Motherfox, and Wood Pecker … Only Appear Obscene … Until Clarification on Creative Arts Thursday/Friday
Let me explain.
1) The accomplishment of a Mother Fox; this year's Kits
© A. Mac/A.G.
© A. Mac/A.G.
© A. Mac/A.G.
Pileated Woodpecker
© A. Mac/A.G.
For roughly three years, I've been observing a family of Red Foxes that have established a den in the woods behind my back yard; this year's "litter" may be as high as seven kits … still trying to determine the actual number. While hiding myself behind a tree, waiting for a "good" picture opportunity (which, after an hour or so, often doesn't come), I sometimes get lucky as I did with the woodpecker that showed up and prevented my returning home with nothing to show for my time and effort!
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It's that time again, my friends.
Morning. Hope you had a nice time in the mountains and enjoyed it all.
Love the photos.
Always happy when you're here, shona1!
way cool Mac.
Great photos, Mac. Such cute little babies. And the Woodpecker is a real beauty. I hope you had a good time in the mountains with all of Mother Earth's blessings all around.
Amazing photos of the kits and woody. I just love your wildlife shots.
Thank you, Perrie … I owe you a few phone calls … one day in the near future.
I'll hold you to that!
A frequent visitor to most of the homes in Stone Creek.
Hare! Hare!
Fox leave the Stone Creek bunnies alone since we only have ''Attack Bunnies'' hare.
That's a cutie for sure. And I love it when the bunnies turn the tables on the predators. It does my heart good to see the predators turn tail and run from the little bunnies that they think are hare today and gone tomorrow.
I had one of those dash toward the front porch the other morning
We have those critters around here all the time, except, a coyote was through recently and I haven't seen a rabbit since.
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Evening...Err Umm what can I say. My brother has been out rabbit shooting and bringing a couple home tonight for eating...My cat gets the tails to play with..
In the US rabbits shoot back, so best beware.
Scene from Boston Harbor
© GG 2021
That's a great photo, G. Taken at a very impressive time of day. The purple in the clouds reflection on the water is really amazing.
Thank you, Raven Wing. The actual cloud color was grey and white. I "enhanced" the photo by adding the color in the clouds and in the reflection in the water, also. I also made the blue color of the sky a bit bluer. Fun!
You are doing great in advancing your artwork. I am very impressed at how far you have come is such a short period of time. It seems your artistic skills were just waiting for you to let them go. Well done.
Thank you very much!
Was the Tea Party anywhere around...
I couldn't resist, G.
Haha
Well done!
Thank you
Thanks for the reminder of my experience at Boston Harbour of boarding and touring a famous old big sailing vessell.
Are you referring to the U.S.S. Constitution ("Old Ironsides")?
If it was docked in Boston Harbour around a quarter of a century ago, probably so. On that particular visit (I've been to Boston a few times) I took in another memorable experience as well - watching a Red Sox game in Fenway Stadium and seeing a home run hit over the Green Monster.
The U.S.S. Constitution is docked in Boston Harbor. We took the tour when we were in Boston. It was really interesting.
It's Friday again and here is another new artwork.....
Wow! Very, very impressive, Raven Wing.
Thank you G.
An amazing image.
Thanks, Buzz. He is a Shaman performing a Spiritual ceremony. The three Spirits that have appeared to the Shaman are important to the people of his Tribe. Their Spiritual meanings are as below;
The bear is believed to possess magical powers in the Native American spirit world. He teaches the joy of solitude. The bear spirit animal brings courage, confidence and a grounding energy.
Wolf spirit is intelligent, social, relies on instincts and loves freedom. Whenever a wolf appears to you, the message is to pay closer attention to your instincts and intuition.
Eagle spirit brings clarity, vision, an abundance of wisdom, courage, and hope. The eagle messenger can guide you to spread your wings and soar to great heights. The eagle may come to herald news of the next level in your spiritual growth.
I hope that the above will give more meaning to the artwork.
Thank you, it does.
Beautiful Raven!
Thank you Perrie. I would like to do some artwork regarding your Tribe if that is OK with you. If it is OK, could you PM me a bit of information on your Tribe that I can look up and use as information to create some of your Tribes artwork. I have done a couple, but, I would like to do more.
A couple more pieces from my collection. I have eight pieces similar to these. These busts are plaster and carefully painted with an air brush. I see them pretty often in antique stores but I only buy them at reasonable prices. I typically pay between $5 and $20 for them but often see them marked much higher than that. The Caucasian one is quite rare in my experience - this is the only one I’ve ever seen. Typically they are middle eastern or Spanish, and always characterized by full lips and very lifelike eyes. All the dark skinned varieties have the distinctive orangish-brown semi circle painted in each eye that really makes it seem like the eyes are real.
Those are very cool, Hal.
They are both beautiful, Hal. And indeed they do look life-like. Even to the slight wrinkle at the eye of the one on the left. They look like they just peeked out of the grass. Nicely edited as well.
Seeing the images that you post is like taking an academic course. So many of the items you collect are things, even genres, I've never seen before, so it's a real learning curve for me. As well, you depict them all so well, and I appreciate the descriptions and explanations.
An apple for the local visitor, Stone Creek. He likes the apple much more than the hay bale he had his face stuck into.
That’s a great image in every sense! Subject, color, exposure ... just great.
Thanks, Mac.
Does an apple a day keep the veterinarian away? LOVE that photo.
Watch your step. A White-breasted Nuthatch.
© A. Mac/A.G.
Gymbirdnatics - practising for the Avianlympics.
Beautiful Mac !
You get some really nice clean detailed shots !!!
Thanks for sharing them with us.
Great start ladies and gents! Thank you.
Headed for the mountains and the woods in the morning and will connect when possible.
Magnolia blossoms are now dropping to the ground, but I got this one at its peak!
© A. Mac/A.G.
Isn't life like that? Often the best things are the most elusive. I've said previously that Magnolia blossoms are among the most beautiful of flowers, yet are so temporary.
Ain't got no photos of kits, but got lots of photos of kids.
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Kung Fu trainees at Shaolin Temple, the birthplace of Zen Kung Fu. .
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So cute one image isn't enough.
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This new school was built in the mountains of Sichuan province where the existing village primary school and much else in their village was destroyed by the massive 2008 earthquake. While I was teaching in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, we visited there, taking gifts for the kids, and I had the tremendous desire, had I not been teaching at the time, to teach English there, as they had no foreign teacher who could teach English well. I was the first foreigner that most of those kids had ever seen, and many of them actually asked me for my autograph. My heart went out to them.
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When I first came to China almost 15 years ago I taught at a private high school in a suburb of Zhenzhou, the capital of Henan province, in central China. This was one of my classes that I taught, that I, and the teacher in the red cap, accompanied on a field trip. What a great bunch of kids.
But now, my pride and joy, my grandchildren, first Hannah, and then the boy/girl twins, Judah and Josie. That brass bed the twins are on, which is now in Milwuakee with my son and his family, was my bed for all the time I lived in Toronto. It made the Bob Dylan song "Lay Lady Lay (Lay across my big brass bed)" very special to me, because many did. LOL
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And now for the piece de resistance ....ME, a very long time ago, an expression on my face saying "What kind of trouble can I get into next?" (and I found many ways to get into trouble....)
That was an interesting and heartwarming post, Buzz.
Love the kids, Buzz.
Heading into Saturday....so here is one to lead the way.....
The fiery skirt of a traditional dance? Turns my thoughts to India, where the fires are too innumerable these days.
He is a Medicine Man, Buzz. He is dancing in a healing ceremony. The bright red is the reflection of the burning fire flames on his regalia as he dances.
India seems to be having a great many disasters hitting them from all sides. I hope that they can soon get their COVID-19 surges under control and get their country back on its feet again. It is sad to see their people suffering such terrible events one-after-another as they have.
I have a photo bonanza this week.
About the first photo -- A few days ago I happened to be outside when a hen turkey started calling in the woods behind the house. Sure enough, a gobbler answered, and wasn't that far away. I grabbed the camera and tried to sneak into the woods without scaring them off, but I could only get so far. I wasn't exactly dressed for stealth, and I'm pretty sure they knew I was there because they kept moving to keep their distance from me every time I tried to get closer. I managed to get a few zoomed shots of the gobbler, though. All of them were through brush, and none of them were great. This is the best I could get, but it sure was fun to see:
Eastern wild turkey, strutting his stuff.
Chipmunk.
Cottontail rabbit.
Gray squirrel.
Fox squirrel. This guy had a wounded leg a month ago, but it's mostly healed now.
Spring peeper wandering across the yard. See the X on its back?
Red-winged blackbird.
Mourning dove between new buds on the left and dead leaves on the right.
Cowbirds.
Goldfinch.
Rose-breasted grosbeak.
Cardinal.
Indigo bunting.
Indigo bunting.
Ruby-throated hummingbird.
Ruby-throated hummingbird.
Red-bellied woodpecker.
Blue jays.
Baltimore oriole staring down a blue jay.
Baltimore oriole.
Baltimore oriole.
I think this is a savannah sparrow (forked tail).
Turkey vulture.
Blackhawk flying right over the house.
Tranquility (some scenery from the road I live on).
That is a photo bonanza for sure! Fantastic, Dig.
Hell of a photo essay, Dig.
Beautiful!
That beautiful essay is really for the birds. (big grin)
You could do a wild bird field guide.
Thanks, guys.
I just realized that the forked tail on what I thought was a savannah sparrow is actually an illusion created by a twig in the foreground. That's probably a song sparrow.
Yeah...twigs and tails can be deceiving at times.
Haha. I just zoomed in on the original and it might have a forked tail after all, even behind the twig. Maybe it is a savannah sparrow. Oh well, it's one of the two.
With a menagerie like that, you should sell tickets.
When I saw the photo of the Oriole and Blue Jay together, my thoughts wandered to the best thing the Orioles did for the Blue Jays, the Orioles gave Paul Molitor to the Blue Jays. It was the best thing for Paul as well, even though he was heading for Baseball's Hall of Fame, the one thing he really wanted he had never got, and that was a World Series ring. Thanks to Joe Carter, he got one that year. Interestingly, it was when Paul Molitor touched home plate, that the Blue Jays won their back-to-back second World Series. I was there - the most exciting moment in sports I have ever known.
It's great that you were there to see something like that in person, Buzz.
The follow-up, Fan Appreciation Day, the next day, the SkyDome stands were full again and we took our season ticket seats. The team was in the middle of the field, and Joe Carter, our hero, took the mike and said "Last year we did it for Cito (Cito Gaston, the team manager), and this time we did it for Paul." It was so Paul Molitor could get the ring he so coveted.
This is a real oldie. It was created not long after I started my adventure in Native American artwork. Those of you who may have seen it before I hope will enjoy seeing it again...
Enjoy seeing it again? Of course. Just to look at those introspective eyes behind which are generations of tradition is a privilege.
Thank you, Buzz. It is indeed a pleasure to see that the Native American children of all Tribes take pride in following and upholding the customs, traditions and culture of their respective Tribes.
While the early Europeans did their best to kill this kind of pride in the Native American children, hoping to eliminate the Native American way of life, the children refused to give up their pride in who they were.
Sunset at COPCO Lake, Siskiyou County CA. This photo is off the internet but I have dozens and dozens of photos that were taken as far back as the early 1970s.
This photo was taken in 1972 in front of the General Store at COPCO Lake.
That is my son with the dogs.
This photo was taken in 1972. That's my son doing some daydreaming while fishing.
A great group of photos, Kavika. Looks like your Son gets his love of fishing from his Father. (smile)
Today's fish … caught & released.
Largemouth Bass
A. Mac/A.G.
Rainbow Trout (Use Dandelion as a measure of size)
© A. Mac/A.G.
Those are both beauties, Mac.
Nice fish, Mac.
Fortunately my envy is overcome by my happiness for the joy you experienced in catching them. However, it still makes me hungry to think of how good their filets would have tasted....
Heading to Sunday. A big thank you to all who make this an outstanding Group.
As Mac says, we are heading into Sunday.....and here is one to move us into tomorrow. It's not old, but, it's not new either. Hope you enjoy it.
Always did.
Thank you Buzz.
Okay, I have SOME photos of animals taken here. At the Chengdu Panda Institute I took this photo, and I nicknamed the Panda FDR.
Why did I nickname the Panda FDR?
One more for Sunday....and hoping everyone has a great week.
I wonder what MY spirit guides are, to guide me through the week. Could one be the Thunderbird on my everyday jacket, another the statue of Boddasatva GuanYin, Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, set up as a small shrine in our home by my wife?
While I do not know a great deal about you, from the person you project here on NT and the vibes I get from you, I would say that your Spirit Guide at this point is the Deer.
The deer bestows you with the grace to overcome challenges and obstacles. You may be a gentle person, but the deer guides you how to use your instincts to survive, and gives you a strength most people underestimate.
It's your determination to achieve your goals that instills you with a formidable strength, and at the same time infuses tenderness and grace in all you do.
I don't know if you might agree with my vision of your Spirit Guide, but, that is is the vision I get of you here on NT.
Thank you. I consider your opinion on that entirely acceptable. It caused a memory recollection of when I was a boy around 9 or 10, on a trip with my parents to Algonquin Park in Central Ontario and a photo I must have left behind of me feeding a pretty fawn at the side of the road. Although that scene is vivid in my memory, I wish I had the photo to display.
You are most welcome, Buzz. It would seem that, as the fawn did not run from you when you offered it food suggests that you have an affinity with the Deer which it sensed, thus, it did not fear you.
One last sunset, Stone Creek Ocala, FL.
Magnificent, but surely not the LAST sunset.
One never really knows.
lol
Buzz I think you will know before us. Please keep us informed.
Where I am, sunsets are usually quite mundane.
Sorry to hear that. I think they usually are unless the clouds are present to defuse the colors.
Two rare examples. I took the first one at the Yellow River in central China, and the second is a photo taken from my present apartment in Chongqing. I've never seen a spectacular sunset here.
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Just for this week, Buzz.
Those are real pretty. I wonder why the sunsets there are usually so as you put it mondane ?
It's the same sun ... Lol
Like I said I think clouds are what make for pretty sunsets, do you not have many cloudy evenings there ?
I know here in Phoenix we don't have near as many cloudy days or evenings as we did in Florida. So really pretty sunsets aren't as common here as in Florida either.
Good I thought maybe you knew something we didn't.
Lots of clouds, in fact overcast, rather than the fluffy white ones that are not so often. And those two sunsets were almost a decade apart.
O that makes a difference.
I think when we have light winds that blow the clouds into strange patterns is when we have the best sunsets here.
For me those are some pretty impressive sunsets. As for color, the colors are very radiant and are a good way to end the day.
Damn That's sad dude !
I think that would kinda bother me, like not seeing stars bothers me living here in the middle of Phoenix does now.
It's part of nature.
WoW! That is really a beautiful sunset. What radiant and vibrant colors. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Calliandra (Powderpuff Flower)
© A. Mac/A.G.
Thanks to all. See you next time.
A very common expression in China when saying goodbye to someone.
That's a really beautiful flower. I have never seen one of those before.
My Monsters !
Ciao !
Sai jiyen.
Yep, welcome to my nightmare !
Those are some very pretty 'monsters'.
Thanks Raven. One happy male too !!
"Yogi Bear the genius"
Yogi Bear was taken .. AKC regs
and Lu Lu Bear instead of Boo Boo Bear
lol
Lucy, Yogi's girlfriend and baby bear and lucy bear.
The Bear Bears
lol
Spoiled monsters ! One and all.
Those are some really cute names, and they fit so well.
Question: Where do they sleep?
Answer: An-ny where they want to.
Except on my furnichure, they have their own.
Like I said, Spoiled.
..................
Ops, Cindy Bear , Yogi's girlfriend
plus baby bear and Lucy bear.
LOL I'm as bad as my dad at remembering the kids names.
Hay You !! Monsters come here !!! Works well. lol
And they all sound like very happy little monsters. Whatever you are doing it looks like it is working well.
Thanks Raven, yep they are loved and well taken care of. They are good dogs.
See you this Friday!