" from the wall, starting at the upper left corner, slowly panning to the right across the top, lowering it about half a row, panning left across, then a little lower, back across, etc. until I was crouched down at the bottom and people on the sidewalk were wondering what kind of perversion I was up to.

Then, back home, I imported the footage into iMovie, converting to an 8 frame per second image sequence of tiffs. By selecting every other image file by hand, I divided the resulting 1200+ stills into 2 folders of about 600 each, then divided each of those into 2 folders of about 300 each.

I loaded the first folder into Calico, the pano-stitcher made for Mac. After about an hour of aligning, Calico formed an incomprehensible pano that looked like a blurred horizontal strip.

I ran Photoshop actions on the 300 stills in the second folder to mildly increase the saturation, the contrast and sharpness. This took about an hour. Then I loaded them into Calico and after an hour of aligning it formed a pano which had a little more height than the first one, but was still not comprehensible, didn't contain all the imagery, so I moved on.

The third folder, I ran Photoshop actions on those 300 stills with harsh increase of saturation, contrast, sharpness and the watercolor filter. Calico understood that one and after another hour of aligning, the preview display showed a decent, complete pano, so I pushed the "make" button and two hours later had a 167 MB tiff showing the complete door that the art is painted on.

The shape distortion is slight and desirable.

I opened it in Photoshop, made a few duplicate layers and worked each one with image adjustments and filters, adjusting the opacity of each layer until I thought I had the clearest, best representative image, then combined the layers, making the 2048 pixel wide jpeg which I uploaded here.

The original is about twice this size and perhaps somebody may print from it someday.

As you can see from this method, I was able to spend about 6 hours making this image, 6 hours of being in my apartment with Ruth, listening to music, talking. If I just snapped a hi-res image with a big SLR and turned it into a jpeg for Flickr, I'd have been done in 10 minutes, missing all that fun.

Also, I don't need to do straight document of street art, Elisha Cook Jr., Jake Dobkins, otherthings and a few others are covering that beat very well.

View On Black RAAAAAARRRR!!!!!

Wow. ok,so i made it to 200.

i can only remember about 30 of the pictures i took, i am

thinking that must be a side-effect of this crazy project.

i spent way too much time doing this image.

everything ,the sky ,the buildings, the dirt,the smoke ,was all

done individually and by hand. each building is from downtown Seattle

but, i couldnt get them in one shot, so i took 8 and made my own skyline.

and then i smashed them. SMASH SMASH SMASH.

I need a drink.

EXPLORED showing scout

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A guy stopped to ask me about the photos I was shooting here. It was impossible to explain to him that Marley was easier to photograph on the snow than Troy because of the contrast issues, dark dog on snow, not easy, white dog on snow, lower contrast, easier to hold the details in the shadows and highlights.

He looked at me totally confused. "But he's white, can you even see him against the snow?" I thought I'd just explained that. Then I explained that I used manual settings to override the meter which will be confused by the white on white scene. Again, bemused. "Your camera must be crap then, all the new ones can do everything automatically!" A total waste of breath speaking to him, he didn't listen to a word. Idiot!

Best On Black

This one is an out-take. I tied each glass together with a fishing line near the base. The idea was to pull over all three glasses at the same time (to the right), but when I pulled the line broke, and only the blue glass actually fell over. I kinda like it though. A happy accident.

Lighting Info: 580 EX II on full power camera right shot into an umbrella. SB 26 on full power camera left shot through an umbrella. I used a 3'x3' sheet of black acrylic for the table and some black velvet as the background. The "glasses" are actually plastic. Good thing too, because they ended up crashing to the ground multiple times.

Next time I'm planning to put up two sheets (or white shower curtains) on the sides to act as defusers (instead of using umbrellas). I don't like the reflections of the umbrellas in the sides of the glass.

Post Processing: I cleaned up a lot of small dust specks using the spot healing and clone stamp tools in Photoshop. I also selected the background and painted it black to remove any stray specks and the fishing line.

Large On Black or even better, in high-res, that really reveals the details :)

Panoramic HDR shot from the St. Andreas church in my hometown Westeremden, The Netherlands.

From a circa 1200 built, dedicated to Saint Andrew, not overarched church only the western part retained after a fire in 1238. After the completed reconstruction and expansion in 1259, the church was a Cross-type church with shallow transverse arms. The major thirteenth-century tower was demolished in 1808: the west wall of the church was then rebuild. The wind indicator added was a horse. The east facade of the church contains saving fields with varying decorative masonry. In the 15th century white chalked vaults and holy figures were provided. The north wall of the church is a damaged presentation of the Last Judgment. The church still has a nice interior with pulpit, screen and banks from the middle of the seventeenth century. (--> partly google translate, yes I'm lazy, if you don't get the translation please let me know).

Van een omstreeks 1200 gebouwde, aan Sint-Andreas gewijde, niet overwelfde kerk bleef na een brand in 1238 het westelijk deel bewaard. Na de in 1259 voltooide herbouw en uitbreiding was een kruiskerk met ondiepe dwarsarmen tot stand gekomen. De forse dertiende-eeuwse, met de kerk verbonden toren is in 1808 afgebroken: de westmuur van de kerk is toen opnieuw opgemetseld en de nok is van een dakruiter voorzien. De windwijzer daarop is een paard. De oostgevel van de kerk bevat spaarvelden met uiteenlopend siermetselwerk. In de vijftiende eeuw zijn de gewelven gewit en van heiligenfiguren voorzien. De noordmuur van het schip draagt een beschadigde voorstelling van het Laatste Oordeel. De kerk bezit een gave inrichting met preekstoel, koorhek en banken uit het midden van de zeventiende eeuw.

make silly faces!

Like this!

So. Here we go again. I am SO determined to complete this project. I think this is my fourth try at it?

I had this really awesome shot lined up. I went out. I shot some selfies. I came home and edited for 3 hours. And it looked horrible. Mostly because I haven't had my glasses since January and my eyesight has gotten worse since them. I cannot see ANYTHING. Everything is blurry. So I can't aim my autofocus right and I can't manually focus properly. Hell, this shot is probably either blurry or over sharpened because since I can't see, I tend to overcompensate with the sharpening. Anyway. I scratched my first idea and pulled out my lamp to do head shots. And I kept getting these really out of focus shots! And now I can't tell if there's something wrong with my autofocus or if it's just my eyesight. I got really frustrated and almost gave up and then out of nowhere I started taking goofy silly faced pictures. And they came out! And you know what? It put me in a better mood. So when you feel upset or angry or frustrated, look in a mirror and make silly faces. I promise it will make you feel better!

Also - are there any other November starters?

www.darckr.com/username.php?username=8725806@N08View On Black

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Brac has a habit of laying in wait for me 50 yards or so along a path and as I approach suddenly hurtling towards me. If I had time to see Bracs expression when he was heading straight for me I'd probably feel a little unnerved. Luckily he's moving too fast and it's only in still frames like this I get to see that manic look in his eyes. :-) "Be afraid...be very afraid!"

Not really, he's a total sweetie and I love him to bits. The day after this he cut a pad so he's not going to be racing around like this for a while. :-(

... a Sorrento ....

www.caremar.it/index.php/it/i-porti/sorrento

See where this picture was taken. [?]

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GHOSTS OF THE PRAIRIE

HAUNTED ILLINOIS

BLOODY HISTORY OF CAVE-IN-ROCK

The History & Hauntings of Southern Illinois

The rivers and waterways of southern Illinois have always played a dominant role in its history and folklore. The early settlers, like the French, established themselves along the rivers and later, farmers would come to realize how much more simple it was to use the river to transport grain to market. The era of the steamboat created towns like Chester, Elizabethtown, Cairo, Metropolis, Golconda and Shawneetown. These towns became shipping ports with flour and lumber mills and even an iron foundry in Grand Tower. Travelers came to the towns by boat and hotels and establishments on the riverfront flourished.

Many stories have emerged from the rivers and the towns surrounding them, of wrecks, lawlessness, pirates and even ghosts. Perhaps the most famous pirate location on the river was an outlaw hideout called Cave-in-Rock, which is located along the Ohio River at the southeastern edge of the state. The cave became the stronghold of pirates who plundered flatboats on the river and who murdered and robbed travelers. It was also here, around 1800, that a robber named Samuel Mason began operating a tavern and gambling parlor in the cave. He used whiskery, cards and prostitutes to lure travelers in off the river and many of these customers found themselves beaten, robbed and sometimes dead, after tying up at the crude wharf.

Cave-in-Rock, located close to the town of the same name, was a perfect place for criminal enterprises along the river. At that time, it boasted a partially concealed entrance and a wide view up and down the river. The cave is about one hundred feet deep, with a level floor and a vertical chimney that ascends to the bluff above.

Samuel Mason operated here for several years. He was said to be a man of gigantic size and possessing no conscience, he killed for both pleasure and profit. He also operated along the Mississippi River and on the fabled Natchez Trace, a series of trails in the south that became known as a haven for thieves and pirates. Eventually a reward was offered for Mason, $1000 dead or alive, and a hatchet was put into his back by one of his own men. This traitorous wretch never collected the reward though as he was in turn killed by other members of the gang. Mason’s cronies eventually scattered to the wind and other outlaws took their place at Cave-In-Rock.

The pirates were also said to have preyed upon ferryboat passengers at Ford’s Ferry, a few miles upriver. The ferryman himself, James Ford, was said to have been in league with the pirates. He was also said to be one of the “slave catchers” in the employ of John Hart Crenshaw. Ford eventually came under attack by the vigilante “Regulators” and this would lead to his demise. One night, in 1834, he was having dinner at the home of a Mrs. Vincent Simpson, the widow of one of Ford’s men. He was eating his food at the table and someone brought him a candle and asked that he read a letter aloud for him. Using the candle as a signal, the “Regulators” outside opened fire, aiming between the logs of the cabin. Ford died with 17 bullets in his body!

For years after his death, the slaves told stories about how Jim Ford had died and “landed in Hell head first”. At his funeral, attended only by his widow, a few family members, neighbors and some slaves, a terrible thunderstorm came up. Just as Ford’s coffin was being lowered into the ground, lightning flashed and a deafening clap of thunder filled the air, causing one of the slaves to loose his grip on the rope holding the coffin. The box dropped into the grave head first and wedged there at a strange angle. The heavy rain that began to fall made it impossible to move the casket, so it was covered over the way that it had fallen. This left Ford to spend eternity standing on his head.

Ford’s death would not bring an end to the thievery at Cave-in-Rock. Many of the remaining pirates continued to prey on travelers from the sanctuary of the cave, while others joined with villains like John Murrell and his “Mystic Band”. Murrell was a “slave catcher”, thief and murderer, who killed his first man when he was only sixteen. He later died after serving time in prison.

By the late 1830’s, most of the outlaws, pirates and counterfeiters were driven away from Cave-in-Rock and the bloody past of the place began to fade with time. As years passed, the cave became more of a recreation area than a den of thieves and remains a natural attraction in southern Illinois today. The legends have never died completely though and many still remember the area’s blood-soaked past... and the stories of ghosts. In years gone by, travelers passing on the river often claimed to hear the keening moans of the dead echoing out from the mouth of the cave. These same cries are still sometimes reported today. Do these eerie voices belong to the crime victims of long ago, who were lured to their death at Cave-in-Rock? That answer remains as mysterious as the history of the cave itself.

(C) Copyright 2002 by Troy Taylor. All Rights Reserved.

From Wikipedia:

The Cave

Cave-in-Rock's primary feature is a striking 55-foot-wide cave, formed by water. The first European to come across it was M. de Lery of France, who found it in 1739 and called it "caverne dans Le Roc".

History

From the 1790s to the 1870s the area around Cave-in-Rock was plagued by what historians as early as the 1830s referred to as the "Ancient Colony of Horse-Thieves, Counterfeiters and Robbers", and better known today due to Otto Rothert's history early in the 20th Century as the "Outlaws of Cave-in-Rock".

Other names for the cave include Rocking Cave, Rock-and-Cave and House of Nature.

In 1790 counterfeiters Philip Alston and John Duff (John McElduff) used the cave as some type of rendezvous, though details are scarce. Although folklore printed in 19th Century histories failed to establish a prior connection between the two men, both lived in the area of Natchez, Mississippi, at the start of the Revolutionary War.

By the arrival of Samuel Mason at the cave in 1797 Duff was living upriver a few miles either at Battery Rock, or across the Ohio River at what would become Caseyville, Kentucky. Mason had previously made Diamond Island and Red Banks his headquarters. In 1797 he moved his base of operations to the cave and made it the home of river pirates. Two of Mason's brothers had been business partners of Duff at Kaskaskia, Illinois, in the 1780s.

James Wilson is the next leader of the Cave-in-Rock band, and may have been the Wilson who married one of Capt. Mason's nieces. In 1799 he's remembered for installing a sign reading "Wilson's Liquor Vault and House of Entertainment" over the cave entrance. Rather than be the actual leader he may have simply been the front man for the operation.

By this time in either 1798 or in the spring of 1799 Duff and his associates had been making salt (or looking for silver) at the Great Salt Springs area along the Saline River in southeastern Illinois. Soldiers from Fort Massac captured him and three of his men named Blakely, Hazle and Hall. The soldiers took their captives by boat down the Saline River to the Ohio, and then down the Ohio to below the cave. Although the old histories don't explain why they stopped at the cave, subsequent events indicate it may have taken place during the spring of 1799 when Wilson was running his operation, thus making the stop one of refreshment and entertainment. During the stop Duff and his men escaped and captured the soldiers. They placed them tied up in the boat and pushed the boat into the river to float downstream to the fort.

The infamous Harpes also reached the cave region in the spring of 1799. They were Big Harpe and Little Harpe, who were considered by many historians to be brothers Micajah and Wiley Harpe, though some sources provide different names and indicate they were first cousins instead. Contemporary references often left off the (e) at the end of their name. They are associated with two separate stories at the cave and one at the infamous Potts Spring area to the north.

The first story involves them pushing a young couple off the top of the cliff. They survived. The second involves an act of piracy where only one man survived. Later he was forced off the cliff as well, this time involving a horse. The Potts Spring story is simply recalled as a murder of two or three hunters.

Mason and Wilson's time at the cave may have come to an end during the summer of 1799 when attacked by a group of bounty-hunters/vigilantes under the leadership of Capt. Young who called themselves, "The Exterminators".

No contemporary accounts show the cave occupied by river pirates in the first decade of the 19th Century, but the outlawry continued as the Harpes retreated back into Kentucky, Mason traveled downriver and began to focus on highway robbery along the Natchez Trace, and Duff was killed by assassins on June 4, 1799. By the middle of the decade church services were being held in the cave. These Christians eventually formed Big Creek Baptist Church, the first church organized in southeastern Illinois in 1807.

The next generation of outlaws in the region fall either under the Sturdivant Gang, a group of counterfeiters based at Sturdivant Fort on top of the bluffs overlooking the Ohio River at what is now Rosiclare, Illinois; or the Ford's Ferry Gang led by James Ford based a few miles upriver from the cave at what became known as Ford's Ferry, Kentucky. The Potts Inn stories take place during this time as well.

Law enforcement officials led three raids against Sturdivant Fort in 1822 and 1823. Although it's not clear what happened following the raids, the gang disappears from the area by 1830. The Ford's Ferry Gang was broken up following the mysterious deaths or murders of James Ford's two sons followed by his own assassination in 1833.

Even after the death of Ford, outlaws remained. Isaiah L. Potts operated Potts Inn on the Ford's Ferry Road in Illinois north of the cave where travelers checked in, but sometimes failed to check out. The legend of Billy Potts, the returning son murdered unknowingly by his father, likely took place in the months following Ford's assassination. Records show the elder Potts and his wife separating in 1834 or 1835.

Eason Bigsby or Bixby also took up counterfeiting in Hardin County in the decades following the Sturdivants. His attack on his wife Anna in an effort to find out where her first husband's money was buried dates to the early 1860s and led to the legends of Anna Bixby, her treasure and her ghost. She actually survived running off of a cliff in the dark. She's remembered in the 21st Century as the namesake for the Anna Bixby Women's Center in nearby Harrisburg, Illinois.

Although not completely connected to the Ancient Colony, the Logan Belt Gang terrorized Hardin County in the 1870s and 1880s until Belt himself was assassinated.

Pop Culture

Popular culture recalls the river pirate history in scenes from Walt Disney's Davy Crockett and the River Pirates, and the MGM classic How the West Was Won. Both filmed at the cave as well as Battery Rock. In 1997, The History Channel show, "In Search of History" also filmed at the site for an episode entitled "River Pirates"."

Geography

Cave-In-Rock is located at 37°28′12″N, 88°9′59″W (37.470050, -88.166297).GR1

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 1.1 km² (0.4 mi²). 1.0 km² (0.4 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it (7.14%) is water.

Here's an intersting story about America's first serial killers that crossed this area many times:

www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/history/harpe_...

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Aircraft of Catalina Flying Boats transport service at Long Beach, California's Daugherty Field (KLGB). N2298C Douglas C-47B Skytrain (DC-3A) and N43GL Grumman Albatross HU-16C Flying Boat "Miss Nancy&quot (US Navy version).

The DC-3's wing is lying nearby, and likely a major overhall in progress. . . . . . update 3/8/2010 no change on status of the DC-3. . . . .G

Grumman Albatross HU-16C Flying Boat N43GL ~ One of 2 that have completed circumnavigation of the world. Its present mission: Freight flights between mainland California and Catalina Island.... "26 miles across the sea...." . . . . . . View Large

" It seems so distant, twenty-six miles away

Restin' in the water serene

I'd work for anyone, even the Navy

Who would float me to my island dream

{ba-dump-dump}

Forty kilometers in a leaky old boat

Any old thing that'll stay afloat....."

.... 26 Miles (Santa Catalina) - Written in 1958, sung by the Four Preps

Grumman developed the Albatross amphibian from experience with the Goose of World War II. The G-64 aircraft that emerged when design work started in 1944 was larger and with greater range. The prototype first flew in 1947, with racks under the outer wings for weapons or long range fuel tanks. The aircraft had a crew of four and could carry ten passengers.

The US Navy used the designation UF1 and UF2 for a modified version introduced in 1955. This had greater span, a cambered wing leading edge and better-icing boots.

In 1962 the UF1 and 2 became the HU-16C and D. The USAF used the aircraft for rescue missions, the majority of its 305 serving with the MATS Air Rescue Service under the designation SA16A.

It was also employed as an operational support aircraft worldwide and for "skunk runs" from the former NAS Agana, Guam during the Vietnam War. Goodwill flights were also common to the surrounding Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands in the early 1970s. Open water landings and water takeoff training using JATO was conducted frequently by U.S. Navy HU-16s from locations such as NAS Agana, Guam; Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; NAS Barbers Point, Hawaii; and NAS Pensacola, Florida, among other locations.

The HU-16 was also operated by the U.S. Coast Guard as both a coastal and long-range open ocean SAR aircraft for many years until it was supplanted by the HU-25 Guardian and HC-130 Hercules.

The type entered widespread service with military air arms around the world. Canada called its aircraft CSR110s. It soldiered on with several operators into the 1980s and also saw limited airline service. Chalks operated several in Florida but the type's fuel hungry Wright radial piston engines precluded wider use. Conroy developed a Rolls-Royce Dart powered version but it failed to win any orders.

Today, several fly on with private owners, both as executive aircraft and as warbirds on the airshow circuit.

Explored #286 (7/17/2021). Thanks!

Delton'a a small village, between lakes that used to be resorts but are now mostly suburban. The town's certainly got a Central Business District--a supermarket, schools, a library, a church, a post office, bars, even a little industry--but the place lacks the row of red brick Main Street commercial buildings we usually associate with midwestern downtowns.

Four decades back my parents owned cottages on one of those lakes, so while Delton doesn't exactly feel like home, it's certainly more familiar to me than, say, Hastings.

==========

A year ago yesterday my brother unexpectedly landed in the hospital, for tests & observation, and I took this photo during a brief stop at Delton's supermarket on my way to visit him in Kalamazoo. Most of the day's photographs were taken from the hospital parking ramp, either of the lot itself or of the cemetery which neighbors the hospital campus. The best of the parking ramp pix became the 366 Snaps photo; under the thoroughly distracted circumstances, it was pretty good. This was the sort of day that kills photo-a-day projects.

==========

This photograph is an outtake from my 2012 photo-a-day project, 366 Snaps.

Number of project photos taken: 23

Title of "roll:" Borgess

Other photos taken on 10/15/2012: none, unless you count the color snaps at the end of the 366 Snaps roll I took of the year's last daylily after returning home.