Flamingo Friday: Face Forward

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Flamingo Friday: Overlap

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Three haikus on San Francisco beasts

Floating and falling,
the gulls swirl like flecks of ash:
risen from what fire?

Sky of clouded pearl.
The gulls sweep like music struck
from the Bridge’s strings.

Companionable
sausages, the sea lions
sardine each other.


[And this also concludes the Just Go Do It Photo Challenge for Day 17: Colors.]

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In which I demonstrate great powers of recovery

Coming back from the dead-tired after a week-long conference, I have not forgotten the 30-day photo challenge (see biobabbler’s blog for more).

Many of the following photos were taken on their appropriate day last week, others—well, weren’t.

A friend:

Joey and I have been friends since 7th grade (I used to be taller). We were in Delaware together this October.


Humans meet nature: what better example than a building touched by rainbow?

Beauty:

I spied these rain-beaded leaves lying on the wooden curb surrounding a tree on the sidewalk on my walk to work, proving that even the grimy streets of Dupont Circle are crammed with loveliness.


Dance and shadows (two in one):

These autumn sweet-gum leaves were on the verge of a gavotte, I’m sure.


Artificial light:

Outside in (I was inside my hotel room taking a picture of the sunset behind these buildings):

A face: San Francisco sea lions! (more in a later post)

Animals:

This is a ladybug larva. I think they look like crazy lion-spiky-monsters from old bestiaries.


Water:

Sky:

The stranger:

Technically I was the stranger in this mew gull’s winter habitat, but I had never seen one before (look at that tiny little bill!), so I’m saying that counts.

More soon, this time with words!

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Flamingo Friday: Tuck

This also matches the requirements of Day 4 of the Photo Challenge (see biobabbler's blog for more shots in this series), which is "natural light." (Admittedly, I didn't take the photo today, but since almost all of my shots are in natural light anyway, I think it all works out.)

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Two in One: the challenge continues

I’m including two more shots for the 30-day photo challenge (see biobabbler’s blog for more). The first is on the topic of “Where You Live”:

Our condo unit overlooks a neighboring building whose roof is in a state of disrepair and collects—and retains—water. This is bad for the building next door but good for us, since we can practice puddle meteorology—if the water’s frozen, it’s cold; if it’s rippling, it’s windy, if there are pockmarks on the surface, it’s raining. It’s a great system.

It also serves as a place for starlings and other birds to drink and wade in the morning, and it captures the stunning sunsets we see from our window with a clarity that’s almost better than the original.

The second is “black and white”:

And probably needs no real explanation.

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"AND it's predatory!"

At biobabbler’s urging, I’m participating in a 30(ish)-day photo challenge (supposedly leading up to xmas, but I don’t think that’s going to happen—New Year’s, maybe).

The first day’s challenge is a self-portrait, and here’s my attempt:

No, I didn’t do this just to keep most of me obscured. On the contrary, I think it’s the way most of my friends—especially on shorelines—see me, as I lead with my hand and whatever organism I’m pointing out (“Do you see the hole bored in this moon-snail shell?” “Look at this skate egg case!” “Oooh, I think this is a land-snail shell! Did you know all land snails are simultaneous hermaphrodites?”).

The shell in this photo is indeed a lobed moon-snail shell, and the beveled drill hole is the mark of cannibalism: another moon snail scraped away at this one’s shell (also secreting acid all the while to help in the shell’s breakdown), then liquefied the animal within and sucked it up.

Isn’t nature beautiful?

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Lump Day arrives again

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