The Snakelocks Anemone, Anemonia viridis (Forskal), has long. velvety grey-green tentacles with purple tips. This series of photographs shows one of these delightful seashore creatures in a rock pool at Ringstead Bay in Dorset. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day and the sea water was softly lapping at the rocky platforms and shingle-covered shore.

The water in the pool was clear. The colours of the anemone and the free-floating green seaweeds were vivid. The ripples on the surface of the water caught the bright sunlight which was reflected onto the rock beneath. As each gentle wave moved to and fro, the tentacles of the anemone followed the flow. The tentacles were neatly aligned as the wave retreated but were thrown into a tangle as the water advanced: ebb and flow, to and fro, neat and tousled, straight and curly. Beautiful. Magical.

© Jessica Winder and Jessica’s Nature Blog, 2009. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material, including both text and photographs, without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jessica Winder and Jessica’s Nature Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 Photographs in this blog are copyright property of Jessica Winder with all rights reserved

I like to think that we operate

like ripples in the water.

We start out as the effect

(intended or not)

of someone else’s actions, and then we grow –

we spread our boundaries in circles of self-ordained perfection,

 leave what little passing marks we can, and then

we meet another ripple.

Suddenly, the symmetry is gone, but there

where it used to be

is a swathe of ourself, tangled up in some part of that other ripple,

coming back towards our center.

And in the other ripple, there is a little piece of us

that has tangled with them

and is moving swiftly towards their core.

And so we re-claim ourselves,

re-know ourselves,

and know another for the first time

over and over again

as the ripples keep coming,

and reverberating,

again

and again.

after traveling 341 miles, i am finally home.
currently humming to jazz &
eating pomegranate.

sincerely,
dor

Buffalo Grove, IL

]]> http://visualplum.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/moth-fury/ Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:12:54 +0000 hapaheart http://visualplum.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/moth-fury/

One papery moth fell into Walden Pond and his will to live sent furious furrows skittering across the water’s brow.

(photo: D. Cheng)

Here, there and everywhere we’ve been
Knowing nothing can we know at all
Nothing, everything what can it mean
For a moment You were seen…you came and then

High on every mountain, in the valleys low
Voices carried on the wind that call your name
Rumbling thunder on the distant plain
All the pieces in the game… you came and then

Stories ever told, yearning for an end
Look to the beginning for the key
Pages ever turned, pieces that remain
of a future history

Calling all who listen, it’s calling me
I can hear a sound of music never known
Touching every motion, the breath of Life
For a moment we were shown, we’re not alone…

Stories ever told, yearning for an end
Look to the beginning for the key
Pages ever turned, pieces that remain
of a future history

It’s not hard.  I excite easy.  I have had people tell me that the first time they met me, they were scared of me.  that could be a problem.  But it’s generally because I’m really excited about something.  Probably TOO excited in many people’s estimation.  And for some reason, God found it funny to give me really close friends who DON’T excite easy.  Yeah, that’s NEVER led to miscommunication (sarcastic finger is raised right now for those who care or need to know).  I even have a couple friends who have assigned bird names to various individuals: one is a goose, another is a duck…they call me an egret.  Yeah, because that’s the only bird name they could think of that starts with an “E”.

So this excitable egret over here wanted to share something that pumped me up yesterday.  Frankly, it’s been a tough week.  I NEEDED something to excite me.  I guess another personality trait/desire is an excitement about introducing friends to each other…particularly if it’s gonna be beneficial to them both.  Honestly, I have a whole slew of friends who are only friends with each other because I introduced them (and it’s really turned into a fun game of “who do I have the most mutual friends on Facebook with” contest for a few).  Here’s my favorite recent one, for your enjoyment and awe of a God who knows what He’s doing.

Krista is one of my little sisters from my time at Auburn.  She played softball and we dug into the Bible together during my time there and we’ve kept in touch ever since.  She just got a job with Teach for America in Memphis.  WAY TO GO, KRISTA!!!  Julie is another little sister graciously given to me during my time at Clemson.  She’s a stud who wears cardigans in her aspirations to be a counselor someday and help people be godly (she gets plenty of practice helping me for now..haha).  She’s on leadership with Clemson FCA…who goes on a spring break missions trip every year, connecting with the local church, FCA, and other service organizations.  Guess where they’re going this year?  Yeah you guessed it…Memphis!  So I get to introduce Krista to a Julie, who will be able to help Krista know what church to check in Memphis, facilitate meeting the Memphis FCA staff, and who knows???  If schedules work out, Krista might get to even join them for the Spring Break Trip!  Yay for introducing my friends to each other and God using it for good!

Many different kinds of ripples and coloured patterns were left in the sand on Rhossili beach the morning after the worst of the gale last week-end. These photographs are the first of a series showing how these different designs looked in the context of the vast expanse of virtually empty seashore, and in more detailed close up views.

The sediments were waterlogged even though the tide was way out. The feeble sunlight reflected in the surface film. The distant horizon a blur of mistiness created by the churning sea and flying foam. The coloured pigments are  a natural feature of this beach. Fine red sediments derived from Old Red Devonian sandstone of Rhossili Down wash down from the soft solifluction terrace cliffs to mix with black anoxic deposits stirred up from deeper beach levels, and the yellow sand that arrived with the ice sheets of long ago.

© Jessica Winder and Jessica’s Nature Blog, 2009. Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material, including both text and photographs, without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jessica Winder and Jessica’s Nature Blog with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

 Photographs in this blog are copyright property of Jessica Winder with all rights reserved

SOLD © Pam Van Londen 2009, Crows on the Beach 2, 8×8×1 on oil on gessobord

$64 © Pam Van Londen 2009, Crows at the Beach 3, oil on 8×8 gessobord.

$64 © Pam Van Londen 2009, Crows at the Beach 1, oil on 8×8 gessobord.

Watching rain water drip from a bridge over the James River. The one large drop of water is close enough to the rivers surface that it is casting a shadow.

© 2009 D L Ennis, All rights reserved.

NOTE: Permission for the use of my images is granted for personal websites and blogs but is to include a link back to this site and proper credit given to me, D L Ennis. Link to be used…(Visual Thoughts http://dlennis.wordpress.com/)

NOTE: Commercial use, and the creation of prints, must be purchased! For more information you can contact me here.

taken from the foot bridge in Montpelier
October, 2009 Daniel Wetmore

THE corporate watchdog’s case against Centro directors may trigger a class action targeting auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers…. From The Australian. Full story

This site may contain information about: oceanography. The blog is also related to: water depths.

On the way….the morning clouds at Palm Beach Road, Navi Mumbai

The beautiful NH17

One of the many curves on the way to Diveagar

The View from our cottage, Vrindavan

Nature at work…or should I say Big Red Ants at work

A beautiful path to…..

…..

a beautiful beach, Diveagar Beach

The Creek at Diveagar Beach

An old tree trunk, Don’t know for how long its been here!

Sunset at Harihareshwar Beach

Catching up at night at MTDC Resort

Sunrise at Diveagar Beach

Ripples in the sand, almost looks like I am in a desert!

The Sea!

The waves

The Road back home!

Reflections, originally uploaded by Chalkhills.

River Adur, Shoreham-by-Sea

Week 38, photo a week, Brighton and Hove Camera Club

This week I have been designing some products on Zazzle using some photos I took while canoeing last summer. I like this one where the upper left is dark green, the lower right is a lighter yellow-green, and the ripples in the water look like wisps of smoke curling up towards the sky making a great background for stationery, invitations, photo cards, and rack cards.

tranquil green water ripples by dlmtleArt
Shop for more cheap stationery online at zazzle

tranquil green water ripples by dlmtleArt
Shop from all the invites on zazzle

tranquil green water ripples by dlmtleArt
View more Tranquil Photo Cards

tranquil green water ripples by dlmtleArt
custom rack cards created at zazzle.com

tranquil green water ripples by dlmtleArt
See more Tranquil Business Cards

Dawna’s Gallery of greeting cards, Matted Prints. and T shirts

Dawna’s Fine Art Prints at

Dawna’s Zazzle Gallery of items featuring her Art and Photography

I did it! I went to the first saturday training!  The class is full of 20+ female kids who want to break into the counselling/ criminal justice field but that’s OK with me!  I have my reason to be there – to drop my self pity and help out other less fortunate girlfriends/ wives.  I felt really good to be able to take the first step in starting my new life!

This stationery is made using one of the macro photos I took last summer while canoeing on the pond with my kids at Ensign Ranch, Cle Elum, Washington. Originally I was aiming at a dragonfly, but one of my kids decided to paddle between the time I pushed the shutter and the photo actually took (Yeah, a digital camera with a shorter delay time is definitely on my wish list ). I still like how this turned out though. There is something about the multiple concentric ripples in the water shining in the sun, it makes an interesting pattern almost like marbleized liquid chrome. I love it as a stationery.

water ripple macro by dlmtleArt
Make my own stationery on Zazzle

This stationery features a close up view of the rippling green water of the pond at Ensign Ranch in Cle Elum, Washington while paddling a canoe.  Interesting patterns of light and shadow form an effect like  chrome marble.

Dawna’s Gallery of greeting cards, Matted Prints. and T shirts

Dawna’s Fine Art Prints at

Dawna’s Zazzle Gallery of items featuring her Art and Photography

Spent the weekend finishing “A little history of the world”.  The book is a little summary of big events I have largely learnt, and promptly forgotten, in school.  It’s such a delightful and easy read.  The story of how this book was written, by a young man, was the most appealing.

The author was a recent art graduate in vienna in the 1930s without a job, and when he was asked to look around to translate a book into German, he said he could have written a better one, and underwent the task of writing it in six weeks! 

“My grandfather wasn’t sure that it could be done, but he liked the challenge and agreed to try.  He plotted out the book at speed, selecting episodes for inclusion by asking himself simply which events of the past had touched most lives and were best remembered.  He then set out to write a chapter a day.  In the morning, he would read up on the day’s topic from what books were available in his parents’ house – including a big encyclopaedia.  In the afternoon, he would go to the library to seek out, wherever possible, some texts belonging to the periods he was writing about, to give authenticity to his account.  Evenings were for writing”,  preface, pg. xvi.

It’s quite inspirational that an art historian writing a children’s history book at the beginning of his career, made such an impact and touched so many lives.   I particularly liked his summary at the end, it almost serves as an answer to questions about our purpose in life. 

“Look carefully at the millions of shimmering white bubbles rising and then vanishing with each wave.  Over and over again, new bubbles come to the surface and then vanish in time with the waves.  For a brief instant they are lifted on the wave’s crest and then they sink down and are seen no more.  We are like that.  Each one of us no more than a tiny glimmering thing, a sparkling droplet on the waves of time which flow past beneath us into an unknown, misty future.  We leap up, look around us and, before we know it, we vanish again.  We can hardly be seen in the great river of time.  New drops keep rising to the surface.  And what we call our fate is no more than our struggle in that great multitude of droplets in the rise and fall of one wave.  But we must make use of that moment.  It is worth the effort”, (pages 271-2).

Everything seemed to go well tonight. Went ice skating after 7-9 years of nothing. Ate one of the best sandwiches ever from Corner Bakery. Got lost with Lien looking for her car, and making fun of her driving while coming home. A very very fun night, all in all.

As I sat by the swimming pool finishing my sandwich, I looked at the ripples I had caused from testing the temperature of the water with my hand. Just a few seconds of contact, and ripples bounced off and off the walls for minutes…

The ripple effect… once small leaf sets of millions of small waves that bounce off and rebound everywhere. Thinking on recent events, the ripple effect is nearly in every situation involving anything…. Expect me skipping class…. No one seems to want to do that with me L…

Little things start big notions. All it takes is one person to make a difference in the world. It could be some eccentric billionaire creating jobs and different things, or perhaps it could be you, starting a protest, and making a change. All it took for MADD to start was a few brave women who decided they didn’t want their kids dying. Over most movements there is usually one main head figure on top, leading and guiding the whole thing.

Or perhaps a simple high school drama. For people who catch sight of it, it becomes a vortex of emotions, and you get lost. You wish others would be a little more open, a little more brave. Some things can just mess up peoples current lives.  I think the past few weeks have taught me things about myself, and although it sucks to be some people right now, thank you for the chance to test my mental limits.

Anyway….  There is a certain beauty to how the ripples affect each other… They pass by each other making bigger ripples or dispelling each other, but they continue on as if nothing happened. Only the people, who can see the different interactions and movements, see the true beauty of what is happening. The many different webbings of many different people. The interactions of people from all over, having similar starting… From a single drop.

I do have a fondness for the Zen-like images. What appeals more is the style, simple yet profound, and a sense of calm it lends to the viewer.

All the images on this blog are protected by copyright. Please do not copy, blog or repost in ANY way. If you wish to use them please get in touch with me through email.

Today I took a day off, mainly because I had to interview for a volunteer position (and decided to also do a series of chores/ shopping on my downtown trip).  Very happy that I went through the interview OK, and now I’m invited to training!!!  It’s a pretty intensive program both in terms of the subject matter and time commitment.

Despite what has been going on in my life (getting a divorce), I actually live in a sterile, comfortable bubble.  Sure, I worry about finances, just like everyone else these days, and about the grim possibility of ever finding true love again… But then I am still probably the 0.001% luckiest person on earth, and it’s about time to push aside all my self pity and try to make our community a better place.

Oh, about the other part of my downtown trip…mostly apparel related chores… I dropped things off at my tailor, the consignment store (and picked up my check), bought a camel winter coat at Max Mara (I have always dreamed of having a max mara winter coat, this is the year to splurge).  This winter coat purchase officially closes out all my fall shopping (it has to, or I am not meeting my savings target, I am already not meeting my savings target), except…

I saw the most beautiful cream shift dress today!!! It’s not on my shopping list, but is similar to what Virginia Lampert(Audrey Hepburn) wore at Charade (minus the black bow belt, add back a little flower embellishment at the chest)…

What to do, what to do?  I am already not meeting my saving goals this year, should I get that dress too, or hope to wait for it to go on sale later? 

I have two days to sleep over it…