Smile

Today I had a few trees cut down and in the pile I find 2 unlikely images, a heart and what looks like 2 eyes (to me anyway) on the side of a log. When I put them together it looks like it is smiling.

 

 

I will be getting a straw hat for it and placing it in my flowerbed somewhere.

 

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Photo of the Day – Trichomes

In response to this weeks Daily Post Photo Challenge – prolific, I have chosen to share the hairs on a Poppy flower bud.  The botanical name for the “hair” is trichomes.

In a few days it will open and share with us it’s full beauty like the others that have already bloomed.

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He’d Rather Be….

My grandson, Arai, has been a bit under the weather the last couple of days with a cold and asthma acting up again.  Instead of him resting like his mother said, he’d rather be out in the snow with me taking pictures.  He did not care that he had his pajama shorts on and his shoes on the wrong feet he was determined that he was going out.

I had to convince him that if he was better tomorrow we will go out and play in the snow.

 

We are experiencing a winter wonderland. The new says that it could be as much as 12 inches.

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Our Unfurled Flag

This mural “Our Unfurled Flag” was originally painted in 2001 as a showing of resilience after the events of 9/11. It is located on Columbus Blvd, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

In more recent times the flag has been the object of disdain by some Americans due to the 3rd verse of the National Anthem and the killing of people of color by Police Officers and the appearance of acceptance by the court system  (if it even gets that far).

As children we are only taught the first 2 verses in school but there are 2 more verses which is not taught.  To be honest I did not know the other verses until Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the playing of the Anthem during a preseason football game.

 

“Complete version of “The Star-Spangled Banner“ showing spelling and punctuation
from Francis Scott Key’s manuscript in the Maryland Historical Society collection.”

O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight
O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bomb bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there,
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream,
‘Tis the star-spangled banner – O long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a Country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash’d out their foul footstep’s pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their lov’d home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with vict’ry and peace may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the power that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto – “In God is our trust,”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

 

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Camden

Today I had to take care of some business and needed to go to Camden, New Jersey.  When I finished, I took a little ride to a park where I photographed this water tower with the city name on it “Camden”.

 

 

I researched the city name and found out there are 23 other towns/cities in the United States, 3 in New Zealand, 1 in South Africa, United Kingdom, Bermuda and Australia with the name of Camden .    In total the are 30 towns/cities with the name Camden across this big world of ours.

I am entering this into this week’s Daily Post Challenge as I would rather be exploring Camden in another state or country to see how the are the same or different from Camden,  New Jersey.

 

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A Meeting At the Watering Hole

At my mother’s house she has a bird bath and everyday the bird bath is full of bees.

There is nothing pedestrian about this scene.  The bees move in such an excited frenzy.

 

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Quote of the Day

“We are making photographs to understand what our lives mean to us.”
by Ralph Hattersley

 

 

These two here are always fussing.  You would never believe that one is 11 and the other 4.  They argue as if they are the same age.  I tell Caila all the time “Why are you having an argument with a 4-year-old?”.  She never has an answer.

I like how I was finally able to capture a peaceful moment between them without being directed to “be nice”.

 

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Back to reality

Vacation is over, we came back Saturday evening.  It was a heck of a ride.  The usual 6.5 hour trip took almost 9 hours.  We had a couple of mishaps while on vacation that we had to deal with while leaving.

First, my father was involved in a car accident…totaled his van.  He is ok, just a little sore the next day from the seat belt being worn.  Then then same evening when my nephew, his wife and son were coming down, they were about an hour out when a deer suddenly jumped in the middle of the road and hit their car.  Fortunately, it was not totalled but it caused the delays when we were leaving since we had to get a U-Haul truck with a car pull to bring his car home.  He and his family were ok as well.

Now that the bad stuff is out-of-the-way VACATION was great.  We went on the main land to see the wild bears again.  And I finally got to see the wild horses.

The bear.  We were all looking and looking but did not see anything.  We were beginning to think that we weren’t going to see anything when Arai yells “I see one, go back, go back!”.  While the rest of us were looking down at the tree base he was looking up into the trees.  We adults  forgot that bears, especially cubs, climb trees.  We only saw the one baby cub.

I do not see how he was able to notice this cub in a moving car. Glad he saw it.

Not a great picture but I got him!

Bonus capture!

Alligator National Wildlife Refuge.

Now for the wild horses.  I have been dying to go and see the wild horses since I found out that they were here on the island.  It was a great adventure and a good day but not worth the $117.00 that we paid.

These horses are direct descendants of the Spanish Mustang that came to America back in the 160o’s.  Theses Mustangs roam wild in an exclusive neighbor.  I coud imagine waking up in the morning to see these beautiful creatures grazing on my property.  It was indeed a sight to see.

We were only able to see 5 horses and one was expecting.

 

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Mid-day Feast

 

This juvenile bird, I believe it’s a Hawk but not too sure, was feasting on his lunch when I was visiting the Edwin B. Forsythe Wildlife Refuge the other day.  It watched him for a few minutes and he was fascinating to watch.

This image below is of another Hawk that was just resting.

 

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Treescape

I photographed this image the other day when I was at the Edwin B. Forsythe Wildlife Refuge.  I like how the jagged wood in the center of the tree resembles a cityscape.  To me it looks like tall buildings.

Click here to check out the other images of Texture

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