love

When you are with the right person, every day is Valentine’s Day!

February 14, 2023 — 8 Comments

Happy Valentines Day

F/5.6, 1/1600, ISO 400.

Mute Swan

What’s the best part about Valentines Day?

The day after when all the chocolate goes on sale.

Interesting Fact:  The Mute Swan is reported to mate for life. However, changing of mates does occur infrequently, and swans will remate if their partner dies. If a male loses his mate and pairs with a young female, she joins him on his territory. If he mates with an older female, they go to hers. If a female loses her mate, she remates quickly and usually chooses a younger male.  ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mute_Swan/lifehistory )

Your Love, Got Me Looking So Crazy Right Now!

February 14, 2022 — 2 Comments

Happy Valentines Day! 

F/11.0, 1/500, ISO 200.

Snowy Egret

How did the telephone propose to its girlfriend?

He gave her a ring.

Interesting Fact: Male Snowy Egrets fight for breeding territories, choose nest sites, and perform noisy courtship displays to attract mates. A ring of other egrets often gathers around a displaying male as he pumps his body up and down, points his bill skyward, and calls. He also performs aerial displays, including one that ends with him dropping toward the ground while tumbling around and around. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Snowy_Egret/lifehistory )

 

Double Check!

March 3, 2020 — 6 Comments

F/5.6, 1/1600, ISO 400.

Mute Swan

What did the digital clock say to his mother?

Look ma, no hands!

Interesting Fact: All of the Mute Swans in North America descended from swans imported from Europe from the mid 1800s through early 1900s to adorn large estates, city parks, and zoos. Escapees established breeding populations and are now established in the Northeast, Midatlantic, Great Lakes, and Pacific Northwest of the U.S. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mute_Swan )

Will You Be My Valentine?!

February 14, 2020 — 32 Comments

F/6.3, 1/1000, ISO 450.

Mute Swan

What do you call a funny chicken?

A comedi-hen

Interesting Fact: Mute Swans form long-lasting pair bonds. Their reputation for monogamy along with their elegant white plumage has helped establish them as a symbol of love in many cultures. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mute_Swan/lifehistory )

Bonus Valentine Facts:  Feb. 14 was officially designated St. Valentine’s Day in 1537 by King Henry VII of England. ( http://www.ibtimes.com/valentines-day-facts-history-fun-ideas-free-burritos-singles-awareness-other-things-1813226 )

When You Are With The Right Person, Every Day Is Valentine’s Day!

February 14, 2017 — 24 Comments

Happy Valentine’s Day!

mallard-love

F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 100.

Mallard

Girl: “I can’t be your valentine for medical reasons.”

Boy: “Really?”

Girl: “Yeah, you make me sick!”

Interesting Fact: Numerous early Christian martyrs were named Valentine.[11] The Valentines honored on February 14 are Valentine of Rome (Valentinus presb. m. Romae) and Valentine of Terni (Valentinus ep. Interamnensis m. Romae).[12] Valentine of Rome was a priest in Rome who was martyred in 269 and was added to the calendar of saints by Pope Galesius in 496 and was buried on the Via Flaminia. The relics of Saint Valentine were kept in the Church and Catacombs of San Valentino in Rome, which “remained an important pilgrim site throughout the Middle Ages until the relics of St. Valentine were transferred to the church of Santa Prassede during the pontificate of Nicholas IV“.[13][14] The flower-crowned skull of Saint Valentine is exhibited in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome. Other relics are found at Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day#History )

Staring Contest!

December 20, 2015 — 26 Comments

Northern Pintail Ducks

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Northern Pintail Ducks

Day 354 / 365

What’s another name for a clever duck?

A wise quacker!

Interesting Fact: Like the Mallard, the Northern Pintail breeds in a variety of habitats all across northern North America and Eurasia. Also like the Mallard, island populations have splintered off and evolved into separate species. Two closely related forms can be found on Crozet and Kerguelen islands in the very southern Indian Ocean, known as Eaton’s Pintail (Anas eatoni) ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Pintail/lifehistory )

First They Are Sour Then They Are Sweet

November 10, 2015 — 6 Comments

lime

F/ 13.0, 1/60, ISO 320.

Day 314 / 365

There was a scientist who wanted to see how smart kids were before they went to kindergarten.
He blind-folded them and gave them a lime lifesaver to eat. He asked them if they knew what kind it was.
“Lime” they all replied
“Very good!” the scientist said “What about this one?” He gave them a honey flavored one and asked them if they knew what it was but no one knew.
“C’mon!” he said “It’s what your mommy calls your daddy”
All of the sudden one kid spits it out and yells out “EVERYBODY SPIT IT OUT – THEY’RE A$$HOLES!”

Interesting Fact: To prevent scurvy during the 19th century, British sailors were issued a daily allowance of citrus, such as lemon, and later switched to lime.[8] The use of citrus was initially a closely guarded military secret, as scurvy was a common scourge of various national navies, and the ability to remain at sea for lengthy periods without contracting the disorder was a huge benefit for the military. The British sailor thus acquired the nickname, “Limey” because of their usage of limes. ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lime_(fruit) )

Love The Past With The Future  

November 7, 2015 — 22 Comments

love film negative

F/9.0, 1/60, ISO 125.

Day 311 / 365

Ever since buying a digital camera, I can only think of it’s positive points. There aren’t any negatives.

Interesting Fact: Around the year 1800, Thomas Wedgwood made the first known attempt to capture the image in a camera obscura by means of a light-sensitive substance. He used paper or white leather treated with silver nitrate. Although he succeeded in capturing the shadows of objects placed on the surface in direct sunlight, and even made shadow-copies of paintings on glass, it was reported in 1802 that “[t]he images formed by means of a camera obscura have been found too faint to produce, in any moderate time, an effect upon the nitrate of silver.” The shadow images eventually darkened all over because “[n]o attempts that have been made to prevent the uncoloured part of the copy or profile from being acted upon by light have as yet been successful.”[8] Wedgwood may have prematurely abandoned his experiments due to frail and failing health; he died aged 34 in 1805. ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_photography )

There Is A Kid In All Of Us!

May 23, 2015 — 17 Comments

crayons

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Day 143 / 365

Life is not perfect, color outside the lines.       🙂

Interesting Fact: The largest crayon in the world, Big Blue, weighs 1500 pounds, is 15 feet long and 16 inches in diameter.  It was made from 123,000 old blue crayons that were gathered from kids around the country.  It would color an entire football field. ( http://www.crayola.com/crayolaexperience/landing-page/easton/about/fun-facts.aspx )

Never Can Get Enough!

February 15, 2015 — 10 Comments

still in love

F/16.0, 1/60, ISO 250, Photoshop CS6.

Day 46 / 365.

Valentine’s day is over and the love continues.

Interesting Fact: The term “love” is from the Sanskrit lubhyati, meaning “desire.”. ( http://facts.randomhistory.com/2009/08/04_love.html )