"Eventually all things merge into one and a river runs through it." _Norman Maclean - On Creative Arts Three Day Weekend
© A. Mac/A.G.
© A. Mac/A.G.
Red Box Rules
RED BOX RULES: AN IMPORTANT REMINDER
From time-to-time, I should remind all members of NT, etc., that when posting photos, artwork, etc., it's important, when posting, that you own, and/or legally represent the licensing, copyright, etc., of what you post, and TO PROTECT YOUR WORK, TO INCLUDE YOUR COPYRIGHT SYMBOL/INFORMATION; and/or, WHEN POSTING COPYRIGHTED PROPERTY BELONGING TO PARTIES OTHER THAN YOURSELF, TO …
• BE SURE YOU HAVE PERMISSION TO POST, TRANSMIT, etc, SUCH PROPERTY, and,
• IF/WHEN SUCH PERMISSION HAS BEEN GRANTED, TO PROPERLY AND CLEARLY ATTRIBUTE THE COPYRIGHTS TO THEIR RIGHTFUL OWNER(S).
VERY IMPORTANT … IN THE FUTURE, I WILL REMEMBER TO POST THIS CAVEAT REGULARLY.
Thanks, A. MAC
Article is LOCKED by moderator [A. Macarthur]
Tags
Who is online
65 visitors
Let the Creativity FLOW.
I like those river shots.
That's the final line to Norman MacLean's beautiful A River Runs Through It and it speaks to the merger of spirituality and science, the soul and nature, as MacLean saw it.
And it included fishing in the river.
St. Andrews Spring, Bishop's Palace Gardens, Wells, England (© G. Gam)
You have an amazing picture library, from so many places, and that photo is superb. The reflections add even more to it.
meh, there's standing water in that basement ...
Great shot.
Are you safe from the fires, G?
Thanks. Dig.
We are safe for now and not in voluntary or mandatory evacuation areas but they just declared a new mandatory evacuation area about 2 miles away. There is fire closer than that on the other side of the ridge from where I live. We're hoping it doesn't cross over. The wind is blowing in the other direction, there are 10 helicopters at work and they put down a wide band of fire restardent earlier today. Watching the news and keeping our fingers crossed.
Yikes. That's awfully close. That has to be nerve-racking. I've been hearing that many people who had to flee in a hurry weren't even able to save family photos. If you haven't already, you might want to box some of your most sentimental stuff up and put it in your car, so you won't have to worry about it if you have to leave. Hopefully it doesn't come to that, though.
Stay safe.
Too close for me. We have had lots of fires but this is the closest it has ever been. We have been packing up some things for the last couple of days just in case. Happily, we have not received any evacuation warnings.
Here is how it looked from our house yesterday afternoon. This morning there is just a bit of smoke showing over the trees.
damn close, stay safe
Thanks
Way too close for comfort. I hope the air quality isn't too bad for you.
They just reported a flare up at the top of the ridge about a mile away but they're throwing major assets at it. Usually fires burn uphill, not downhill, which is good, but anything can happen, especially with the wind. The Palisades fire started at the top of the hill. We're still not getting any evacuation notices.
We're avoiding going outside because of the air quality. I went out to get the mail since our mailbox is at the end of the driveway. There was no noticeable smell this afternoon but that doesn't mean there aren't unhealthful particles floating around.
In some past fires, and we have had plenty of them, there were ashes falling from the sky. There haven't been any ashes here this time. They may be falling in other areas.
So far, so good. Hope this disaster never gets to affect you or your property.
My first thought was how to storm those walls.
specialized siege tower
One of the worlds great rivers, the Mighty Mississippi at it’s headwaters at Lake Itasca. The small stone wall is what divides the lake and the start of the Mississippi.
That's a really friendly sky. Can I assume that the flow over the wall towards us indicates that the lake is behind the wall?
Yes, that is the lake behind the wall, Buzz.
Spacious and beautiful.
Arvo..meet Hemsworth..
Hemsworth is extremely unusual he is three times the size of a male funnel web spider...his span is 9.3cm...
He was donated to Australian zoo so he could be milked for his venom..before 1981, 13 people died from the funnel webs bite ..since the creation of anti venom no one has died...
Good Hemsworth..
My what a nice set of fangs you have..
What a fine looking specimen you are..
Glad they aren't my photos...
"The better to bite you with, my dear."
the rest of his family is in your tool shed ...
Morning...ahh nope we don't get them in Victoria thank goodness....they love New South Wales particularly around Sydney.... phew...
they're migrating north as they continue to adapt to oz winter ...
Morning...err no you mean South..North is the tropics..
You have got the wrong hemisphere everything is opposite to you mob...
So your North is our South and your South is our North...
Hmm your honourary Aussie citizenship is now in jeopardy..🙄
sorry, my mistake, I forgot to turn my laptop upside down before commenting ...
Arvo...easy mistake to make when you mob live in the wrong Hemisphere..
Big and deadly. You can keep them, lol.
Morning Dig..we are a very generous country and always happy to share...
Don't know why the Kiwis get so excited when a snake rolls up over there on a ship or plane...
As I tell my friends in NZ, we have plenty to go around and seeing half their population is here we don't want to think the rest are missing out...
Some people/countries are just no fun...
Evening..they just announced on the news tonight Hemsworth is not the only one..
They have just discovered a new species of Funnel Web that are 3 times bigger than the usual ones..this is Big Boy...
You will be pleased to know if you happen to get bitten by one the ordinary anti venom still works..
Gotta be happy with that...
I would avoid going to Newcastle NSW..seems they love the place..
Not my photo I would have belted it with a thong..
... uh, nice visual, but we call them flip-flops now to avoid any confusion ...
Well I suppose that is one up on the Kiwis....they call thongs/flip flops...Jandles..🤣
all I want to know is how fast they are and how high they can jump ...
Arvo...they actually don't jump..they rear up on their hind legs and then lunge..
They grab hold of what ever and then can bite numerous times..
Funnels are also very fast moving and very hard to catch..
"Did You Ever Just Stand and Shiver
Because You Were Looking at a River?"
(Nicholas Justin Matta)
The Yellow River near Luoyang, Henan Province, PRC
.
On the way in to the Longman Grottoes, near Luoyang
.
The Li River, while going through the Karst Mountains in Guanxi Province
.
At a park in Sichuan Province, near Chengdu
.
Behind the museum in Nanning, Guanxi Province
.
On the shore of the Yellow River near Zhengzhou, Henan Province
.
A canal in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province
.
A bridge not far from Suzhou
.
Great stuff, Buzz.
Thanx Dig.
Sweet.
I have a lot of photos today, so I'll put them in the next post and people can minimize this thread after checking them out if they want to.
These first three are from back on Tuesday, the first clear morning after the ice.
***
And these are from this morning, with five more inches of snow falling overnight..
***
This is a heated cat shelter on the front porch. I made several of these years ago for other cats that are gone now, and Bella is making good use of this one. She's mostly and indoor cat, but she likes to go outside a lot, and this gives her a place to warm up if she needs to.
It's a plastic tote box with a door cut out of the front, and heated with a 40-watt light bulb in a fixture mounted at the top of the back. The inside is lined with old towels cut to fit, folded for double thickness, and attached with strips of self-adhesive Velcro. An old pillow on the floor serves as a bed. More towels, folded for thickness and with stapled seams, hang over the door on Velcro strips to block the wind, and rugs draped over the top add a little more insulation. The old cat bed on top is for when it's not very cold out.
I adjust the heat by switching between bulbs with different wattages. Regular old incandescents of course, not LEDs.
It's not completely weather proof and has power running to it, so it needs to stay somewhere mostly dry like a covered porch, but it's cheap, easy to make, and works wonderfully.
Make one for your cat today.
***
Finally, here's a fun exercise in contrast—the same shot from two seasons.
The first is from today, Jan 10, and the other is from back on Oct 21.
Morning... certainly looks so different with everything covered in snow..it has its own beauty....
Wow Bella certainly is one very lucky moggy but that is one thing we don't need here...🏖️
thanks for the kitty and bird pix ...
Lots of images that invoke memories of weather I'll never again experience. I think the one with the coloured lights along the bottom was a great idea. As for the cat shelter, Bella is lucky to own you. Nice contrast between October and now. Some photos can be more effective if you desaturate them.
Especially when it's fresh. That's when it's the best.
Busy day at the bird feeders.
LOL
You might want to check with local agencies regarding the prevalence or lack thereof of avian flu in your area and whether or not they recommend you take down birdfeeders.
Yeah, I've been keeping an eye on that. There's no recommendation that I know of so far. The Conservation Department says that feeders can stay out because the risk is low for songbirds and other species that visit them, with the primary concern being poultry and waterfowl. So for the time being it's ok.
I luv the ‘’cat house’’ Dig…
Lol, thanks.
hang one in front of a window for bella, kitty TV ...
although you may need to apply a few masking tape X's on the exterior glass if you have replacement windows with energy efficient glass, which would also make bella invisible from the outside by sitting in a darker room.
She already sits on the windowsills in the dining room with a view of the backyard bird feeders. She gets excited watching them and makes that chittering sound.
When she's outside she hangs out back there quite a bit. I don't really want her catching any birds, so I've raised them out of her jump reach. Harder to fill, but worth it.
you're fighting several million years of evolution, so good luck with that. my cat howard liked to bring home the groceries and turn them loose in the house for the ex. he brought home somebody's parakeet one summer ... oops...
LOL. I used to have a cat that would leave dead things on the doorstep, that's about it.
howard liked to wound his prey so that he could re-enact his moment of triumph a few times for the family to prove his worth in the household ...
I used to have a tabby female who was so fat her belly dragged the ground, and who looked absolutely hilarious when she ran.
She was lethal, though.
Birds (especially babies), a flying squirrel - if she could carry it, she caught it and brought it home, possibly dead but probably not, to her humans. I hated putting the baby birds out of their misery.
She also thought it was her job to bathe everything. She'd lick me until my skin was sore. She'd lick the furniture. If she hadn't been spayed, she'd have had the cleanest, fattest little kittens.
people's pets used to help me sell a lot of home improvement projects ...
LOL My cat did that once with a dead bird. Was it a cat's way to pay tribute, or taking care of its "pack" (me) with food, or proving its skill at hunting, or maybe just bragging about its prowess?
I always assumed it was an instinct to bring food back to the den, but who knows what's going on in their furry little heads.
I've read it's because they think we're lousy hunters, and need their help to survive.
I'm not sure I believe most cats are that altruistic, even though I love cats.
Heh. I don't think I believe that either. It's a cute thought, though.
you're both wrong. a cat is a deadbeat roommate that doesn't do housework, nags and complains, hogs the bed, lays around all day, and when it rarely brings home groceries for the house, it's only what the cat likes to eat.
LOL, sounds about right.
In the 2018 movie 'Alpha' a prehistoric man feeds a wounded wolf and gains a friend that follows him and hunts and fishes for him (and of course for itself). It's possible that animals could have that instinct, i.e. including the human as part of its pack.
I won't say it's not possible. I imagine my dog would hunt for me, and I know he'd fight for me, if he thought I was in danger. But dogs and wolves are pack animals. Housecats aren't, for the most part. If they thought I was hungry, my cats would likely think it was what I deserved for being late with their dinner. If I were threatened, they'd skedaddle under the bed to save themselves.
Oh yes...and don't forget hacking up a furball usually in the middle of the night by the little dear..and then standing in it in bare feet..🤢
You just made me laugh, but I'm sure you're right. Fidget (my cat) might have been my buddy but he sure as heck would have skedaddled.
That is the worst. Blech. Cats in general are lucky they're cute.
Sometimes my cat would leave gifts (dead birds) on the mat on the front porch.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Bella is totally awesome.
another test of love and devotion ...
Mountain Streams are Spiritual
© A. Mac/A.G.
It's warming to see a little colour during a B&W time of year.
I just noticed the broken treetop on the other side of the stream, maybe from a storm. That's a neat inclusion in the photo.
that's the tree amac had to take down to get his "lucky" fly back ...
That was supposed to be a secret.
I don't need to get my feet wet to lose any lures ...
mepps or castmaster or forget it ...
Here is your local NT Indian testing out the headwaters of the Mississippi, it was a bit chilly since it was early June and the ice had just come off the lake a few weeks before.
Now you can say you've waded in the Mississippi River.
Arvo... anything exciting in there that snaps, bites or stings..😁
Kavika has since then moved to where such occurrences are much more possible.
Oh yes, snapping turtles a quick way to lose a finger or toe or more.
Just recently it was discovered that the Burmese python is not the biggest snake in Florida, the largest one caught was 19 feet. Now we have the largest snake in the world, the green anaconda which will reach 30 feet long and weigh over 500 pounds.
The just caught one that had swallowed a deer whole a human would be nothing for them and they are aquatic and live much of ther life in the rivers and lakes.
Maybe you should change your name to Jonah. By the way, this picture is on my page just below where I'm typing.
Looks like AI gone bonkers, Buzz.
Excellent...that should liven things up a bit...
Just came in from my first slosh in the sea for 2025..
Water was actually warmish instead of straight up from Antarctica...
And not a shark fin in sight..
It's a sort of Jurassic Park kind of thing.
Seems like it's an expectation.
that's what she said ...
Morning...well actually I couldn't see...a real heavy sea mist rolled in and I couldn't even see the end of the beach...
Heaps of tourists here unfortunately and most from Melbourne were starting to panic and thought a bushfire was near by..
I said no it's sea mist and not smoke..ohhhh how do you know? Ahh a sarcastic smart arse in my midst..😁
Said do you notice where it is coming from?...straight out to sea? Yes..thought ya galah/ doofus...
Can you smell smoke? No..and notice the temperature drop? Yes...then it's sea mist and not smoke..
Was hoping Jaws would put in an appearance and "thin the herd"...
leave the butcher a bottle he can fill with blood so you can take to the beach and empty it on your last ride in ...
Nasty...but I like it..
it's that, planting a bunch of beware of shark signs, or getting a remote control shark fin ...
Arvo...what an absolute ripper..
Only thing here is.. to create some excitement it would have to be a bigger fin..🤣
it may take a bit to rotate thru the visiting beach crowds, but with that shark fin drone they'll soon tire of sprinting into the surf to pluck out their little shark biscuits for a mad dash to the shore away from jaws ...
Shark biscuits..🤣 what a classic..
I think so. it means children in my oz slang translator ...
I here by dub the..
An honourary Aussie..🦘🦘
Good looking water. Nice and clear up there.
At the headwaters and for the first couple of hundred miles it’s crystal clear and as she heads south on a 2000 mile voyage she becomes the ‘’Muddy Mississippi’’.
Especially after meeting up with the Missouri River, aka the Big Muddy.
Exactly, Dig.
Oh, THAT'S what "The Big Muddy" is. It is mentioned a lot, even shown in the movie "The Big Country" and so now I know it's the Missouri River. Thanks.
U.S.S. Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, with the U.S.S. Missouri in the background, where Japan officially surrendered. The Arizona rests below the monument with its inhabitants entombed there. The flag is currently at half mast in honor of President Carter.
Really great photos, Hal. You sure get around.
Thanks, Dig. Growing up, my parents never took me anywhere cool so I feel like I’m just making up for lost time. Just stepped on a cruise ship to circle the Hawaiian islands for the next week so more photos to come!
Morning Hal..hope you have a great time and looking forward to seeing the photos...
hopefully you can get into the water, the snorkeling in the islands is fantastic.
cool hal
Thanks for those photos. Maybe I should do a Classic Cars and Boats article on the U.S.S. Arizona. IMO that flag, because of where it flies, should be PERMANENTLY at half-mast (no matter HOW much Trump might bitch about it).
I have now posted a great article about the USS Arizona on my Classic Cars and Boats Group and it appears on the Front (Home) Page, and is already gaining comments.
Please post a link to the article.
The USS Arizona - A Symbol of Valor and Sacrifice
LINK -> The Uss Arizona - A Symbol Of Valor And Sacrifice - - Buzz Of The Orient | The NewsTalkers
OUTSTANDING group of images!
Maui is beautiful.
That photo does prove how beautiful Maui is. So is Kauai. I never visited Maui but I loved Kauai. Unfortunately all my colour slides of it are back in storage in Toronto. I may ask my daughter to see if she can get them converted to a flash drive, and send it to me. I also have colour slides there of the trip I took about 60 years ago to Spain and Morocco.
that's where I took a day trip to snorkel at the volcanic vent ...
molokini, I think it was called ...
Maui is a very beautiful island, and I've been there a few times, but to me Kauai is the most beautiful place imagineable, especially the north shore/Hanalei side. Kauai was like my second home for many years. I spent a lot of time there, made some very close local friends for life, and went on a bunch of great adventures.
Yes, the small volcano crater off the coast of Maui where they take people snorkeling is called Molokini.
Kauai would be my dream vacation. I don't know that I'll ever make it there.
Go. I can help you plan your trip.
LOL... unless you can help pay for my trip it may take a little time. I'll keep it in mind though. If I can talk the kids out of Disney World 2026 maybe.
This is where I used to hang out. These are photos from the internet I just copied.
Hanalei Bay, Kauai
Hanalei Valley
We will be in Kauai Thursday and Friday. On the Big Island today and Kona tomorrow.
When you are in Kona I really hope you visit Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park. It's on the beach and just thrilling. It is an ancient City of Refuge. It is a one of the most significant sites in Hawaii.
I also hope you get to Hanalei on Kauai. The most beautiful place you will ever see. Kauai has a really special vibe.
I have visited the Big Island numerous times and the City of Refuge which is breath taking and I have dozens of photos of it. One of my favorite on the Big Island is Captain Cook Inlet. The marine life is extraordinary and the water is crystal clear at 30 feet. Also the night dive with the Rays is the thrill of a lifetime by the Outrigger hotel.
As G stated Kauai is a world of it’s own, we have friends that live there and we visit them from time to time.
On Feb 5th we will be in French Polynesia for 15 days, sure beats Greenland.
It ain’t cheap, for sure. We searched for the best deal and paid this one off over 18 months. It was so worth it though.
As luck would have it we are visiting both of those highlights on an excursion!
I might have been mistaken thinking that I was at Hanalei Beach, it might have been Ke'e Beach. At the end of the beach where the mountains are is where there was a lagoon where I snorkeled. This is (not my) picture of it:
Yes, Kauai is a world of its own. There is no place like it.
That's wonderful. Have a great time!
Hanalei Town had buildings when you were there. There were houses. There was the old Ching Young General Store started by my friend's grandfather in 1906. There was also the old rice mill. There were some other small commercial establishments. I first went there in 1981 (44 years ago). If you were staying with the hippies in treehouses it wasn't in Hanalei Town.
That is Ke'e Beach at the end of the road where the Na Pali coast begins. There might have been some hippies living in treehouses near there back then, but I don't think so.
LOL. No, we didn't sleep with the hippies, we stayed at the Poipu Beach Hotel.
Poipu Beach is the south shore. The opposite side of the island from Hanalei. Most of the tourists stay in that area. I stayed in Poipu the first few times I went to Kauai because one of my uncles built a small resort, Poipu Kai and had a condo there. When I wanted to go he would send me the keys and tell me to have fun. A great, great guy.
Then, I fell in love with Hanalei and just started staying in rental houses. There are no hotels in Hanalei Town. There are hippies, though. Eventually I became best friends with the grandson of the founder of the Ching Young Store, and I would stay at his house across the street from the beach. Tough deal, I know.
Looks fantastic!
It's even better than the photos. If it's raining in the mountains there can be several waterfalls coming down all three of the mountains behind Hanalei Valley. One year I was on the beach, it was raining in the mountains, and between the three mountains behind Hanalei (Hihimanu, Namolokama and Mamalahoa) and the mountain range to the west I counted 36 waterfalls. Amazing.
Namolokama waterfalls (from the internet)
Cape Cod Bay, 1990
© A. Mac/A.G.
Morning...great photo... love the colours..
Yes, great colours. I've been there (3 times) and seen it with my own eyes.
A big thank you to everyone; first time in a long time we posted so many images and comments.
I’m keeping this article open so that anyone with current information regarding the fires in California can share it here & let us know if there’s anything we can possibly send or donate.
Evening... doesn't Raven Wing live in LA?
Has anyone heard from her recently?
She lives at the other end of LA, a very long way from the current fires, Shona.
Thanks Kavika...I am just going off to sleep and glad she is safe..
Hope things improve in LA but that seems such along way off at the moment sadly...
great idea amac!
thanks to all that contributed and voted up your article.
I can report that the winds are calm this morning, but expected to kick up later today through tomorrow. I'm not seeing any smoke in our local area now. There was a flare-up very close to us yesterday, and I heard the helicopters back in action, but they were able to bring it under control quickly. We are all thinking of the firefighters as our heroes.
The Red Cross is a great charity to donate to since they provde a lot of help. We donate to them. Donations can be earmarked for L.A. fire relief. Chef Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen is also doing a wonderful job feeding families displaced by the wildfires.
Morning G...no idea how fire prepared you are and the exact situation but here is the general drill what we do..
Remove any outdoor furniture or umbrellas away from the house, including bbqs especially gas bottles...
Make sure all windows and doors are closed and close the drapes etc...
Outside wrap wet towels around hose tap fittings if they are plastic..
Fill up wheelie bins (we have trash bins on wheels) with water put at each corner of the house.. or anything with wheels, even a wheel barrow..throw mops brooms in the bins handy for putting our sparks...put wet towels along bottom of the doors...stops them blowing inside the house...
Soak everything down roof, walls and surrounding area..block the down pipes so the gutters fill up with water...can use tennis balls or bricks.. depending on shape...
Have everything in the car ready to go including pets...have the car facing so you can drive straight out, no reversing etc..set up sprinklers up on your roof if you have to leave and let them run...
Then if it all turns to crap...
Leave ..a building can be replaced but you can't ..
Fingers crossed you stay safe and good luck..
Wheelie bins what we have... excellent for filling with water..
That's a lot of preparation. We just have our important documents and some clothes. I wouldn't leave unless they tell us we have to.
Arvo..no that is basic and standard practice here and saves hundreds of houses and lives...
The vast majority of people here always protect their homes to the very end and only leave when all is lost..
Some do leave it till it's to late unfortunately but we tend to stand our ground... it works for us and this is what we do and taught to do..
And that's exactly what I would do if confronted with a bushfire.. and only leave if all was lost...
[✘]
[deleted][✘]
On a related note, we spent a few hours with a man from Lahaina who lost his home in the fire. He and his wife are currently living in a FEMA container. Very resilient and wonderful people. My stepson and his husband also live in LA, but Inglewood is not currently in harms way.
Lahaina is pretty much gone. It used to be fun to go there at night, have some pasta at Longhi's and walk around Front Street and people watch.
Good time to close this down; Back tomorrow with a new article.