Tag: nature

Kevin, Kenny, and Nicholas Cage

indigoshell3 Comments

We had missed our flight.

What a way to start the first day of camp, eh? Arriving at 10pm in the dark gives a great first impression.

I had pulled an all-nighter as our flight was at 4am, which was a very stupid thing to do. I felt like death while waiting for the next plane to fly.

I was grumpy. I’m sure my little brother was too.

The car ride was awkward because everyone but my little brother and the driver was asleep.

I remember waking up and groggily stepping out of the car. The first thing I remember from the camp was a startling loud cry of a very, very familiar bird.

It was a peacock call.

All over camp, wandering freely, were peacocks. I was told that the peacocks roaming the main part of camp were called Kevin and the ones that stayed near the Animal Area were called Nicholas Cage.

During nighttime Kevin would hop up waaay up there in a pine tree, startling children walking underneath whenever they make a nighttime call. I had made a little game out of it; trying to find Kevin whenever he was in a tree. He was usually camouflaged too well among the branches and leaves but sometimes I would see the little jitter of his tail feathers.

The Animal Area was what it was called: an area for the animals of the camp. What we called the “Bird Aviary” housed many different species of birds: peacocks, pigeons, silkie chickens, and a lionhead rabbit.

The most valuable peacock we had was a half albino, half normal peacock, and he was settled in the Aviary. Prince Charming and his Princess, two albinos, were also in the Aviary.

When I was in China I grew up hearing the calls of peacocks day and night.

Most people wouldn’t expect there to be peacocks in China but for some reason there was a hotel that had peacocks in it.

Being at camp and hearing Kevin and Nicholas Cage cawing all the time brought a slight feeling of nostalgia.

After my five out of six weeks of camp was up I was told that the peacocks were actually called Kenny.

Why had nobody told me this earlier?

I had been calling them the wrong name for five weeks? But even the counselors called them Kevin!

I still call the peacocks Kevin. Old habits die hard.

The Old Gum Tree

indigoshellLeave a comment

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Merry, merry king of the bush is he
Laugh, Kookaburra! Laugh, Kookaburra!
What a life you lead

Many in this world do not know what a kookaburra is, even more have not seen or touched one.

Many would not know that the kookaburra’s call doesn’t sound like a laugh – it’s more of a demonic monkey yelling at the unfairness of the world.

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Merry, merry, merry little bird is he
Sing, Kookaburra! Sing, Kookabura!
Sing your song for me.

Many would not know how large and cuddly these birds are, how soft and downy their chest feathers are.

Many would not know the gleam of light cyan in their wings, how minuscule the feathers are and how they catch the light so easily.

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Eating all the gum drops he can see
Stop, Kookaburra! Stop, Kookaburra!
Leave some there for me

Many would not know how picky a kookaburra will be with a frozen mouse.

Many would not know that kookaburras would even eat frozen mice.

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Counting all the monkeys he can see
Stop, Kookaburra! Stop, Kookaburra!
That’s not a monkey that is me.

Many would not know how hard it is to perfect the kookaburra call, as well as getting them to call back to you.

Many would not know that if you stroke his belly and then push on his legs, you could get Stevie to sit on your hand while you pet his head.

A Little Change in Scenery

Daphne PsaledakisLeave a comment

This summer, I was lucky enough to go to South Africa for five weeks. Because I was there for so long, I feel like I can’t just write about it in one blog post. So I’ll write about one part of it now, and another part later, and eventually you guys will get the whole story.

That’s the idea at least.

A couple months before school ended, my dad and I scrambled to pull together this trip for me. I wanted to go visit my old babysitter, who I hadn’t seen in about ten years.

Only thing is, she lives in Cape Town, South Africa. Somehow we pulled it off, and I found myself on an 18-hour plane ride a couple days after school let out for the summer.

My dad warned me before I left that it would be winter there, and that it would be cold. I basically told him he was being silly. I mean it’s Africa right? No way it could be cold.

Wrong.

It was freezing. I optimistically brought my shorts and sandals with me (along with jeans and boots, thankfully), and I definitely could have saved myself the extra weight. I never even put them on.

I lived in jeans, boots, sweatshirts, and down vests. It was freezing, and made even worse by the fact that there was no central heating. The only way to escape the cold was to take a nice long bath. Nevertheless, we still got out and explored.

The scenery in Cape Town is stunning. I’ve never seen anything like it. You look one direction and see mountains, and you look the other way and see nothing but blue ocean.

The mountains aren’t the same as they are here – there are less trees and more rocks and flowers. The views it allows of the city are breathtaking. Every direction you look there is something new to see, something beautiful and different from anything you could find in the states.

It’s absolutely amazing to see.

Cape Town

Mary Oliver, a poet of nature.

eternity1030Leave a comment

My favorite poet is Mary Oliver. She is the kind of the writer that perfectly combines the words by feelings. Her words can talk.

She picks up a bunch of aromatic flowers and smiles; she steps into the deep mysterious forest and listens; she smells the spiritual magic of nature and gets infatuated. She, Mary Oliver, the daughter of the earth, extracts every piece of the nature to build a poetic world filled with her particular experiences and feelings. Born in a small town with rural environment in Ohio in 1935, Mary Oliver spent her earliest days surrounding farms and fields and the deep woodlands attracted her. That became the moment when she realized the congenial places that lurked within her heart – nature.

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The Green.

eternity1030Leave a comment

How do you feel when the Winter comes?
How do you feel when no one understands your loneliness and sorrow?
How do you feel when they cut your bodies and burn them into ruins?

I see you standing there alone and sighed with grief.
You are afraid of being treated as your friends.

But now you have no worries, because right now there is only me. Tell me your pain. Tell me your despair.
You have no reasons to fear, because now it’s the time for us to realize how important you are. Tell me your concern. Tell me your anger!

You are the gifts from nature. You are the painter who decorates our world into a colorful heaven.
You are the guards of danger. And you have beautiful names – trees.

As one human being, I am now standing out to tell you that we will keep working to rebuild you a comfortable home with hope and green.

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Caterpillar & Butterfly

frog3Leave a comment

fefre

A butterfly populates the world with color and shine.

These creatures show natural beauty to all of mankind.

They start life as caterpillar, they’re ugly in a way.

Fat little creatures that must keep predators at bay.

They eat leaves and shed skin, a never ending feast.

It is not a beautiful creature yet, it is just a beast.

The Caterpillar is done shedding its skin.

Its life as a beast is almost at an end.

It finds a nice sturdy tree to hang itself from.

It will emerge from its cocoon when its transformation is done.

Weeks pass.

The Caterpillar sleeps fast.

Slowly there is a movement in its temporary tomb.

It emerges from its prison like a baby from the womb.

Its wings are damp it cannot fly.

It must dry itself or it will die.

Finally the butterfly is ready, the world is now fair.

Killer of these magical creatures now must beware.
fett

Star Trails.

eternity1030Leave a comment

Stars and the galaxy are things that attract photographers. After seeing a few pictures of star trailing photography, one of my friends fell in love with the beautiful circles the stars draws. And soon I found that it is actually really interesting.

Star trailing is basically shooting a picture with a very long exposure time at night. While the sky is being exposed, the earth will rotate but the stars will not. Therefore, the light of the stars are captured by the camera over time and the light will draw curly lines or semi-circles.

Creating star trail images is a fun technique that can occur a lot of different results depending on the shooting location, foreground objects and number of visible stars. While the technique can be simple, proper setup and then proper post-shooting preparations are very essential.

Shooting star trail pictures requires a camera with a tripod in order to make the lens steady. The camera should not move at all during the shooting process. Find north and aim the frame at that direction to get a centered and circle shaped star trail. Set the camera to a very low ISO and long a exposure time to shoot, and it works even better if the camera has a bulb mode.

Due to the length it requires to shoot the star trails, make sure there are not any moving objects around that may run into the frame, because they may mess up the whole picture. Control other light sources and be sure not to let any other light come into the frame except the stars. Set the focus to infinity so that star trails will be sharp and clear.

Charge the battery to full,  then put on warm clothes and begin shooting tonight !!!

Water, our great fear

frog3Leave a comment

rfrg

Water, without it we have no life.

It covers are planet in an eternal blue dye.

Whether ice or steam it will always be here.

Water, without it, we would have great fear.

Fear that our planet will be devoid of all life.

Water soothes and protects healing all wounds.

It possesses a power more pure than the moon.

Be warned waters power is fearsome and great.

It can decide our people’s fate.

Water rising and twisting, overwhelming the coast.

We must realize that water is our host.

A host that is spreading over our land.

Depopulating the areas of all man.

We must all share in one true fear.

Fear that our planet will be devoid of all life.

Small Things Lover.

eternity1030Leave a comment

I am always obsessed with the small things.

According to Guinness World Records, the smallest horse in the world is a horse named Tamberlina of the U.S. state of Missouri.

However, this little guy may soon take its place. Born in April 2010, in Barnstead, New Hampshire, the three-day old pinto stallion, Einstein, is just 14 inches high and weighs only an incredible 6lbs.

Dr Rachel Wagner, Einstein’s co-owner, claims that “the Guinness Book of Records lists the smallest newborn horse as weighing just 9lbs.”

From Oprah to travelling across the U.S. it has certainly been an eventful first year for Einstein, the world’s smallest stallion, as he approaches his birthday.

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Black n White.

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They are the cutest creatures who are painted in black and white. With a bear shape and a cat face, they are members of the bear family.

Now take a look at them. Black fur on ears, nose, eyes patches, and shoulders and the rest is white. They move slowly and clumsily. However, each movement only makes them cuter and cuter like they care about nothing.

They live in a few mountain ranges in central China, mainly in the Sichuan province, but also in the Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. They spend their lives roaming and feeding in the bamboo forests.

They have simple eating habits. They eat bamboo only, so they have to live in certain places where large amount of bamboo can be found. But in the zoos, the can eat some other things like rice porridge, apples, sweet potatoes and carrots.

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