Vitalizes body and mind....hope you have a smile on this fine Saturday. HSoS

Nikon 55mm, f2.8 NIKKOR Micro, 8 Image stack

Smile on Saturday" group, Theme: Blue for You - ME 2021.

Credits

☆decor☆

〇backdrop〇 Free Sex - Lustful Hour - The Bearded Guy

〇chain〇　Pitaya - The Last Vampire - Chains 01＆Pitaya - The Last Vampire - Chains 02

＋hair＋　Exile - Betty＠dubai 　Exile mainstore

＋freckles＋　True Damage-Jay Freckles Fatpack＠True Damage mainstore

＋bandage＋　True Damage-Jay Bandage FATPACK＠True Damage mainstore

＋blood＋　Gloom. - Alucard Lips - Fatpack

＋top＋　[Dope+Mercy]SCAMPER Sweatshirt_Fatpack＠WAREHOUSE

＋pants＋　True Damage-Ewan Short flame＠True Damage mainstore

＋gun＋　+SEKAI+ Alucard's Guns - Pack＠Mancave

＋tatoo＋　Juna: Khyati tattoo Medium Classic Avatar (BOM) - Tintabl＠MAINSTORE 　MARKETPLACE

Thank youuu------目

On a recent trip to Door County Wisconsin, I stopped by the legendary Anderson Dock.

When I first got there to scope it out, it was raining with a sustained wind of at least 20-30 MPH. Not real good odds of getting a picture. As I waited around for sunset, the rain finally stopped and the sun poked out for just a few minutes to get this shot. I felt fortunate to get something for my trouble.

Per the Door County Pulse website... After Norwegian brothers Aslag and Halvor Anderson recognized the need for a deepwater dock in Ephraim, they constructed one in 1858. Throughout the 1880s, steamers arriving at the dock — most notably from the Goodrich Transportation Company — brought much-needed goods and much-appreciated tourists, and this activity ultimately vitalized Ephraim. Although the dock’s warehouse — the present-day Hardy Gallery — was built to store merchandise, it became a visible reminder of the sailors and ships that had stopped there.

Emily Irwin, outreach director and curator for the Ephraim Historical Foundation, explained that sailors arriving in Ephraim painted the name of their ship and the date on the side of the building as a way to mark their visit.

It’s a bit of a mystery exactly when the graffiti tradition began, but sailors were known to write on the warehouse from around 1910 into the 1950s, perhaps to express their relief and gratitude for a safe passage through the notorious Death’s Door waters, or simply to commemorate their arrival in Ephraim.

In 1949, the Ephraim Historical Foundation purchased the dock and warehouse from the Anderson family, and in 1961, the foundation leased the building to the Hardy Gallery. Through these shifts, however, the graffiti tradition has remained intact, with the public picking up where the sailors left off.

Оживление на реке

My happy chappy, checking out the urban wonders of downtown Gilbert, Arizona, the town in which we live. Trivia: Gilbert is the largest town in the United States. Most municipalities get to a certain size and then organize as a city, but Gilbert remains a town. Frankly the difference between a city and a town is lost on me - something to do with voting districts or something. The population of Gilbert is about 250,000, but the downtown has a decidedly small town / home town vibe. The downtown area is only a few blocks long and is lined with eateries, bars and small shops. A lot has been done in the last 10 years to vitalize the downtown to make it a family destination spot. Jasper sure likes it.

A visual experience is vitalizing. Whereas to write great poetry, to draw continuously on one's inner life, is not merely exhausting, it is to keep alight a consuming fire.

Kenneth MacKenzie Clark

CN AC44C6M #3308 leads train 148 on February 17, 2023 through London Ontario at CN McLeod. 3308 is formerly GE C44-9W #2570, having been rebuilt last year at Wabtec in Fort Worth, TX as one of the first units in the new program at CN. The locomotives retain the nose light, however have lost the unique "teardrop" style cab windows. However, these units can still have their heritage easily identified by the slimmer radiator section at the rear. The goal of the program is to re-vitalize older locomotives that still feature direct current, and convert them to use alternating current.

The tail end of this train featured another object of interest, that being CN's newly acquired ex-WMSR nee-GN "Ocean View" dome car. The car currently resides in North Bay at the ONR shops for refurbishing.

The Loch Raven Reservoir is a reservoir that provides drinking water for the City of Baltimore and most of Baltimore County, Maryland. It is fed by the Big Gunpowder Falls river, and has a capacity of 23 billion US gallons (87,000,000 m3) of water.

Originally built in 1881 as a dam and water tunnel to channel water to Lake Montebello and Lake Clifton, a new dam, creating a modern large reservoir lake, was constructed in 1914 in efforts to increase the municipal water supply, submerging the agricultural village of Warren. In 1923, the dam was elevated from 51 feet (16 m) to 117 feet (36 m), and was viewed by many as a step towards the re-vitalization of Baltimore after the Great Fire of 1904.

The badnjak (Cyrillic: бадњак, Serbian pronunciation: [bǎdɲaːk]), also called veseljak (весељак, [ʋɛˈsɛ̌ʎaːk], literally "jovial one" in Serbian), is a log brought into the house and placed on the fire on the evening of Christmas Eve, a central tradition in Serbian Christmas celebrations[Note 1] much like a yule log in other European traditions. The tree from which the badnjak is cut, preferably a young and straight oak, is ceremonially felled early on the morning of Christmas Eve. The felling, preparation, bringing in, and laying on the fire, are surrounded by elaborate rituals, with many regional variations. The burning of the log is accompanied by prayers that the coming year brings food, happiness, love, luck, and riches. The log burns on throughout Christmas Day, when the first visitor strikes it with a poker or a branch to make sparks fly, while wishing that the family's happiness and prosperity be as abundant as the sparks. As most Serbs today live in towns and cities, the badnjak is often symbolically represented by a cluster of oak twigs with brown leaves attached, with which the home is decorated on Christmas Eve.

Since the early 20th century, the Serbian badnjak tradition has also been celebrated more publicly. Before World War I, soldiers of the Kingdom of Serbia developed the custom of laying a badnjak on a fire in their barracks. In the succeeding Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the military badnjak ceremony was further elaborated and standardized in army service regulations, but the tradition ended at the outbreak of World War II. Since the early 1990s, the Serbian Orthodox Church has, together with local communities, organized public celebrations on Christmas Eve in which the badnjak plays a central role. Parishioners festively cut the sapling to be used as the badnjak and take it to their church, where it is consecrated by a priest before it is ceremonially placed on a fire built in the churchyard.

The festive kindling of the badnjak commemorates the fire that—according to Serbian folk tradition—the shepherds of Bethlehem built in the cave where Jesus Christ was born, to warm the Baby Jesus and his mother throughout the night. The badnjak may also be seen as a symbol of the cross upon which Christ was crucified, the warmth of its fire symbolizing the salvation which, in the Christian belief, the crucifixion made possible for mankind. Scholars regard the tradition as inherited from the old Slavic religion. They interpret the badnjak as an incarnation of the spirit of vegetation, and as a divinity who dies by burning to be reborn, to whom sacrifices and prayers were offered for the fertility of fields, the health and happiness of the family. The burning symbolized sunshine, securing the vitalizing power of the sun in the coming year. Other South Slavic peoples have similar traditions, and the custom that a family brings a log into the house and burns it on Christmas Eve has also been recorded in other parts of Europe.

One of my favourite Buildings in Berlin.

In 1956, José M. Bosch, President of Ron Bacardí y Compañía approached Mies to commission the design of a new office space. He was particularly interested in a very open plan, and the relatively simple idea Mies came up with involved a square roof plate supported on each side by two columns. Though initial structural challenges had to be dealt with, the resulting pavilion typology became integral to Mies' architectural lexicon, in many ways the epitome of his universal conception of space.

The Bacardí Building was abandoned in September 1960 due to general political unrest in Cuba, but at the same time, two other museum commissions were brought to Mies' office. Georg Schaefer, a wealthy industrialist living in Schweinfurt approached Mies about the construction of a museum for his nineteenth-century art collection during the summer of 1960. A modest initial plan was drawn for the structure, but later that year Mies decided to reconfigure the unbuilt Bacardí project to fit Schaefer's program as he wished to see it built. Consequently, a scaled-down model of the Bacardí project this time rendered in steel rather than concrete was created. In March 1961, Mies also received a letter from the Senator for Building and Housing in Berlin, inviting him to build what was to be called the Neue Nationalgalerie, an exhibition space for the state's collection of early twentieth-century art. The two museum projects, though slightly different in scale, where to be essentially identical in form, both a version in steel of the original Barcardí design. Though the Schweinfurt project never came to fruition, the reductive exercise of continual reconfiguration allowed for the perfection of Mies' expression in Berlin, and the Neue Nationalgalerie remains as the sole built form of the initial tripartite conception.[5]

Aesthetic importance

Much of Mies' syntactical development throughout the three building progression leading up to the Neue Nationalgalerie was prefigured in an earlier project for a Museum for a Small City. This project was published in a special May 1943 edition of Architectural Forum. In his publication, Mies describes a seemingly floating roof plane, suspended above a single clear-span space punctuated by equidistant columns. This project is now seen as a significant move on Mies' part toward the alleviation of interior space by both defining and minimizing structural enclosure, thus joining exterior and interior space in a meaningful way. The structure itself, a composite of little more than ground plane, support and roof, thus becomes the building. The aesthetic importance of the clear-span was directly related to Mies' conception of museum space in general, a "defining, rather than confining space".[6] The completely open nature of the plan also serves to eliminate the barrier between art and community, simultaneously breaking down the reverence enacted by severely partitioned spaces and inviting interaction between viewer and art.[6] The overall aesthetic affect is thus one of vitalizing liberation.[7] This infinitely transformative capability and universality is also seen in Mies' buildings from the intervening years, namely the Farnsworth House in Plano, Illinois, and Crown Hall of the Illinois Institute of Technology campus. Various commentators have recognized the structure's ties to classical building, seeing it as a modern temple whose monumental simplicity evinces the immense skill behind its design and conception.[8]

David Chipperfield renovation

Having had no thorough modernization since its inauguration, the Neue Nationalgalerie required upgrades to its air-conditioning, lighting, security, accessibility, visitor facilities and the behind-the-scenes infrastructure for moving art.[13] In 2012 it was announced that British architect David Chipperfield would oversee a major renovation of the building. In a non-competitive selection process common for public contracts in Germany, his firm was chosen for the contract out of 24 architectural firms based on a two-stage negotiation process.

Originally planned for €101 million,[14] the €140 million[15] renovation project started in 2015 and was originally expected to last three years, during which time the museum was closed.[16] Original building elements, such as handrails and shelves, were removed, restored and reinstalled in their previous locations. Archival material dating from the construction at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, helped the architects remain true to Mies's design.[17] Meanwhile, the structural framework of the roof, which rests on eight steel beams, and the glass facade was restored.[18]

Source: Wikipedia

A view from the re-vitalized east bank of The Flats. Coastal Taco rocks!

Cleveland, OH USA

Excerpt from www.thecounty.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Picton-Herita...:

Picton’s Harbour

The area covers the south and east edges of the Picton’s harbour and runs along Bridge Street. Buildings on the harbour originally served to support industry associated with shipping. As the transportation of goods shifted to land based methods, the once mercantile harbour has evolved to accommodate residential and recreational uses. There is a mix of residential and commercial buildings, as well as open space uses along the harbour. The harbour also functions as a tourist

destination with a boardwalk and docks for recreational boats.

Picton’s harbour has a rich and layered cultural history. Once used as a landing point in a network of aboriginal portage trails, and later informing the development pattern, transportation networks, and industrial and early economic history of Picton and Hallowell, the harbour is central to the cultural heritage of the area.

Up until the early 20th century, the waterfront properties at the head of the harbour were active warehouses with dredged and hardened docking areas for large vessels along the water’s edge. While the dockwalls remain largely intact to this day, all of the warehouse activity is now gone and most of the waterfront properties at the head of the harbour have been redeveloped as private residential and commercial sites.

The existing character of the streetscape within this area, along Bridge Street, is marked by what is no longer there rather than what currently is. The mouth of the harbour where the creek meets the bay was once a bustling intersection as a primary point of arrival and departure for passengers and goods. Streetwall buildings that met Bridge Street and extended towards Top-of-Hill acted as a physical connection of the harbour to the downtown core. Trading activity on the harbour spilled up from the harbour onto Bridge Street and funnelled to the commercial thoroughfare on Main Street. The vibrant streetscape character of the

area was lost with the demolition of the streetwall buildings and replacement with a modern strip mall at 18 Bridge Street.

Nevertheless, the remaining streetwall buildings at Bridge and Union Streets contribute to a terminating view and sense of arrival into the Town as one descends south-westward from the Loyalist Parkway.

Today, local residents and visitors alike are less aware of the harbour than they once were. At present, there is limited public access to the waterfront. A boardwalk provides access to marina slips, evidence of the harbour’s primary function as a

destination and launching point for recreational boating.

Despite its current diminished status, the harbour represents a hidden jewel for Picton, waiting to be re-discovered. The natural topography that defines the harbour basin, and which has continually informed patterns of movement and settlement in the area, remains intact. From the water, a dramatic approach to the

head of the harbour can still be experienced and, at a number of existing overlook points, a dramatic harbour-side townscape is revealed. Re-vitalizing the harbour, and re-connecting the harbour to the town represents a significant opportunity to

improve quality of life for residents and to attract more tourists, contributing to the economic vitality of the town.

“We try so hard to block out negative or dark thoughts, but sometimes embracing your demons is the most vitalizing thing you can do.”

— Oliver Sykes

While doing a photo shoot for the national Shaklee website (because of Richard's weight loss with Cinch), I caught this candid of husband and wife, who are Shaklee Directors and distributors. They both live a healthy, active Shaklee lifestyle using Vitalizer, Cinch, Physique, Performance, Vivix, etc. To see why, you can visit www.shaklee.net/totalharmony

Excerpt from www.thecounty.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Picton-Herita...:

Picton’s Harbour

The area covers the south and east edges of the Picton’s harbour and runs along Bridge Street. Buildings on the harbour originally served to support industry associated with shipping. As the transportation of goods shifted to land based methods, the once mercantile harbour has evolved to accommodate residential and recreational uses. There is a mix of residential and commercial buildings, as well as open space uses along the harbour. The harbour also functions as a tourist

destination with a boardwalk and docks for recreational boats.

Picton’s harbour has a rich and layered cultural history. Once used as a landing point in a network of aboriginal portage trails, and later informing the development pattern, transportation networks, and industrial and early economic history of Picton and Hallowell, the harbour is central to the cultural heritage of the area.

Up until the early 20th century, the waterfront properties at the head of the harbour were active warehouses with dredged and hardened docking areas for large vessels along the water’s edge. While the dockwalls remain largely intact to this day, all of the warehouse activity is now gone and most of the waterfront properties at the head of the harbour have been redeveloped as private residential and commercial sites.

The existing character of the streetscape within this area, along Bridge Street, is marked by what is no longer there rather than what currently is. The mouth of the harbour where the creek meets the bay was once a bustling intersection as a primary point of arrival and departure for passengers and goods. Streetwall buildings that met Bridge Street and extended towards Top-of-Hill acted as a physical connection of the harbour to the downtown core. Trading activity on the harbour spilled up from the harbour onto Bridge Street and funnelled to the commercial thoroughfare on Main Street. The vibrant streetscape character of the

area was lost with the demolition of the streetwall buildings and replacement with a modern strip mall at 18 Bridge Street.

Nevertheless, the remaining streetwall buildings at Bridge and Union Streets contribute to a terminating view and sense of arrival into the Town as one descends south-westward from the Loyalist Parkway.

Today, local residents and visitors alike are less aware of the harbour than they once were. At present, there is limited public access to the waterfront. A boardwalk provides access to marina slips, evidence of the harbour’s primary function as a

destination and launching point for recreational boating.

Despite its current diminished status, the harbour represents a hidden jewel for Picton, waiting to be re-discovered. The natural topography that defines the harbour basin, and which has continually informed patterns of movement and settlement in the area, remains intact. From the water, a dramatic approach to the

head of the harbour can still be experienced and, at a number of existing overlook points, a dramatic harbour-side townscape is revealed. Re-vitalizing the harbour, and re-connecting the harbour to the town represents a significant opportunity to

improve quality of life for residents and to attract more tourists, contributing to the economic vitality of the town.

“History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time;

it illumines reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life,

and brings us tidings of antiquity.”

Marcus Tullius Cicero

Unfortunately ... these trees were all sick and had to be cut as you can see them now: statues ...

Reminders of old threes in a park I very much like to stroll every once in a while.

One of these trees a beautiful little fairy-tale house (see picture below) ... I'm glad they didn't cut it down entirely ...

The Old Distillery District in Toronto has been re-vitalized and is now an area of trendy restaurants and shops. To maintain touch with the old days a few remnants of the distillery trade have been strategically placed. This old truck is the second one I have posted.

Los colores de la naturaleza impresionan los sentidos y vitalizan el espíritu

The colors of nature impress the senses and vitalize the spirit

Here's a picture form the hills of Namche Bazaar dubbed the trekkers haven by the people who frequently pass through here.

Although things are so much more expensive than Kathmandu, the hot showers, bakeries and pizzas at this place are definitely worth it!

At this point of our jounrney we're feeling vitalized, Is this at a stage too early in the mission? Perhaps a false positive? Maybe so.

Photo free to use for your projects, etc as per its creative commons attribution licence.

Enjoy and keep fresh my people!

www.lennykphotography.com

In 1954 Barbara Hepworth travelled to Greece for the first time. She visited in turn, Athens, Epidauros, Mycenae, Delphi, Crete, Rhodes, Cos, Patmos, Delos and the spectacularly volcanic Santorini. Upon return she received a large shipment of scented Guarea wood (a tropical hardwood) from Africa, and immediately set to work.

Corinthos is one of her results. The name itself is derived from the ancient Greek city that also played a key role in the development of early Christianity. There are actually two long letters of St Paul to the Corinthians in the New Testament. In terms of form Hepworth tunneled through the wood in a double spiral shape and painted this white, almost giving the impression of the coring of an apple.

But Hepworth recognized that the abstract sculptor can play a role in shaping human perceptions:

"If we had lived at a time when animals, fire worship, myth or religion were the deepest emotional aspects of life, sculpture would have taken the form, unconsciously, of a recognizable god; and the formal abstract relationships in the representation would have been the conscious way of vitalizing these ideas; but now, these formal relationships have become our thought, our faith, waking or sleeping - they can be the solution to life and to living. This is no escapism, no ivory tower, no isolated pleasure in proportion and space - it is an unconscious manner of expressing our belief in a possible life. The language of colour and form is universal and not for one special class (though they may have been in the past) - it is a thought which gives the same life, the same expansion [of consciousness], the same universal freedom to everyone."

From "Sculpture", Circle: International Survey of Constructive Art, London 1937.

Marcus Tullius Cicero

Excerpt from www.thecounty.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Picton-Herita...:

Picton’s Harbour

The area covers the south and east edges of the Picton’s harbour and runs along Bridge Street. Buildings on the harbour originally served to support industry associated with shipping. As the transportation of goods shifted to land based methods, the once mercantile harbour has evolved to accommodate residential and recreational uses. There is a mix of residential and commercial buildings, as well as open space uses along the harbour. The harbour also functions as a tourist

destination with a boardwalk and docks for recreational boats.

Picton’s harbour has a rich and layered cultural history. Once used as a landing point in a network of aboriginal portage trails, and later informing the development pattern, transportation networks, and industrial and early economic history of Picton and Hallowell, the harbour is central to the cultural heritage of the area.

Up until the early 20th century, the waterfront properties at the head of the harbour were active warehouses with dredged and hardened docking areas for large vessels along the water’s edge. While the dockwalls remain largely intact to this day, all of the warehouse activity is now gone and most of the waterfront properties at the head of the harbour have been redeveloped as private residential and commercial sites.

The existing character of the streetscape within this area, along Bridge Street, is marked by what is no longer there rather than what currently is. The mouth of the harbour where the creek meets the bay was once a bustling intersection as a primary point of arrival and departure for passengers and goods. Streetwall buildings that met Bridge Street and extended towards Top-of-Hill acted as a physical connection of the harbour to the downtown core. Trading activity on the harbour spilled up from the harbour onto Bridge Street and funnelled to the commercial thoroughfare on Main Street. The vibrant streetscape character of the

area was lost with the demolition of the streetwall buildings and replacement with a modern strip mall at 18 Bridge Street.

Nevertheless, the remaining streetwall buildings at Bridge and Union Streets contribute to a terminating view and sense of arrival into the Town as one descends south-westward from the Loyalist Parkway.

Today, local residents and visitors alike are less aware of the harbour than they once were. At present, there is limited public access to the waterfront. A boardwalk provides access to marina slips, evidence of the harbour’s primary function as a

destination and launching point for recreational boating.

Despite its current diminished status, the harbour represents a hidden jewel for Picton, waiting to be re-discovered. The natural topography that defines the harbour basin, and which has continually informed patterns of movement and settlement in the area, remains intact. From the water, a dramatic approach to the

head of the harbour can still be experienced and, at a number of existing overlook points, a dramatic harbour-side townscape is revealed. Re-vitalizing the harbour, and re-connecting the harbour to the town represents a significant opportunity to

improve quality of life for residents and to attract more tourists, contributing to the economic vitality of the town.

Vitalizing Landscape.

Vibrant des tons superbes rayonnant des idées exquises bleus sombres couleurs exceptionnelles grandes saisons de paysage éblouissant magnifique art fou fou,

رائع الخضر الزاوي المبالغة الطلاء الولاءات مهووس إلهام التلوين حلم الغضب الفوضى شدة رائعة شذوذ شذوذ السحرية الطيف الشرياني,

Bizaresch Blendend Bléi Schaarfend Gedanken verfollegt Kontemplatioun Bouskéis Himmel Kaleidoskop Lichter Neurosen Zinn Goldene Maler Zäit,

luibhean bòidheach a 'seinn geraniuman fraoich a' bualadh geraniums ròsan dìoghrasach duilleagan fàbharach grunnd grèine a 'dìon curbhaidhean tughaidh mullaichean taitneach,

composicións alegres modeladas de espiños teñidos de fondo complexo psicolóxico evocando suntuosas loitas artísticas tremendo esforzos excéntricos,

不愉快な娯楽自然の泥沼冒険好奇心の試みスプラッシュ顔料豊かな発見愛好家の午後不安な影不気味な影響輝く栄光.

Steve.D.Hammond.

“History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it illumines reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life, and brings us tidings of antiquity.”

-Marcus Tullius Cicero

Reached Flickr explore on Feb 16, 2008 #276

Shortly before 6pm, downtown crowd leaving the core.

Jasper Avenue has been a main commercial street since 1870s, and is currently being re-vitalized with a 25 year strategy to enhance the streetscape and livability.

The Old Distillery District in Toronto has been re-vitalized and is now an area of trendy restaurants and shops. To maintain touch with the old days a few remnants of the distillery trade have been strategically placed. This windshield was in the truck I uploaded yesterday.

Seen in EXPLORE # 191

NO INVITES and GRAPHICS please!!! I appreciate and would really be happy to see your personal comments :) THANK YOU!

************************oOo************************

LOCATION: ERIBERTA,Molave, Zamboanga del Sur,Philippines

~The Waterfall Of Dreams~

By Robert Anderson

************************oOo************************

Have a JOYFUL day my friends!!!

Simple and vitalizing beauty of small flowers after a heavy rain...

The Old Distillery District in Toronto has been re-vitalized and is now an area of trendy restaurants and shops. To maintain touch with the old days a few remnants of the distillery trade have been strategically placed. This old truck is one of them.

Simple and vitalizing beauty of small flowers after a heavy rain...

Photo taken from the deck of the USS Yorktown. The Charleston Naval base covers about 1,575 acres and was created after the Civil War to help re-vitalize the city’s damaged economy. By the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the start of World War II the navy yard was well positioned to provide first class support to the war effort. The USS Yorktown was commissioned in April 1943 and served as part of the Pacific Fleet during the war. The USS Yorktown was later used as an antisubmarine carrier in Vietnam and in 1968 was used to recover the crew of Apollo 8.

Looking at these photos side by side is so humbling! The obvious differences between my own makeup in the former pic and Amanda's artistry in this one are so distinguishable, and are on the one hand inspiring and on the other hand quite defeating!

The good news is that a makeover can really give us a clear idea of what is possible and motivate us to do our best to emulate a professional's techniques and talents. We may never get there, but it can be so much fun to try!

I wonder whether a new hairstyle and overall "look" are akin to taking up a new hobby later in life - something we've always thought of doing but never had the courage to try - and discovering that if we approach it with a positive attitude and a lack of self-consciousness, it can be incredibly vitalizing and make us feel twenty years younger!

San Francisco Landmark #153

Earle C. Anthony Packard Showroom

901 Van Ness Avenue At Ellis

Built 1927

In the Roaring Twenties when automobiles were at the height of their glamour, how could Earle Anthony settle on anyone other than Bernard Maybeck to design his new Packard showroom on Van Ness Avenue, then and now San Francisco's Auto Row?

Opening night was attended by Hollywood starlets and was broadcast on one of Anthony's radio stations. According to Berkeley author Sally Woodbridge, Anthony distributed a booklet, A Saga of Transportation, in which he described Maybeck's achievement:

Maybeck has vitalized with his own dynamic personality the exotic influences which drift in through the Golden Gate from the Seven Seas....Discarding the shackles of architectural convention [he used] rose marble from Numidia and black from Belgium, travertine in tawny foam and glittering scaggiola--lanterns from a Persian Hareem--Spanish doorways and Gothic doorways--columns crowned with Corinthian acanthus supporting Byzantine corbels [to create] an Aladdin's palace in which the gorgeous panoply of the Arabian Nights vies with the luxury of the Middle Ages.

This used to be the busiest part of a town in an agricultural area.

Big-box stores took retail traffic out of the downtown section, and it's taking a concerted effort to re-vitalize it.

It's good to see the feed store holding fast.

“Society is held together by our need; we bind it together with legend, myth, coercion, fearing that without it we will be hurled into that void, within which, like the earth before the Word was spoken, the foundations of society are hidden.”

James Arthur Baldwin

"History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it illumines reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life and brings us tidings of antiquity."

Cicero

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Have a nice day. Thanks for your visits and comments. This was quite a unique day to have sunshine and clouds, and not just clouds, mist and rain, it was lovely to see the white trim around the colourful houses sparkle amidst the heritage buildings.... Peace and love be with you.

Namaste.

________________________________________________________________________________________

All rights reserved. Copyright © Aum Kleem All my images are protected under international copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without my written explicit permission.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Excerpt from www.thecounty.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Picton-Herita...:

Picton’s Harbour

The area covers the south and east edges of the Picton’s harbour and runs along Bridge Street. Buildings on the harbour originally served to support industry associated with shipping. As the transportation of goods shifted to land based methods, the once mercantile harbour has evolved to accommodate residential and recreational uses. There is a mix of residential and commercial buildings, as well as open space uses along the harbour. The harbour also functions as a tourist

destination with a boardwalk and docks for recreational boats.

Picton’s harbour has a rich and layered cultural history. Once used as a landing point in a network of aboriginal portage trails, and later informing the development pattern, transportation networks, and industrial and early economic history of Picton and Hallowell, the harbour is central to the cultural heritage of the area.

Up until the early 20th century, the waterfront properties at the head of the harbour were active warehouses with dredged and hardened docking areas for large vessels along the water’s edge. While the dockwalls remain largely intact to this day, all of the warehouse activity is now gone and most of the waterfront properties at the head of the harbour have been redeveloped as private residential and commercial sites.

The existing character of the streetscape within this area, along Bridge Street, is marked by what is no longer there rather than what currently is. The mouth of the harbour where the creek meets the bay was once a bustling intersection as a primary point of arrival and departure for passengers and goods. Streetwall buildings that met Bridge Street and extended towards Top-of-Hill acted as a physical connection of the harbour to the downtown core. Trading activity on the harbour spilled up from the harbour onto Bridge Street and funnelled to the commercial thoroughfare on Main Street. The vibrant streetscape character of the

area was lost with the demolition of the streetwall buildings and replacement with a modern strip mall at 18 Bridge Street.

Nevertheless, the remaining streetwall buildings at Bridge and Union Streets contribute to a terminating view and sense of arrival into the Town as one descends south-westward from the Loyalist Parkway.

Today, local residents and visitors alike are less aware of the harbour than they once were. At present, there is limited public access to the waterfront. A boardwalk provides access to marina slips, evidence of the harbour’s primary function as a

destination and launching point for recreational boating.

Despite its current diminished status, the harbour represents a hidden jewel for Picton, waiting to be re-discovered. The natural topography that defines the harbour basin, and which has continually informed patterns of movement and settlement in the area, remains intact. From the water, a dramatic approach to the

head of the harbour can still be experienced and, at a number of existing overlook points, a dramatic harbour-side townscape is revealed. Re-vitalizing the harbour, and re-connecting the harbour to the town represents a significant opportunity to

improve quality of life for residents and to attract more tourists, contributing to the economic vitality of the town.

台灣純絃是由六位臺灣頂尖本土音樂家所組成，所有成員的首席頭銜加起來不下數十個。每位演奏家都具有豐富的國際演奏經歷。近幾十年來，臺灣培育出無數優秀的音樂家，但是礙於臺灣音樂環境，許多人不得不選擇留在國外繼續發展。而能夠下定決心在臺灣生活的音樂家們，常常需要妥協於現實的生活環境而放棄當初學習音樂的夢想。雖然如此，希望能夠為臺灣這塊土地的音樂文化貢獻一己之力，仍是每一位音樂家一直在努力的目標。台灣純絃的音樂家們就是在這樣的想法下聚集在一起，希望能夠將臺灣這麼多元優美的文化色彩，藉由音樂的國際語言將臺灣音樂的特色發揮到極致，讓全世界都能「聽見臺灣的聲音」。

The Taiwan Pure Strings is formed by six outstanding musicians. Serving as principles in major performing arts groups in Taiwan, each member of the Taiwan String has his or her extensive performing experience and international artistic credits. In the past decades, there have been numerous excellent musicians forced to work oversea due to limited resource in Taiwan despite of their talents. Those who choose to stay constantly face the challenge between their music ambition and the reality. Nevertheless, some of they are eager to contribute to the development of music culture in their hometown. The Taiwan Pure Strings is thus established based on such passion. Our mission is to promote the colorful cultural diversity of Taiwan by vitalizing the beauty of Taiwanese music with an international touch, and let the voice of Taiwan to be heard in the world. .

(US) Our wonderful "Milky Way" galaxy and the opened starry sky over the cloudy and vitalizing atmosphere of our Planet Earth...

(HU) Csodálatos galaxisunk, a Tejútrendszer és a nyitott, csillagos égbolt bolygónk, a Föld felhős és éltető légköre felett...

I DO NOT OWN THIS PHOTO, I FOUND IT HERE: www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1434457086791638&set=...

A lot of people have asked me about my editing, and how I get "that glow."

The secret is a lot of duplicate and adjustment layers, and A Lot of time. And another secret is that I'm much tanner in real life than in my portraits.

This piece in particular was pretty starkly different from the original, so I thought I'd break it down and share.

You might want to view this in two windows - large on black, and flickr notes view.

Oh! And I got onto flickr this morning and saw that half my 365 was missing right when it was finished. I had known that it wouldn't be publicly viewable, but somehow I thought it would be there for me. I almost cried. .....and then I checked my email - and thephotoferret re-vitalized my account! THANK YOU!

I like playing in the backyard photolab.....

-rc

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"I think, though, that I am gradually beginning to adjust myself to myself, obscure though that my sound. Odd bits of myself are no longer rushing ahead like so many bolting horses, parts and thoughts no longer flee the wider context. It is as if all the parts had been ranged more closely round the center and as if everything were moving forward in unison and with the rhythm. The vitalizing energy that emanates from my center is gradually moving to the periphery, the circle is slowly beginning to close; I can feel it all the more strongly after a few days of depression. A powerful feeling for, and love of, life is spreading more and more evenly over my whole being and informing even the smallest daily actions."

-Etty, The Letters and Diaries of Etty Hillesum 1941-1943 (pg. 423)

rokjesdag is the Dutch name, introduced by the late author of short stories Bril. He could capture a situation so well in words. And skirts day is the first day in spring with weather so nice that you can sit outside with a drink, and you see all the beautiful girls have decided that day to go out in a skirt.

This year is a bit strange because we had such a day a month ago when it should be winter still. Today it really is spring and it is a skirts day. So I decided to upload a skirt picture to celebrate :)

I chose a cougar print with a hint of my cougar bra peeking out of my camisole and cyan top. Wearing fishnet seamed stockings in sandals dreaming of the spring breeze around my legs. Oh the spring breeze, and sun, so vitalizing!

A Demon Story - Picture Revisited and Editted (Special Halloween One)

Simple and vitalizing beauty of small flowers after a heavy rain...

I´ve been in Hamburg for a week... re-vitalizing! It was really great - pictures will follow the next days.

Do you know what day it is today? OK, I'm sure that you know it's Saturday, but today marks the beginning of something even more special than the weekend. It's the kickoff day to National Parks Week, which runs April 18th through April 26th. Yes, that's right, there's 9 days in this celebratory week! :-)

I can't express my gratitude for the establishment of the National Parks in the US. Tom & I have traveled to many of them over the years and I always find what I'm looking for there ... nature ... beauty ... wilderness ... wildlife (big or small) ... quiet ... and solitude (OK, we don't visit some of them in the summer). Each visit allows me to put life back into focus and reminds me that there are more important things out there other than my "daily routine", though soon I hope they become my "daily routine". :-)

So for the next 9 days, I will feature one of our favorite parks. I hope that the journey will virtually re-vitalize me and encourage others to get out and see some of the amazing places that the US has to offer.

Today, I wanted to feature my closest national park - Everglades NP - as it's probably the one that I visit often ... well, generally between December through May.

The Everglades is an amazing park, established in 1947 to "conserve the natural landscape and prevent further degradation of its land, plants, and animals". I remember growing up in south Florida and taking school field trips there. Most attendees were excited to go ... you know, to get out of class ... sadly failing to see the beauty that surrounded them. With each visit to the Everglades, I still see something very different and eye-opening and I can honestly saw that there's nowhere else in the world like it.

On this particular early morning, I ventured into the Everglades alone. I was met with intense fog, the kind that you can barely see where you're going. I waited out the time a bit for the sun to rise and hopefully the fog to clear, so I could concentrate on some foggy scenes. I got some for sure, for that I expected. What I got next was a total surprise to me. I was in search for a particular area I had heard about but never photographed. Long story short I couldn't find it, but at some point in my search, I spotted an unusual phenomenon on the horizon ... it was a fog bow. Similar to a rainbow, but because of the extreme small size of the water particles, there's no color! Some refer to it as a "white rainbow" because of its total white coloration. I jumped out of my vehicle quickly to photograph it, not sure of how long it would last. I know that it sounds weird, but I felt truly honored to be in its presence. I might as well have seen a UFO, for I had been searching and searching for something to photograph that foggy morning and without looking for it, there it was. It was a first for me to photograph one and I wondered how often I had them around me, but was too busy to stop and notice it. Have you ever seen one? If not, keep your eyes open for them. :-)

Thanks for stopping by to view and sharing your thoughts and comments.

© 2015 Debbie Tubridy / TNWA Photography

www.tnwaphotography.wordpress.com

www.tnwaphotography.com

Simple and vitalizing beauty of small flowers after a heavy rain...

A vision is nothing without a re-vision. There ain't no coming back without going there once more. In a different world the time spins on a different axis. We see the world with our eyes, but feel it with our hearts. There ain't no expression for that vision, which is inspired out of keep-going-back-to-the-hills. I've been going back for eternal re-vitalization and keep finding love. The glimpse of a moment fades with the light, but that which it moves within stays forever. It inspires a lot. Empathy, Affection, Warmth, Spontaneity, Motivation, Intuition, Gratitude, Compassion, to say a few.

These are not just mountain-ranges, but a guide to my heart. Something lofty inside, always finds reflection when i look them through my eyes. We are a perfect pair, Soulmates.

Even the most solemn mountain tops here, are dedicated to Gods. Yes, we fear both. The Gods command wrath through seasons, and so do the Mountain tops. For a countless ages, the indigenous and wayfarers have crossed over their high-passes, only to achieve greater faith in the power of the Mountains and Gods. My heart dwells in that vision of the mountains, which is inspired both through reverence and love. Reverence first, for its more akin to fear. And in our times, where the distorted humanity subsists without fear and love, i find that its this vision which keeps calling me back, to be a better man.

_AS_

© Anshul Soni, All Rights Reserved.

This image is NOT available for use on websites, blogs or any other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.