I really don’t know what kind of primate this is, no idea. But the photo came out pretty well jostling down the road on the Safari. Anyway, most interesting facial colors and patterns.
Rise Above /
What ever challenges or issues you are dealing with this week, may you stay ahead of the curve. And look cool doing it!
Cheetah /
What a magnificent animal. You can see the coiled strength in his legs and the tail used to assist in balance. Fast and deadly.
“In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion,and a little child will lead them all. Isaiah 11:6 NLT
I know not a leopard, but the point is spot on:)
I have taken the Safari ride usually first thing in the AM and last ride I can get on each time. The seats are hard and slick, the road bumpy and twisty but this time with these settings I got better photos. ISO 3200 1/2000 f/5 and practice right after a bump!
Morocco /
At EPCOT you can visit, shop, eat and stroll through the parts of countries they wish to showcase and I really enjoy the walks around these places, the food at several is very good to excellent and the pastries at France, well, not quite worth the price of a ticket but once you have said ticket - do not miss.
Why is this kind of permenent world’s fair not presented in other places? Or expanded here? Mr Gates, spend one of those billions on a 25 or 30 country exposition in Texas - we will come.
Royalty? /
Well it did not feel like it. It was raining hard now and the wind was much sharper on the shore than inland even a quarter of a mile. We walked the boardwalk over the dunes but chose to turn back when this Royal Tern landed a few feet away and sort of said, I’m done too. We walked back toward the shelter of a bathhouse and the high tree canopy right past this tired bird who did not move.
Reflect /
This is Witch Hole Pond on the northern end of Acadia National Park. You reach it via a carriage path, about a 2.5 mile walk - it is on a circle so you can return a different way, it is a bit longer the other leg. I have been in at daybreak, nightfall and in the morning and afternoon and it always delights. A very quiet and uncrowded spot (especially at 4:30 in the morning. This shot in the mid-morning is a favorite. Can’t wait to get back this fall for another photo session.
Soft /
I startled this Great Egret into flight while walking the shore path in Skidaway State Park in Georgia. He flew across the marsh in the heavy fog so everything seems soft and a bit etherial. Liked this look.
Rush /
Yosemite is an amazing National Park, simply breathtaking at every turn. This is the upper and lower falls that was flowing with more water that spring than had been seen for years here. Spectacular.. This is another of the previously unedited photos that I just did from that trip. Lots of fun going back and finding other images and wondering why they were overlooked at the time.
This is not Real, sort of /
It is an actual thing but it was designed by the Disney folks. This is a tiny corner of the world of Pandora. The ride is amazing technology and quite a thrill and the world they created that engages you long before the actual ride is equally unique and intriguing. It features glowing flora, towering upside down mountiains, water and water falls and fantastic creatures.
Quick Time /
A different perspective on Ely’s Mill - found along the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This 1925 mill served many families scattered up the valleys on the area just a bit out of Gatlinburg. It is less than 100 years since he built his mill, now a National Park with more people per day driving past his mill than he may have seen in a year. A business he likely expected to continue now so quaint we cannot imagine making a living from this place. Or wanting to. Time is fleeting.
“Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath. We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth, not knowing who will spend it. And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you.” Psalm 39:4-7 NLT
Flat Iron /
Looking south from the edge of Madison Square Park toward the Flat Iron Building between Fifth Avenue and Broadway in Manhattan. I hope they get NYC back to something like it was five years ago when it was fun and felt safe. And Broadway open again.
No Traffic Lights /
This is Main Street on Cumberland Island National Seashore. You might note that it does not look much like, well, another Main Street you may be familiar with across America. This remote and beautiful island is well worth the time, expense and effort to get an opportunity to walk its paths and shore, to see the remains of great estates and small structures and to be amazed by the canopy of Live Oaks that create their own atmosphere. We were here only for 41/2 hours - in the rain, but I already want to go back and rent bikes to explore the northern end of the island, 12 miles away, to see the small town, church and other estates. Plus there is a 3800 acre wilderness area. What a gem.
We walked about 2 miles on this road.
You Know the Tune! /
In the jungle, the mighty jungle
The lion sleeps tonight
In the jungle, the quiet jungle
The lion sleeps tonight
Deep /
Well into a coastal forest we came upon this Pileated Woodpecker. If you notice the patch of bark missing near his beak, it is where he was chiseling away with the distinctive squared holes that mark their feeding areas. This is a rather new one as it only has the outer layer removed so far. These are big, crow sized, beautiful birds that sound a bit like the background birds in the old Tarzan TV series- which I expect has something to do with where it was filmed! This one was striking in the dark, moist forest.
Still Working (2 photos) /
Fort Pulaski was constructed in the early 1800’s and quickly overtaken by Union technology in 1862 with the advent of rifled cannon. Yet the maintenance still goes on. Thankfully. It is difficult to keep up this brick fort built partially with slave labor bricks from SC and partially from bricks made in the Northeast. The northern bricks were made with different clay and could be hardened. Here a park service maintenance person works to remove some of the old morter preparing the bricks for repointing. When they removed some bricks the ones not seen had finger prints and thumb marks in the bricks, showing the hand labor required. Those bricks were always facing in or covered with a second layer brick.
several fingerprints are visible in these exposed bricks that were once hidden behind a second layer.
Lunch Money /
“Sure, Moe, I don’t need to buy lunch today, right, or ice cream. I’m really not hungry so you can have my lunch money.” (Ya big gorilla)
inspired by Bill Watterson
Tree /
It is hard in the midst of a forest to see the individual tress but and on Cumberland Island they are breathtaking. High canopy, twisty dark branches all draped with moss and dripping with rain- of course it was raining. Still what a glorious place. I liked this tree that framed a tree. The palms are between 4 and 6 feet tall so I had to wade in about 30 feet to get a clear shot.
“The seeds of good deeds become a tree of life; a wise person wins friends. Proverbs 11:30 NLT
Dancing /
Chip and Dale helping us celebrate our 50th year of marriage at Disney.
Trio /
There were actually six of these Cedar Waxwings in the photo but I cropped it down to the three in the middle. This is on the last of the trees behind the Dungeness mansion ruins on Cumberland Island. The rain was starting to increase at this point so we turned around to go back up the “main” road toward the dock. It was not a great day for a 5 mile hike around the island but it is the time we had. I would love to go back and rent bikes on a more clear day. We stayed at a nice state park nearby so it seems reasonable to try again one winter day and simply wait for a good one from the CG.
Dungeness on Cumberland Island NS -park #218 /
On the southern end of Cumberland Island National Seashore is the ruins of Dungeness. This palatial home was built on the foundations of an earlier home built by the widow of General Greene of Revolutionary fame. That home burned in the mid 1800’s and Thomas Carnegie, at the encouragement of his wife Lucy, built this home when he purchased 7000 acres of the island. He died shortly after and she lived here for 40 more years making a self-sufficient community and building homes for her children on parts of the island. This home burned in 1959. The park service has 3800 acres of designated wilderness and the National Seashore comprising a large portion of the southern end of the island. There are still some private owned homes and land scattered across the island.
