Little Lizard

This little guy briefly flitted into view, posed for this photo and then flitted back into hiding. This is a gecko, as you may know, and you find them in unlikely places in Hawaii, including bedroom wall and bathroom mirrors. They are harmless and, as you can see here, colorful.Subscribe to A Photo A Day by Email

A View From My Window?

The actual view from my window today shows bare tree, evergreens that seem less green than they did a month ago and a thin layer of snow and ice trying to cover what is left of the grass in our back yard.The scene you are looking at today appears only when I close my eyes and think of Mexico. . . .

13,910

In keeping with my "Big Island Diversity" thread, I thought I'd post one more photo, this time from the top of Mauna Kea. This photo shows where the title of this post comes from, though the official height of Mauna Kea is 13,796 ft. My Garmin GPS uses satellites to estimate altitude and so it has us a little higher than we really are.This photo, incidentally, was taken the same day as this photo. I would have no photo if it weren't for my adventurous brother-in-law, who convinced us we needed to go to the top of Hawaii. My wife kept her eyes shut on part of the drive up and I didn't like the idea of wind chill and snow. That's why we left South Dakota for our brief trip to visit our son Jon a few years ago!

An Adventurous Spirit

I have said before that our youngest son Jon tends to take us to interesting places when he is in charge of the itinerary. Here's a good example: we are in the Waipio Valley on the Big Island. Contrast this with the photo of Hawaii I posted a couple days ago and you will also see what I mean by "diversity" on the Big Island.

Unlimited Variety

The Big Island of Hawaii is a remarkable place, with snow capped peaks, humid rain forests and barren terrain that looks like is could be from another universe. This photo was taken near the famous green sand beach near the southern tip of the island. Our son Jon took us there and I thought it was going to ruin the truck we we in. But I'm glad we went.

Do Corks Grow On Trees?

This post is less about interesting photos than it is about my compulsion to educate the reader about cork. So, if you are still with me, note that you are looking at a cork tree in a cork grove in Portugal (one of the world's largest producers of cork.) Then note that there are no corks hanging on this tree. Why? Well, because the cork comes from the bark - it doesn't grow like an apple or a pear.In fact the cork comes from the bark of the tree and each tree is stripped every few years and then left to build up a new layer of cork. This tree doesn't show evidence of a recent harvest but this tree does (click here.)Fascinating, isn't it?

What Kind of Coffee Do They Serve Here?

Some of my readers will know right away that this "coffee house" sells more than coffee and that's why there is an age restriction. I was looking at the photos I took in Amsterdam a few years ago and decided to post this.What do they serve here besides coffee? They serve pot in a variety of forms. Not only can you buy joints (so I'm told) but marijuana infused brownies and cookies, too. Only a desperate person would smoke the last two but you can eat them and get more than I sugar high.For the record, I didn't go in to one of these coffee shops. Neither did my wife. Or my Lutheran pastor friend Billy. Honest!

Moist Color

Sometimes when I am out taking photos in our garden, I carry a spray bottle to add a little "nature's mist" to the flowers. During the time I had to take photos in Olympia, Washington, a few years ago, mist was no problem - it drizzled almost non-stop. And there were many photo opportunities, though I had to work quickly because my camera isn't particularly water proof.I found this photo in the Japanese garden close to downtown Olympia. I would love to go back on a nicer day, though the rain did much to enhance my photos.

One Particular Harbor

There are thousands of "safe harbors" in the islands that spread out along the Dalmatian Coast in Croatia. This particular harbor (to paraphrase a song title by Jimmy Buffett) is on the west end of the Island of Hvar, which I have visited twice.I've mentioned in another post that Deb and I hope to charter a sailboat and cruise the Croatian islands but she tells me that we need our son, Captain Jon, aboard. I agree, but I'm not sure that our need for a precise travel schedule can mesh with Jon's free-form lifestyle. Our goal was to do it in the summer of 2011. We'll see. . . .

8:15 am, August 6, 1945

Today's photograph isn't all that remarkable. But the artifact in the photo is. This watch was being worn by a Hiroshima resident on the day the first atomic bomb was dropped. The watch survived the bomb blast but it quit working at the precise time the bomb detonated - 8:15 am. You can find this watch in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum but I can't tell you what happened to the person wearing it.We visited Hiroshima in 2004 on our trip to Japan. Our son, Brian, took us there and I'm glad he did. The day we were there, we were sourrounded by Japanese citizens visiting this historic site and the memorial erected there. You would think that Americans might not be welcome at the bomb site and the museum. But that wasn't the case, largely because the memorial grounds house a peace center that aims to eliminate nuclear weapons. And I'm sure the Japanese are more than eager to welcome us to this cause.

Grief

I have 53,319 photos in my primary digital photo library. These are photos I have taken between 2002 and the present. I don't expect you to be impressed with this number - I'm not sure I am. I think many of these photos should be discarded.But, because I run out of things to post here, I am happy I have so many photos because it allows me to "throw a dart" when I'm stymied. Today, I randomly picked photos from May, 2009, and this one jumped out at me. It was taken at the amazing Mirogoj cemetery in Zabreb, Croatia. I wish I could tell you more about this monument but I can't.I can tell you that I like the woman's gentle demeanor and that I also like the great bokeh in the backround. Finally, I like the fact that the background is in color and that the woman seems to be in tones of sepia, which seems appropriate for a stoney figure mourning in a graveyard.

Back To Paris

This is the palace at the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, France. In this photo I am showing obedience to the principle of "zones" in a landscape photo: the idea that there is something in the front, something in the middle and something in the back. I guess it makes something that is two dimensional seem more three dimensional.