THESE ARE THE TREES THAT WON'T DAMAGE YOUR SIDEWALK AND YOU CAN PLANT OUTSIDE YOUR HOME

The hot season is here, and we're all looking to stay as cool as possible during the hottest hours of the day. We often resort to cooling off in a pool if one is available, enjoying delicious ice creams, fresh drinks, and any other food that can make us feel less overheated. Many times, we seek the shade of a tree to find relief.

Especially when we're outside, we hope to find a tree offering some shade. Therefore, it’s a good idea to start planting trees inside and outside our homes to provide shade for ourselves and others as temperatures rise.

You may have considered this idea before, but if you’re worried about trees lifting the ground or sidewalk and damaging your home’s infrastructure, don't worry. Today, we have a selection of trees you can plant at your home that won’t damage the ground or walls.

These trees will not only provide comforting shade but also add a beautiful, majestic, and elegant look to your home or the area where you plant them. Without further ado, here are the options:

ASH TREE Ash trees are delicate with ample foliage, offering excellent shade on hot days without damaging your home's structures.

JAPANESE MAPLE Japanese maples are small shrubs that don’t grow too large. They are perfect if you also want to add a decorative touch to your home with their striking red-violet leaves in spring.

CRAPE MYRTLE These trees are very attractive with wide, flat canopies, smooth bark, and oval leaves, creating a beautiful view, especially when in bloom. Their flowers grow in lilac or pink clusters, providing shade and a burst of color to your home.

POPLAR Poplars are majestic species with tall, straight trunks and whitish bark. They grow slowly, so they pose no threat to sidewalks or the ground in general.

CORAL TREE Coral trees are not very tall, reaching a maximum height of 12 meters. They provide excellent shade and spectacular views with their scarlet flowers in clusters. According to Zulu tradition, these trees were planted on the graves of Zulu chiefs.

OAK-LEAF TREE
These trees also grow slowly but are very robust. Their wide canopies provide excellent shade, and they can be planted safely without the risk of damaging your home’s structures.

Now you know, if you want to plant trees, consider these beautiful options to enjoy shade at your home all day long. https://image.nostr.build/c794a7ac04cdfaf045215a1cc15dce5e5bb1d57cba36cae0f74d6bd641b86df0.jpg


"Idk who needs to know this because it took me 25 years and a TikTok to learn but putting your fruit in mason jars rather than the containers they are stored in at the time of purchasing is a HALLELUJAH for me 😅 I tried it after I saw it and will never go back, it keeps the fruit fresh foreverrrrrr." shared by Brianna Khayyat https://image.nostr.build/054684e87b46e354f948f32e508e8887e1668477f96aa20d039feecf7407338d.jpg


5 Reasons We Need Trees for a Healthy Planet🌍

🌳Trees purify our air and combat climate change. ...
🌳Trees provide housing to millions of species that protect us from disease. ...
🌳Trees cool our streets and cities. ...
🌳Trees protect against floods and water pollution. ...
🌳Trees ease the mind during stressful times

Please Plant More Trees 🌳 https://image.nostr.build/ccf5a5a94e18b6bb3c6d73e462988947dbf6c2b447a9e61ee07f4fd908869daa.jpg


1949 mercury￼ https://image.nostr.build/d42d9a6b22074f92398497e3762892ec3814676873f8832f4af5c2b1e40e05cb.jpg


If you feel like giving up, read this:

1. This is a Phase.
Tough times are just a phase. They don't last forever. Life is a cycle of highs and lows. Remember, this too shall pass. You're in the middle of the storm now, but clear skies are ahead. Hold on.

2. You Are Stronger Than You Think.
Never underestimate your resilience.

- You've survived 100% of your bad days.
- Inside you, there is an inner strength.
- Your potential is greater than any problem.

Remember, you're stronger and more capable than you believe.

3. Small Steps Count.
Progress isn't always a leap forward. Sometimes it's tiny, almost imperceptible steps. Each step, no matter how small, brings you closer to your goal. Celebrate every bit of progress. Slow and steady can still win the race. Keep moving forward.

4. Remember Your 'Why'.
Think back to the reasons why you started. Reconnect with your motivation and your goals.

5. Failure is a Stepping Stone.
It's okay to fall but it's important to rise again. Every setback brings learning opportunities.  Remember, every great success story involves overcoming obstacles. Keep going. Your story is being written.

6. Practice Self-Care.

Self-care is essential, especially during tough times.

- Eat nutritious food
- Exercise regularly
- Get adequate sleep
- Connect with loved ones
- Engage in activities that bring joy.

It’s not selfish, it's survival. Your well-being matters.

7. It's Okay to Ask for Help.
Remember, you're not alone in this journey.

- Reach out to friends, family, or professionals
- Open up about your struggles
- Seek support when you need it

Strength isn't just about enduring in silence. It's also knowing when to ask for help.

To my friends and readers, Fight for yourself. No matter how difficult it becomes, never let yourself give in. After some time, your spark will eventually return. You will come out happier, healthier, and wiser. We are in this together. https://image.nostr.build/840ebd9260f73de97baa6acdfc5a08b333a1983e237510a92dcd5a64a57d0f59.jpg


🤬 https://image.nostr.build/a26800aea85bb408203ac01a05c658164e45eefdf24c009645ce7cfe3c8c9e2b.jpg


💛 https://image.nostr.build/f3e10401bf60bf7bb452592c637cedb41da9a7021247a4c216b1e7be7087446c.jpg


💙♥💙♥ https://image.nostr.build/78d8333f0eae2d9724a35277515d0c46b8764ba2597e9612349610539c4a4051.jpg


Staying in comfortable but unproductive situations can hinder growth and progress. By embracing challenges and discomfort, you can break free from stagnation and move towards more fulfilling and beneficial circumstances.

Sometimes when change is necessary, we resist it and choose to remain comfortable. It's our mind's way of seeking familiarity, even if it's not the best choice.

Intuitively we can sense and see the synchronization and whispers that our heart is guided us towards; but it is within our humanness that we fear change.

Trust those intuitive nudges, trust in the changes that are taking you outside of your comfort zone. This is usually when you are realigning to a path that is true to you.
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Wefomb Meaning - "The quality of achieving goals with every fiber of one's being"
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WEFOMB is a brand that inspire and motivate you to surpass your limit to achieve dreams, so if you wish to be motivated by the best follow us on our journey on becoming a name brand.
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#success #stoicismdaily #stoic #stoicism #wefombmentality #wefomb #quote #quotes #dailymotivation https://image.nostr.build/93f4e942e5addfa3a19b95e168e5327b3e1108c55ab530fd04a3c6aea520c557.jpg


it might not be photogenic, but it sure is HARD. https://image.nostr.build/6ff48ace6c4f84316fae2ebf38b81e813d332f77a8b370c03fb6bbd4dcfdd8d1.jpg


We don't see this everyday. https://image.nostr.build/c3522c792b1dd24717d05ca38d50d3db5a43d074d396eafd5734c3df88413d38.jpg


One of the rarest and most endangered mushroom species on this planet.

It's the elusive wrinkled peach mushroom (Rhodotus palmatus).
With the decline of ash wood and elm trees throughout Europe and Britain, these majestic mushrooms are increasingly becoming rarer and more endangered.
If you're wondering, the red sap-like substance is called "guttation", which is basically the mushroom's way of purging excess water as it grows.

Photographer: jamie_hall_definitive_imaging https://image.nostr.build/e13c5b7683793b8679c0e1bb477668852b1916b474edc5e90e31079b9baa63cb.jpg


they're not going to let you
sit at a front table
at some cafe in Europe
in the mid-afternoon sun.
if you do, somebody's going to
drive by and
spray your guts with a
submachine gun.

they're not going to let you
feel good
for very long
anywhere.
the forces aren't going to
let you sit around
fucking-off and
relaxing.
you've got to do it
their way.

the unhappy, the bitter and
the vengeful
need their
fix-which is
you or somebody
anybody
in agony, or
better yet
dead, dropped into some
hole.

as long as there are
human beings about
there is never going to be
any peace
for any individual
upon this earth (or
anywhere else
they might
escape to).

all you can do
is maybe grab
ten lucky minutes
here
or maybe an hour
there.

something
is working toward you
right now, and
I mean you
and nobody but
you.

~ Charles Bukowski, “relentless as the tarantula”

(Book: You Get So Alone At Times That It Just Makes Sense [ad] https://amzn.to/4blcqLi) https://image.nostr.build/815474a739a4b48c5d1cbb9c5171001a9cf4f5bc53f172a0ea691ba5856c01f0.jpg


Harry Osborn https://image.nostr.build/b10fb97786bac019baaa03bfd6aa8617d7854f0f2183675befa59b3cc59630c1.jpg


Ibrahem Swaid https://image.nostr.build/f931309c4a7c6b3202a921ea74181aac828cbb21064314b3c228e3b89d209c7c.jpg


Imagine if this is the new Silverado 😍 https://image.nostr.build/56e1da10d3ce9b4fe898fe4e1d51dd8f93990805989c128e9d21c14b509c9326.jpg


♠♣ https://image.nostr.build/f3edc76e138a9f00518297575fb58b02f908214f97f94ee63e3ddd8d192a9e06.jpg


Vladimir Kush https://image.nostr.build/04b629aacef6317f8f9a6a5cd2caafbeea049cb146a8595826061fd104ccf304.jpg


The dog in 1981’s ‘Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior’ simply named “Dog”, was obtained from a local dog pound and trained to perform in the movie.

Because the sound of the engines upset him, he was fitted with special earplugs. After filming was complete, he was adopted by one of the camera operators. https://image.nostr.build/0c26bdde22af79ec34977327c73082e91794490183e792476a64605016eb0794.jpg


I grew up with Holly Hobbie in the 70s. Love her still. Probably why I loved Little House on the Prairie books and the TV series. https://image.nostr.build/f6e9ae4cdf80c0d20795ef737d99d2eaba406504b1b2c4d3d832f31c0a703a09.jpg


Pakistan 🇵🇰
is home to Asia’s largest pink salt mine, an unknown treasure, also known as the gem salt. Few consumers know where it comes from.
The salt mine of Khewra, located between Islamabad and Lahore, the capital of Pakistan, was discovered by Alexander the Great during the Indian campaign when his sick horses licked the stones found there and healed. Salt extraction can be traced back to this discovery made by horses.

The base of the current salt mine, was made during the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar II.

Khewra Salt Mine, also known as Mayo Salt Mine, is the most famous in the Salt Range, is approximately 1 km long and covers half of Pakistan’s annual salt demand with 385 thousand tonnes of product.

Himalayan salt, known for its pink and red color, is extracted from this mine, which consists of 99% pure salt. The Mayo salt mine is visited by more than 300,000 tourists annually who arrive thanks to a railroad line built in colonial times. The inside of the mine can be traveled both on foot and in wagons built to transport saline rocks.

The mine includes miniatures of famous Pakistani buildings made of salt glass. Inside the miniatures, which are made by placing lamps inside salt rocks through which light passes, are the famous Sultan Mosque in Lahore, Murree city, the Great Wall of China and there are also busts of important men.

In the tunnels with the rosy ceiling and walls, there are also clinical treatment centers, built with bricks made of salt.

Thousands flock to these tiny clinics each year to treat asthma, bronchitis, ear inflammation, dysnea, and allergies. Completely drug-free treatment processes are under the control of that country's Ministry of Mining and Health https://image.nostr.build/3734a16b91557dffeaebcd7af3ff5ff72051542849c3a3d6bd6785d650514d3f.jpg


The “world’s first cruise liner” was designed by Archimedes. The world’s first colossal ship, not unlike a modern cruise liner in form and function, was designed and built by the ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes. The massive sea vessel was constructed in the third century BC and was commissioned by Hiero II of Syracuse, the last Hellenistic (Greek) monarch of Sicily. (Collected) https://image.nostr.build/3e0d1f6496782744f1dd80643c0ef576301296206c743922f39fab39eef0a7a8.jpg


                       and then the moon asked.
                  “𝙒𝙝𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚?” https://image.nostr.build/b33f11502aceaa1834016e7fa08ef15ba7f07a99960903efc6f5452e876ccb8a.jpg


Hyperion is the tallest known tree in the world. It is 115m tall (or around 380 feet tall.) It has been closed off from public access to prevent damage and possible vandalism, so that the tree may continue to live and thrive on protected land. https://image.nostr.build/72e95eaeec0391bba5986c464b421e8897e5c5d9cee5949f2a18d35f210c7304.jpg


Not my picture, but just love how it looks.... https://image.nostr.build/191a8d5c5c02a2a1bdd9a3c443b77d90306669b12085bb66537f986b966f9f38.jpg


Contentment, 1927
Maxfield Parrish https://image.nostr.build/a0bd49de61871c45082b43c79d28492144ca00084c519cd21d8d4142013e30e0.jpg


This Strange Plant Has Flowers with Petals Shaped Like Hummingbirds

🐦🐦 https://image.nostr.build/5862d9b5f4193ec8dd79f64622a25939d5326ef8dc2f77c84f289f1b42f0b469.jpg


When two souls are meant to connect - location, timing and circumstances are all irrelevant. They suddenly become a magnet for one another and despite their efforts to fight it, the universe somehow manipulates it all in their favor. And in that moment, when they finally give in, a new love is born. https://image.nostr.build/cac20cb85778f9711d7e7d25b8dcbc57a320e9330b0af41b31ca5c9b648cf9bf.jpg


For those hitting the ocean and waves this summer.
This is really simple. You can spot a rip current. Unfortunately, it's where it looks easiest and safest to enter the sea. This is because the rip current is looping around and pulling back OUT. Hence no waves rolling IN. NEVER ENTER THE SEA HERE. If you are already in the sea and get caught in a rip current (you'll know because you will suddenly be moved from your location and it will be impossible to swim against it) don't panic. Swim ACROSS, not against the rip current. For example, rather than trying to swim to shore while being pushed out, swim parallel to the beach and you will be able to get out. Then you can swim ashore. Please educate friends or family visiting the beaches this summer. Stay safe 🙏 https://image.nostr.build/9e30e45a520ba1302ad624dc9e25c9e493915daf926111b3c63c0c4165f80a47.jpg


The capacity to be alone is the capacity to love. It may look paradoxical to you, but it is not. It is an existential truth: only those people who are capable of being alone are capable of love, of sharing, of going into the deepest core of the other person—without possessing the other, without becoming dependent on the other, without reducing the other to a thing, and without becoming addicted to the other. They allow the other absolute freedom, because they know that if the other leaves, they will be as happy as they are now. Their happiness cannot be taken by the other, because it is not given by the other. ~Osho https://image.nostr.build/b06ee61cf489ca14af2fed5442f276156b386f19fe4427b2e00871f2ac3463e4.jpg


Santorini, Greece 🩵 https://image.nostr.build/59508c2803d1a0291216a98bcfcb995de8fb5bcd8ee8a4d16e019a96bd308a5e.jpg


It's just magnificent


Photo art by WIT MYT https://image.nostr.build/f9751ae3861dc390e8133820c2c4a9c4f1c945479857f4b653041326ec699ed8.jpg


Distant relative


A family in Sarasota, Florida heard  a noise at their front door and this' what they found 🐊
📸 Ed Werdell https://image.nostr.build/7dbbe66ab99dca813d40e63f151bfc5a8cf13c750c4dcc07e89ecf44c4cde535.jpg


There is no cure for dumb


Virginie Demont-Breton (French,1859 - 1935),  "The fisherman's wife after bathing her children" (1881), oil painting on canvas (203.2 x 126.4 cm.), private collection. https://image.nostr.build/f9baf3d9c47bc71112f499528d9c485227b94272e0b48515d39e69f6f3e2c95e.jpg


Acid Drip https://image.nostr.build/921d0273655ac126ec453a3ea8f099c99413b360042b598609c1869d2f0f176f.jpg


The sombrero Galaxy in incredible detail by Hubble Space Telescope 👒 https://image.nostr.build/9eb6771b96b1e331a753e534f15485613f16c2bef1ac711309bd4454bd2d8af4.jpg


Cherry 🍒
@dankxlove https://image.nostr.build/4b05de03045cc31abe7c76d9c6406fcdece8de4de495995fc73ce404bbc43fb6.jpg https://image.nostr.build/4b05de03045cc31abe7c76d9c6406fcdece8de4de495995fc73ce404bbc43fb6.jpg


This enormous underground city that once housed 20,000 people was accidentally discovered by a man after knocking down a wall in his basement. When archaeologists later arrived to the site, they revealed that the city was 18 stories deep and had everything needed for underground life, including schools, chapels, and even stables. https://image.nostr.build/790a74d2a46a55a7fdac8ee845df1aed01ef469837378dcadb19909552ad008d.jpg


This was, by far, the weirdest shot I took last night as they emerged in Illinois (DuPage County)😅 https://image.nostr.build/35322e0ec6dc242a0f057d0b166052306595217c5e2478565388d28acce79f5b.jpg


"Love grows by giving. The love we give away is the only love we keep. The only way to retain love is to give it away." ~ Elbert Hubbard (1856 – 1915)

Elbert Hubbard, an American writer, offers a heartwarming perspective on love in his quote. Here, Hubbard challenges the traditional notion of love as a passive feeling. Instead, he suggests love is an action, something that flourishes through the act of giving.

The quote presents a paradox. We don't retain love by clutching to it possessively, but by giving it away freely. The more love we share with others, the more it seems to multiply within us. Giving love enriches the lives of those around us, strengthens relationships, and fosters a deep sense of connection. This act of giving also strengthens our own capacity to love.

Imagine love as a flowing river. Stagnant water becomes stale, but a river that flows freely remains fresh and vibrant.  Giving love keeps it flowing within us, preventing it from becoming stagnant.  Hubbard's message applies to various forms of love, from romantic love to love for family and friends, or even love for humanity as a whole.  The key is the quality of the love we give – genuine and selfless.  By sharing our love freely, we create a positive cycle. The love we give to others comes back to us, enriching our own lives and fostering a deeper wellspring of love within.

Art by James R Eads
#love #giving https://image.nostr.build/2766845d898095ba66c6e1710bcadec30ba0f8330cedecdd7d04928ebe8ec758.jpg


Wow beautiful💙💙♥


Absolutely stunningly gorgeous
Best Photo of The Day!💖 https://image.nostr.build/a91e03443e9fe16298176a9e354340b90a64cd64ba4ab6a1b84aa866d2606aa3.jpg


They told me...
That my house
Smells like dog... 🐶🐾
And I asked them...
Do they know what a dog smells like..
A dog smells like
Gratitude...
Loyalty...
nobility...
Honey...
Pure and Unconditional Love...💙
and despite all they have suffered they don't smell a grudge....
So...
I feel blessed
My house smells like dog. 🐾💕 https://image.nostr.build/316e5a1a6a0e2921fae0e741f629b20b7ef0f836b508324f3cf67895477146a3.jpg


♠♠♠♣ https://image.nostr.build/b65487b2d67ea7bfe09e421ec93426a7fee3dc0adbffccac7f758a8b9cfed12d.jpg


Heidi Taillefer https://image.nostr.build/eb9ea581d52563778e8a8f75817288f278f64852c8f79041ca45129f99bc13b9.jpg


"We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for." - Robin Williams in Dead Poet Society https://image.nostr.build/b2fd682ffbebdc1629b7c356d43f09a431e88210723527c03d3ca124bfdc868c.jpg


Redwoods, as a general rule, do NOT get most of their moisture from fog from what I've read and seen. The past few days that claim surfaced in some posts. Redwoods can put fog to good use, but it's not essential. If I'm not mistaken, research found that coast redwoods can get up to 30% to 40% of moisture from vapor in air. But it can be less. Several years ago in a drought season with less  fog, a scientist emailed that a tallest redwood grew 4 years worth of height gain in that single season. And inland, planted redwoods can grow with near 0% summer fog and as little as 20 inches yearly rainfall. This means redwoods should get most of their water from the ground, can utilize water from fog, but can survive without it. Less fog and less clouds means more light and should allow more photosynthesis. The redwood below is so close to a river, I doubt it needs fog. Its exceptional size may be due to being spaced-away from other redwoods, leaving more sunlight. Cheers, M. D. Vaden, Arborist aka Redwood Forest https://image.nostr.build/91713cf5a28e7a03691d18c2b0089862399d77d3e84893c03ba87200d4f2016b.jpg


Have More Fun https://image.nostr.build/0c924504009656c15214f755fc440b51a43ca0f6eb7aa0706867ae45cd8970eb.jpg


The Segovia Aqueduct, constructed during the reign of Emperor Trajan between AD 98 and 117, is a remarkably preserved monumental structure. It spans 2,388 feet and rises with 165 arches, each exceeding 30 feet in height. Uniquely assembled from around 24,000 dark Guadarrama granite blocks without any mortar, the aqueduct showcases the precision and durability of ancient Roman construction techniques. https://image.nostr.build/6329450d0f279ca71ab4e7758d7175930123fa2495a358ea15a2552ae1bb249b.jpg


Loneliness

I too have known loneliness.
I too have known what it is to feel
misunderstood,
rejected, and suddenly
not at all beautiful.
Oh, mother earth,
your comfort is great, your arms never withhold.
It has saved my life to know this.
Your rivers flowing, your roses opening in the morning.
Oh, motions of tenderness!

Mary Oliver https://image.nostr.build/188c43606aacb48f3224e223133b8ea923dfda5051b6b12ee1d35fe4db98f8f3.jpg


Sandstone formations and hoodoos in a small side wash at Ah Shi Sle Pah Wash in New Mexico's San Juan Basin. https://image.nostr.build/4a37e68af203214f5736bd540cc51c68ec35f79206d99fc3f67d45f9e6cb9dd8.jpg


The Eye Of The Earth in Croatia

The Eye of the Earth, officially called the Izvor Cetine, or the Cetina River Spring, is a natural spring at the base of the Dinara mountain range. Similar to a sinkhole, the natural spring is fed by the same underground aquifer that feeds the nearby Cetina River, which empties into the Adriatic Sea.

Depth measures 155 m or 508.5 ft. https://image.nostr.build/e4a52e330049b891295a217692702789d26f63351ed6f1f8b75a34443c769486.jpg


"Black House" 🖤
By Inge Schuster Artist https://image.nostr.build/c57f202a6ba09d4ea02781e945f603e81edb0583c18d6e7b784567a2b0d9ad14.jpg


Recognize that your struggle and your suffering is the same as everyone else’s, I think that’s the beginning of a responsible life. Otherwise, we are in a continual savage battle with each other with no possible solution, political, social, or spiritual. ~Leonard Cohen https://image.nostr.build/3bfc5d91be284e7d6b87486042c43affdf606781bb5c8437acfc223e231d50e5.jpg


Incredible photographs by Alan Murphy, we can observe the perfect camouflage of nature, it is almost impossible to detect. 🦉🌿 https://image.nostr.build/03d5724f07b4c1ba32d31f9b456044af692575cd5bd75dbb8a2429c1cf9744b0.jpg


That Must Hurt.


I had a date with music
but memories came along.
They never had an invite
but joined in every song.

My tears met my face.
They were here to stay.
So many memories
I had locked away.

They sat down beside me.
They looked me in the eyes.
As I relived the moments.
Laughter drowned my cries.

I had a date with music
but memories came along.
They never had an invite
but we danced to every song.
Author Joanne Boyle Heartfelt art by Steffi Krenzek https://image.nostr.build/f7705840aa66a9d8ebf00d44271a2b75817b74aa9dac2b304aa4a7a875113d3d.jpg


This is so hilarious 😁🤩😁😁
A frog goes into a bank and approaches the teller. He can see from her nameplate that her name is Patty Whack.

"Miss Whack, I'd like to get a $30,000 loan to take a holiday."

Patty looks at the frog in disbelief and asks his name. The frog says his name is Kermit Jagger, his dad is Mick Jagger, and that it's okay, he knows the bank manager.

Patty explains that he will need to secure the loan with some collateral.

The frog says, "Sure. I have this," and produces a tiny porcelain elephant, about an inch tall, bright pink and perfectly formed.

Very confused, Patty explains that she'll have to consult with the bank manager and disappears into a back office.

She finds the manager and says, "There's a frog called Kermit Jagger out there who claims to know you and wants to borrow $30,000, and he wants to use this as collateral." She holds up the tiny pink elephant. "I mean, what in the world is this?"

(You're gonna love this.)

The bank manager looks back at her and says, "It's a knickknack, Patty Whack. Give the frog a loan. His old man's a Rolling Stone."

(You sang it, didn't you? Yeah, I know you did.)

Never take life too seriously.

★♫.•Pass it on!! Give someone else a reason to smile. ♫★ https://image.nostr.build/fd2ec44372415b87665e2e8f980227d3405c71772bfe9b458f355308e123dd45.jpg


Everything in our background has prepared us to know and resist a prison when the gates begin to close around us. But what if there are no cries of anguish to be heard? Who is prepared to take arms against a sea of amusements? To whom do we complain, and when, and in what tone of voice, when serious discourse dissolves into giggles? What is the antidote to a culture's being drained by laughter? ~Neil Postman https://image.nostr.build/acbc1cb623230375e7f31d94771fee6b85d5f208af567a951e381e4dc3d2dd32.jpg


Mesa Verde - a very well-preserved prehistoric settlement landscape of the Ancestral Puebloan culture, which lasted for almost nine hundred years from 450-1300 CE.

This plateau in southwest Colorado, which sits at an altitude of more than 2600m, contains a great concentration of spectacular Pueblo Indian dwellings, including the well-known cliff dwellings. https://image.nostr.build/451454951408876cdb23bcaf06655032404c73acc56b84330bc03c8688bc3daa.jpg


Rosemead, CA - The sculpture consists of an iron beam pulled from the rubble of the World Trade Center held up by two stainless steel hands. The hands holding it up are constructed from 2,976 individually crafted stainless steel doves - each representing a victim of the attacks I am told https://image.nostr.build/3f1e4e0072b81650bb75856caa64f8363169f2d42bd5a2540d6ca33f12e066c5.jpg


Hard Out Here https://image.nostr.build/cf3db62833d2d33a3281f6f80a89ea00fbf3703b06e06e1cc5e62a512f1fd462.jpg


First time painting Marilyn Manson’s Portrait https://image.nostr.build/62aae5c9453eb327192bcbdb95997d7d254951c0a71df114b53ba39b2aa84940.jpg


To be silent the whole day, see no newspaper, hear no radio, listen to no gossip, be thoroughly and completely lazy, thoroughly and completely indifferent to the fate of the world is the finest medicine a man can give himself. ~Henry Miller https://image.nostr.build/fac46b651e3bc625417adfee328d13d827bdf665a39784ff5f2d4857c9faac09.jpg


The journey of a lotus flower is a powerful metaphor. °•🪷•°

🔹 Before it can emerge on the surface and unfurl its petals towards the sun, it must navigate through the murky depths of mud and water.

🔹 The latter carries two significant interpretations. Firstly, it represents the material world, emphasizing that engagement with this world is an integral part of the awakening experience.

🔹 Secondly, it symbolizes the resilience and determination necessary to overcome obstacles and adversities, akin to the journey of the lotus flower.

🔹 Just as the lotus pushes through the mud to reach the light, we too can rise above our challenges and hardships, paving our path towards a different level of awareness.

🔹 Truth is that inner work isn't always sunshine and rainbows. At times, the cost of a shift in consciousness involves facing obstacles, adversities, uncertainties, frustrations, and feelings of being lost, before our epiphany or enlightening experience.

🔹 As the Western saying goes, “I sought wisdom, and I was presented with problems to solve. https://image.nostr.build/217878c4e157741567ac5de468fdb0434c2578f9a772fae1a79a102a289a5ba0.jpg


I am early to an appointment. I am sitting in my car and hear the sound of someone walking on my roof. I slide the inside cover of my roof, leaving the glass exposed. Here is my new friend. Dare I leave my car?

At a job in Altadena, California https://image.nostr.build/fd4ce81ca19f6ee9d90174759ddef44d32fd248ecbb2c238ad460718ce2776a7.jpg


"Sometimes it's not the person you fall in love with, but the warmth of their presence, their authenticity, and their unwavering efforts. You fall for the memories you create together, the way they make you laugh, and the joy they bring to your life. You fall for their unwavering support and unconditional acceptance, for the way they stand by you through thick and thin, and for how they help you discover your own worth. These kind of people are rare and precious, and they help you fall in love with yourself when you're with them. Never let them go."

Altaf Ahmedzai https://image.nostr.build/b60854c9826617d3d2fc2be5b3c3d9bc869ed3c2d5937d4da126c326bd08d9eb.jpg


I did not write this, but it speaks..
Much love y’all ♥
~~~
The way people view you.
Sometimes I think about the different characters I play in everybody’s story.

I’m a terrible person in some people's narratives and a Godsend in others.

And none of it has anything to do with the person I truly am.

The lens that others view you through is coloured by their upbringing, beliefs, and individual experiences.

Some people see your bright personality as endearing and others see it as annoying.

Some people think you’re weak and emotional and others feel safe to be themselves around you.

Some people think you’re rude and selfish and others respect the way you stand up for yourself.

Some people admire the way you take pride in the way you look and others think you’re conceited.

And none of it has to do with who you truly are as a person.

What you have to understand is that you have no authority over how people view you so never try to control the way others see you because the only thing that truly matters when the dust settles down at the end of the day is what you genuinely see in yourself.
~Cody https://image.nostr.build/a5307241a2e29d2ebe7d910021a648838ad8a3c290b7234430659366d78b552c.jpg


Every deck should have a dragon. https://image.nostr.build/65ca6163d75193329a6e03da86eff69f83b313d0387efb23eeb18a7a633bd10a.jpg


"Sometimes, you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes, in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself." https://image.nostr.build/2e76fd1995d77f2c35189df5424e122bb451bbfb70b30096ca0a4631e78ad315.jpg


DID YOU KNOW?

🐝There are live enzymes in honey.

🐝When in contact with a metal spoon, these enzymes die.

🐝The best way to eat honey is with wooden or plastic spoon.

🐝Honey contains a substance that helps your brain work better.

🐝Honey is one of the rare foods on earth that alone can sustain human life.

🐝One teaspoon of honey is enough to sustain human life for 24 hours.

🐝Propolis that bees produce, is one of the most powerful natural antibiotics

🐝Honey has no expiration date.

🐝The bodies of the great emperors of the world were buried in golden coffins and then covered with honey to prevent putrefaction.

🐝The term "honeymoon" comes from the fact that newlyweds consumed honey for fertility after the wedding.

🐝A bee lives less than 40 days, visits at least 1000 flowers and produces less than a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime.

🐝One of the first coins had a bee symbol on it.

Deep gratitude to the humble BEE!🐝 https://image.nostr.build/4b226c7a99afa3b7b4daaba0c3ebdcd7bb51f9ba933c8a40ed597fee5bc802c3.jpg


Walter Molino 1915-1997
Italy https://image.nostr.build/f88d1b2062ff1309b093323b94f8b4b7f6e639033e6c334e63b01c6afa4f9264.jpg


This dilemma of living a life of total responsibility, within an existence of only partial knowledge and partial freedom, reflects the suffering of “Mankind drowning in the Great Sea of Birth, Death and Sorrow.” A man who lives in a world without appeal, a world in which God has died, has no one else to forgive him. He will be “punished by his sins, not for them.” And so, each day he must forgive himself, again and again. He is subject to his own personal limitations, in a changing world, designed by a lunatic. Each man is capable of warmth, of loving, of understanding, of extending himself, of being transparent and vulnerable to another. At the same time, and perhaps in the same proportion, he is capable of evil, sham, fraud, and destructiveness, of closing out the other and wantonly using him.

It does not seem to me that things can ever be im¬ proved. New solutions breed new problems, and man is not the perfectible creature assumed by his technology. A man can strive to grow, but this pilgrimage is merely an “unceasing journey from what we seem to be to what we are.” Each day, each situation brings with it new uncertainties with which to cope. The world is essentially arbitrary in its movement, predictable only in the least important ways. Yet in each moment of limited understanding and insufficient data, a man must make decisions just as though he knew what he was doing.

Ironically, as a man grows and gains new freedom, he becomes aware that at each point at which he must risk himself anew, aided by his new-found freedom, new experiences for which he is unprepared then present themselves. He confronts new aspects of himself, which, though wonderful, may also be terrible (like becoming a grown-up). The growing edge eats away at itself, and in a sense we have come no further than we were when we first started out. And yet, to be a man, in the best sense, is to be willing to keep moving, though we make no measurable gain. Like Sisyphus, we are destined to forever roll a heavy stone up the side of a mountain, knowing that when we get it to the top, the stone will roll back down again. Yet, “The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.” ~Sheldon B. Kopp

(Book [ad]: If You Meet the Buddha on the Road, Ki ll Him! The Pilgrimage of Psychotherapy Pat ients https://amzn.to/3KdzFLf)

(Art: 'Sisyphus', 1548 by Tiziano Vecelli) https://image.nostr.build/6111063eafd9c92438dd230d215de3bad1529c5f3ebe19fdec7470a5b46d5500.jpg


"Aliens? Vegetables? Nope, vegetable and animal bridge mushrooms. They're the myxomycetes, and they can move and hunt for prey or look for the best environment for them. They are born from spores, like mushrooms.
Myxomycetes move like huge amoebas, like pulsating masses; their movements seem to be dependent on microfibrils that remember the fibers of the muscles. These "blobs′′ crawl (at a speed of 1 cm per hour) phagocusing bacteria, algae, yeasts, protozoa and other organic material as they go; they digest them and expel the remains outside. Not randomly, mixomycetes proliferate where there are plenty of prey - on decomposing logs or on carpets of dead, wet leaves. And so they're often found in the woods, yellow, purple, blue, red, thanks to the pigments they contain." https://image.nostr.build/fcfeb30dddc4325c6e76695a3fa4b4e85e1ece56d25ee6672b31e969876d194e.jpg


Death asked me to join him for dinner
so I slipped into my favorite black dress
that I had been saving for a special occasion
and let him walk me to our candlelit tryst.
He ordered a ribeye, extra rare
I ordered two desserts and red wine
and then I sipped
and wondered
why he looked so familiar
and smelled like earth and memory.
He felt like a place both faraway
and deep within my body
A place that whispers to me
on the crisp autumn breeze
along the liminal edges of dusk and dawn
somewhere between dancing
and stillness.
He looked at me
with the endless night sky in his eyes
and asked
‘Did you live your life, my love?’
As I swirled my wine in its glass
I wondered If I understood the thread I wove into the greater fabric
If I loved in a way that was deep and freeing
If I let pain and grief carve me into something more grateful
If I made enough space to be in awe that flowers exist
and take the time to watch the honeybees
drink their sweet nectar
I wondered what the riddles of regret and longing
had taught me
and if I realized just how
beautiful and insignificant and monstrous and small we are
for the brief moment that we are here
before we all melt back down
into ancestors of the land.
Death watched me lick buttercream from my fingers
As he leaned in close and said
‘My darling, it’s time.’
So I slipped my hand into his
as he slowly walked me home.
I took a deep breath as he leaned in close
for the long kiss goodnight
and I felt a soft laugh leave my lips
as his mouth met mine
because I never could resist a man
with the lust for my soul in his eyes
and a kiss that makes my heart stop. https://image.nostr.build/cf4c2dd0d51aee107eecbb3013cfb4037269cf45cab60e8d9aec21ae89dd06ea.jpg


"To be kind is more important than to be right. Many times, what people need is not a brilliant mind that speaks but a special heart that listens." (F. Scott Fitzgerald)

Kindness transcends the boundaries of intellect, for it speaks the universal language of compassion. It is a balm for the wounds of the soul, a light that illuminates the darkest corners of despair. In moments of vulnerability, a tender word or a comforting presence can wield more power than the most eloquent argument. ❤☀ https://image.nostr.build/98a484f9ed0a663d40d7d594c0d85bd69735f5c0f2d6af23349211d758c15d5c.jpg


A 16th Century German Pomander -
a spherical vessel segmented into six compartments containing different spices and herbes (cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, rosemary). Worn around the neck or waist, pomanders were thought to be a protection against infections and unpleasant smells. https://image.nostr.build/66c39f2daf44602e7e45ba7240800075235af163fba56bbdc8f93935cb5d1880.jpg


Nathaniel Rueda https://image.nostr.build/6ad43c5e36580d5a7b0f13d18954789f15e741139c6883ed234e6c9bcf1ab6e4.jpg


People who “don’t really care about their birthday” https://image.nostr.build/e6dd2ced61e44ef9a312ffec984cb44325bfa9f0272be1f67d214098306a6eba.jpg


Sunflower Jack https://image.nostr.build/e4d12a472edf357feaf47c867382f11c151a289aedf7ecd2c5fd967146d45766.jpg


Sometimes you have to look at life from a different angle 🖤🩶🤍 https://image.nostr.build/6a204df6af837be4dcc91b4dd6415a9827d3112d2b21bd24d4510cffccbe737f.jpg


Scary


"Learn to manage alone, not out of loneliness, but out of self-reliance. In solitude, you'll discover the strength that has always resided within. https://image.nostr.build/5b8e0f5db9ea161940ea4dfcda933f84e8130234af39e5b4a4f010bfa29a75d2.jpg


♣ https://image.nostr.build/6348405ccc0c2e7f722d2987ed4ad901bf2c91d0ddc990987515eb592043be5b.jpg


'Hare' by Victoria Keeble https://image.nostr.build/a87c9f9e2824020cdf1cf116b0a0d985b17e60d0416fad03aa74222e81e91266.jpg


Oak Wood Imperial Staircase In Castel Savoia, A 19th Century Eclectic Style Villa Built For The Queen Consort Of The Kingdom Of Italy, Margherita Of Savoy As A Holiday Home In Valle D'aosta, Northwestern Italy 🇮🇹 https://image.nostr.build/d231d28af6e20f85b001508448abceff1e203ef4668f05f5fbcf519504c67989.jpg


Santorini, Greece 🩵 https://image.nostr.build/58e658ab1e090e39b0ad223f6c99fb3056103475dacb0ea8f68ae2b037043f12.jpg


Recent image of Jupiter. https://image.nostr.build/14b4176dccefda220931499eec6a98e3a521df65f0ad214192b18ef98a87ddc2.jpg


"Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed.”

~Herman Melville, from “Poor Man's Pudding and Rich Man's
Crumbs (1854) https://image.nostr.build/191cf18381d32cafb7a9147fe0c644592c96784c50dec40b72e8a2ad487f3900.jpg


Great Photo !!
"It's very stunningly my heart"
Best picture.. https://image.nostr.build/a2b4278f615fe5d62d22f09c3251ca8ed8d9a4c5c42711fd9983435ccd994ab2.jpg


A 16-kilometer-long elevated highway in India built to allow wild animals to peacefully pass underneath it.
The Pench National Park Highway.
A large animal corridor exists between Seoni (Madhya Pradesh) and Nagpur (Maharashtra) sector of the National Highway 44 (NH44). The entire stretch passes through the Pench Tiger reserve. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), had constructed a four-lane road stretching for 117 km to connect the two sectors. To prevent the disruption of animal movements, a 750 meter long underpass has been built exclusively for wild animals. As per the latest reports, the underpass is said to be the world's longest highway underpass.
Camera traps fixed on the pillars of the underpasses have captured pictures of movement of tigers, leopards, wild dogs, chitals, Indian bisons, wild pigs, jungle cats and porcupines. https://image.nostr.build/59ff6517935d34fa4c2b2e5ca07052050a40694e7dddb4a7e64a05cb1f32457d.jpg


We are often asked when & why Bar Stools became Popular in America. Prior to National Prohibition, Bar Stools were almost unheard of.  Men stood & drank at the Bar & occasionally shifted their weight by resting their feet on the "Brass Rail" at the foot of the Bar, Women...(Outside of Employees).... were not usually welcome or allowed in Saloons, Bars or Taverns & if they were, they  had to use a "Ladies Entrance & were consigned to tables in their own room, away from  the Main Bar. Prohibition Changed All That. It was the Great Equalizer. Women were welcome on an Equal Basis in "Speakeasies" throughout the Land &  Bar Stools were provided for their ease & comfort. Bar Stools became standard after Prohibition & the Rest is History.. https://image.nostr.build/283d85b3097a0b038f7af5415dacb000f5015517b9915872daa7e06f5d352ccf.jpg


A thunderstorm as seen from Space https://image.nostr.build/162f3c4b79e4530f3a2bb9dd97c55fa9c0b53b6a70b2832a05ede10497f881c5.jpg


Don’t Like Me, Unless https://image.nostr.build/0f4437673ffefa9df15a6d1ac88f25abcc13913e56269e7c88449539614b688c.jpg


'The Dream of Reason Brings forth Monsters' by Francisco Goya, 1799 https://image.nostr.build/f71f5095d66ffc6b73de61bb2a74aea7ce3ab10715198ff897ac4f599b82dd8c.jpg


The Pillars of Creation located in the Eagle Nebula located in the direction of the Milky Way Core and about 6000 Light Years from Earth. While the near infrared image showing all the stars is gorgeous.

The mid infrared image showing the details of the clouds of gas and dust that I find hauntingly beautiful (and appropriate for the season).

📷:  James Webb Space Telescope https://image.nostr.build/21cbc86287cd92bd1935c1aec1ee7e2d119964660b02c97da3f6746444b40e90.jpg


To love someone long-term is to attend a thousand funerals of the people they used to be. The people they're too exhausted to be any longer. The people they grew out of, the people they never ended up growing into. We so badly want the people we love to get their spark back when it burns out, to become speedily found when they are lost.
But it is not our job to hold anyone accountable to the people they used to be. It is our job to travel with them between each version and to honor what emerges along the way. Sometimes it will be an even more luminescent flame. Sometimes it will be a flicker that temporarily floods the room with a perfect and necessary darkness. ~Heidi Priebe. https://image.nostr.build/caebe6b2be670a365e61f6555ae28476f8649bf2ebb035de9978bef8c8491994.jpg


Wingate https://image.nostr.build/d3e3fbe22a4545557b7a9356c803e767b32490194e0f6a5bf9f4edee0705ae05.jpg


"I hope your hands find work you love,
reach out to help your fellow human,
and grab hold of all the happiness
life has to offer.

I hope your feet travel down untrod paths,
find cool waters to linger in,
and climb to ever new heights.

I hope your eyes see the beauty in this old world,
endlessly search for truth and wisdom,
and never cease to shine with hope
even in the darkest of times.

I hope your heart embraces those who are different,
offers strength to the weak and weary,
and remains tender even when life hurts.

Most of all, I hope you find
love and peace in this life, little one.
And where you don’t find it,
I hope you create it."
 L.R. Knost

Artist: Lisa Aisato https://image.nostr.build/f852d504a565a05e2b9caa31680f5715a53d7bdc97feaf7434a4cc4dd5147957.jpg


That's a flaming head.


Thor's Fight with the Giants - Mårten Eskil Winge, 1872. https://image.nostr.build/4da09f36619fc3e51ce88236bebdef7f2f8487c6e7c408fb766d91a827cdc0ba.jpg


Magpie attacking rider from rear. Taken with a rear facing camera on a bike helmet by Monique Newton. https://image.nostr.build/758b3b097fc7efb47daf9c75b568f84c094a5da8431c38a94d0a58992dd2cec0.jpg


♠ https://image.nostr.build/60003a00c6c67002f121a72861f2974a4cc3d1edaba06e2b653399261295809e.jpg


🥲 https://image.nostr.build/e4cc20cbe4f5e314ae30b7d2a4935f44195c53adc302c19b70f7af7e83f3975a.jpg


In 1979, Robin Williams was an unknown 28-year-old comedian performing on the streets of New York City. Despite his relative obscurity at the time, he had a huge crowd gathered around him as he performed with his trademark energy and wit. His comedic genius captivated the audience, providing them with a glimpse of what would soon become one of the most iconic comedians in history. Little did they know that this young street performer would go on to star in some of the greatest films and television shows of all time, earning him five Grammy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, two Emmy Awards, and two Academy Awards. Even today, more than 40 years later, Robin Williams' legacy lives on through his timeless comedy. https://image.nostr.build/0b46c0415d284f5ea12e742e61e0738ad25d444adfd41b9938086da3a4f18e5c.jpg


If it's not like this, I don't want it.

Artwork by Gina Lacob https://image.nostr.build/ddf404a6a135c39e7aaa0323caa9ea690e771ec1a7c3c91016ded2741ac0e7e8.jpg


Yeah they don't believe is real


I began to realize how important it was to be an enthusiast in life. He taught me that if you are interested in something, no matter what it is, go at it at full speed ahead. Embrace it with both arms, hug it, love it and above all become passionate about it. Lukewarm is no good. Hot is no good either. White hot and passionate is the only thing to be. ~Roald Dahl


I worry that there are people who are put in positions of authority because they're good talkers, but they don't have good ideas. It's so easy to confuse schmoozing ability with talent. Someone seems like a good presenter, easy to get along with, and those traits are rewarded. Well, why is that? They're valuable traits, but we put too much of a premium on presenting and not enough on substance and critical thinking. ~Susan Cain https://image.nostr.build/27a8d98f1f0b3c2348aa21128cde18f0240ecc299685a656472fcc98d170a9b8.jpg


16 Things You Might Not Know About Vikings

1) Burning Funeral Boats On The Open Water Wasn't Really A Thing
The image of a flaming funeral ship drifting into the sea may be powerful but it's not totally accurate. It is true that some Vikings - especially important ones - were cremated in boats. But these ships were usually buried on land as part of the funeral ritual. They likely weren't sent into open water.
Though funeral traditions varied in the Viking world, many burials included grave goods, or items that the deceased might need in the afterlife.

2) Vikings Were In North America In 1021, WAY Before Christopher Columbus
Before Christopher Columbus "discovered" North America, Viking/Norse explorers made inroads into what is now Newfoundland at the turn of the 11th century.They even established a small village at L'Anse aux Meadows, on the northernmost tip of Newfoundland.The L'Anse aux Meadows site, now a National Historic Site of Canada, was first excavated in the 1960s, but researchers could only estimate when the Vikings arrived there. In 2021, scientists announced they had used advanced technology dating tree rings to pinpoint the exact date the Vikings arrived: 1021, more than 470 years before Columbus.The Vikings didn't stay there long, however - probably only around three to 13 years.

3) They Had Contact With Native Americans
Because of their exploration of North America, it's likely that Viking sailors had at least some contact with Native Americans. Inuits and Vikings fought multiple times in Greenland. Moreover, scientists have discovered a genetic link between some Icelanders and Native Americans, which suggests a Native American woman might have traveled to Iceland with Vikings.Trade likely took place as well. The Maine Penny, a Norwegian silver coin dating to the late 1000s found in large trove of archaeological objects in Maine in 1957. Some scholars have said the coin is evidence of at least some Viking contact in the United States, with others saying it likely was brought from Newfoundland at some point, and a few simply writing it off as a hoax.

4) They Believed Warriors Got To Bring Their Dogs Into The Afterlife
Vikings seemingly had strong bonds with their dogs. They believed that warriors' dogs could accompany to Valhalla, the grand hall where the most worthy warriors would gather in the afterlife. But in order to enter the hallowed halls of Valhalla, the dog would have to be dead. Dogs were thus sometimes sacrificed and buried with their masters.

5) Viking Warriors Didn't Wear Horned Helmets
Vikings have become synonymous with horned helmets. But the ubiquitous headgear seen in operas, comics, and TV shows probably wasn't worn by Viking warriors. They would have been unwieldy for close-quarter combat and a pointless affectation.It's likely that these helmets were first linked to Vikings in the 19th century, thanks to a costume designer. Carl Emil Doepler created the costumes for Richard Wagner's Norse-themed operas. He probably based his hat designs on Greco-Roman artwork as well as helmets that old Germanic priests wore during ceremonies.

6) Vikings Engaged In Rap Battles
Vikings found creative solutions to rivalries. If two people ran into conflict, they could publicly needle each other. Flyting, from the Old Norse word for "provcocation,"was an opportunity for a Viking to show off his verbal prowess by poetically insulting someone else. Flyting became a feature of courts throughout the Viking world, including England and Scotland.

7) They Sold 'Unicorn Horns' In Their Extensive Trade Networks
Vikings are perhaps best known for their devastating raids on coasts and along rivers. But they were also traders connected to networks that stretched all the way to North America and the Middle East.
Among the goods that they circulated: narwhal tusks, which they sold as unicorn horns. Given the popularity of unicorns in medieval Europe - fueled by the belief that unicorns were real creatures - there was no shortage of wealthy buyers.

8)Vikings Weren't Always Blond-Haired And Blue-Eyed, Though They Sometimes Dyed Their Hair To Live Up To Beauty Ideals
Contrary to inaccurate - and racially charged - depictions of Vikings as exclusively blond-haired and blue-eyed, they were a culturally and ethnically diverse group with a variety of appearances.To conform to Nordic beauty ideals, brown-haired male Vikings would sometimes use a strong soap with a high concentration of lye to bleach their hair blond. Some men would use the soap on their beards, as well. The lye soap had a practical application beyond looking trendy - it killed lice.

9) Gender Roles Weren't Totally Rigid
While Nordic societies were male-dominated, women enjoyed relative freedom, especially compared to other European cultures. Women married young, but could go on exploratory journeys with men, and made up a number of far-flung colonists. Women could inherit property, manage family finances, and request divorces. They were even able to get their dowry back in some cases.
Women also participated in roles that may have been closed to them in Western European society, since gender was slightly more fluid. Shield-maidens, or warrior women, color Nordic sagas, for example. Archeologists also discovered the grave of a high-ranking Viking warrior who was biologically female.

10) Some Norse Warriors Really Did 'Go Berserk' Before Battle
While they seem like the stuff of legend, there were actually Norse warriors called berserkers who went into battle seized by an uncontrolled fury. The term translates from Norse as "to change form," indicating strong men who fought wearing bearskins and were imbued with otherworldly power. Sagas of the time describe them as mad dogs who shrieked when running into combat and could slay an opponent with one blow.
Modern theories for what caused berserker rage usually revolve around intoxicants like mushrooms or strong alcohol.

11) Some Vikings Became Elite Bodyguards In The Byzantine Empire
Perhaps given their legendary fighting ability, Vikings became bodyguards for some of the most significant rulers in the pre-modern world. The Varangian Guard - a high-ranking unit made up of Vikings - protected Byzantine emperors from the late 10th century. The Varangian Vikings came to Constantinople by way of modern-day Russia. Though they continued to serve emperors, their status diminished by the 1200s.

12)Vikings Kept Bears As Pets
Vikings were known to keep animals. But they didn't limit themselves to the standard cats and dogs: Vikings also kept bears as pets. Bears were domesticated from cubhood. Iceland even created laws to regulate polar bear-ownership.

13)Vikings Didn't Stick To Europe
Viking ships sailed almost the length of the known world, reaching everywhere from North America to Constantinople. Archeological evidence and medieval sagas even suggest they sailed the Tigris River all the way to Baghdad. Many of these expeditions were either exploratory voyages or raids, and most Norse colonization was limited to the Northern Hemisphere.Due to their contact with so many regions, the Viking world was large, expansive, and diverse.

14)They Had A Thriving Slave Trade
One of the purposes of Viking raids was to acquire human capital for a slave trade. Vikings captured and enslaved both women and young men while pillaging settlements everywhere from the British Isles to Eastern Europe. Indeed, taking enslaved captives may have been a motivating factor for Viking exploration and raids. The captured slaves were included in the lowest Viking social class, called “thralls,” and sold in giant slave markets across Scandinavia, Europe, and the Middle East.Slaves didn't have rights and could be sold or used as the owner saw fit.

15) Far From Being An Unwashed Horde, Vikings Tried To Be Clean
Despite spending large amounts of time either at sea or raiding, Viking warriors took hygiene seriously. Excavations of Viking sites have turned up lots of hygiene tools, including tweezers, razors, combs, and ear cleaners.Vikings also bathed at least once a week, much more frequently than contemporary Europeans, who often only bathed a few times a year. They also enjoyed natural hot springs, when available.

16)The Modern British Monarchy Can Trace Itself Back To The Vikings
Vikings - like Sweyn and Cnut - invaded and became rulers of England. Indeed, the last successful invasion of England resulted in a new monarchy that likewise had its roots in the Viking world.In 1066, William the Conqueror of Normandy defeated English King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings and ushered in a period of Norman rule over England. The Normans - a word derived from "Norseman" - were the descendants of Vikings who had settled in northern France, though their society had developed Franco and Germanic accents over the centuries. Every English king and queen - including Queen Elizabeth I - claims descent from William, and thus his historical Viking ancestry.
By ranker.,com.,photo..pinterest https://image.nostr.build/0f26676d0911ca1ea81373a474469f70064a3abf7a1aab3e6585098e5242ef85.jpg


When I am gone, do not fear my memory.

Do not be afraid to speak my name or look through old photographs.

Do not be scared to play old videos so that you might hear my voice and see me laughing.

Do not be wary of visiting my favourite places or eating my favourite foods or singing along to my favourite songs.

I know it will hurt. Those memories will remind you that I am gone.

They will stab at you like a knife in an open, gaping wound. Raw, excruciating pain.

But after a while the knife will become less sharp, the wound will become less open and the pain will become less raw.

And those memories will remind you that I was here.

That I lived.

Do not reduce my life to my death.

Speak my name, hear my voice, sing my favourite songs and visit my favourite places.

Because that’s how I can stay alive a little.

Right here with you 🧡

******

Becky Hemsley 2022
Beautiful image by Eva Koleva Timothy - Fine Art Photography https://image.nostr.build/9bac3f449c9f0608974426dfba6aa91d91f4a71f87d83436f6d7f9552a4588c5.jpg


"Every Night a Dream Visits us" - Alfred Kubin (1904) https://image.nostr.build/011828cb8b8b75219fe0ffceb857a23534c37f35c96c029425ed4700af91b86d.jpg


♣♣ https://image.nostr.build/4346774d151bc66918095f9f6fa0abc72c45a4ef9fcfb93aa12565220e5d9c9a.jpg


“Anger puts us in touch with our ancient capacity for self-protection. It is immediate access to the vital spark within. It connects us with the primordial substrate of the sympathetic nervous system. Our heart thumps. Our blood pressure rises. We feel a rush of adrenaline. Anger alerts us to the body’s raw, unedited wisdom, a deep knowing about our limits and boundaries that we may have forgotten, …”

~ Lisa Marchiano, ‘The Vital Spark: Reclaim Your Outlaw Energies and Find Your Feminine Fire’, p.172

Image by Nedal1979, licensed via Shutterstock https://image.nostr.build/f9c4d7bf39fb372f6ed90127d4ce8b054cd6cf0691930225c50beeb59bf13706.jpg


Be the person who cares.
Be the person who makes the effort, the person who loves without hesitation.
Be the person who bares it all, the person who never shies away from the depth of their feeling, or the intensity of their hope.
Be the person who believes in the softness of the world, in the goodness of other people, in the beauty of being open and untethered and trusting.
Be the person who takes the chance, who refuses to hide.
Be the person who makes people feel seen, the person who shows up.
Trust me when I say ;  be the person who cares. Because the world doesn’t need more carelessness, any more disregard; because there is nothing stronger than someone who continues to stay soft in a world that hasn’t always been kind to them. ~Bianca Sparacino

(Book [ad]: The Strength In Our Scars https://amzn.to/44E5JS4)

(Art: Painting by Morgan Weistling) https://image.nostr.build/c1bc8404daa140364d21e48db4c539b90fcfced9a47a88876692651af489a88e.jpg


Freya

Associated with love and battle, Freya was also a master of a form of magic known as seidr. She rode a chariot driven by cats and had a cloak of falcon feathers that could enable the wearer to fly. Freya was a ravishing entity who was lusted after by many others in Norse mythology. She found herself humiliated by Loki who, during a chaotic feast of the gods, accused her of being an evil sorceress who’d had slept with everyone in Asgard, including her own brother. Yet Freya was far more than a hyper-sexualised/objectified female figure in the mythology. She was also the fierce ruler of a realm called Folkvangr, and had claim over the souls of half the Norse warriors who died in battle. The other half went to Valhalla. If you’re at all familiar with Norse mythology, then you likely recall Freya (also spelled Freyja), arguably the most honored goddess in the pantheon. A steadfast goddess of war, beauty, fertility, and sex, Freya is likely to make a hardcore entrance driving a chariot pulled by two…cats?You read that right – cats. Freya’s arrival, heralded by these two unwavering symbols of femininity, isn’t one that you’d soon forget. The same can be said of her introduction to the Norse pantheon. Initially seen by the Æsir as a mysterious entity wielding powerful feminine magic, she wasn’t quickly accepted as a symbol of Norse culture, to say the least. Kidnapped into her role, Freya stood up to the abuse of her captors, commanding respect for her people and changing the face of Norse mythology as we know it.
By wiki..pedia..photo.. https://image.nostr.build/25fadb597f916238588d859352d1263c5d67f603798e73affc0c5e19ad05c4fb.jpg


“To romanticize the world is to make us aware of the magic, mystery and wonder of the world; it is to educate the senses to see the ordinary as extraordinary, the familiar as strange, the mundane as sacred, the finite as infinite.”

—Novalis https://image.nostr.build/68eddd5690bb492e85cdddc6c4bc7b8c3fb93b23204a2fc25cefbedb934f24a2.jpg


Faunen Familie, by Johfra Bosschart https://image.nostr.build/73c053893166af98f63a48745cbca893d022966b7e4720978a5225607abcc0a9.jpg


''M-am tuns''... 🤭😊 https://image.nostr.build/6979de3a221a2aabb0eb317fe4a513b65b5486f6213c5eee450750e396e22633.jpg


Good observation


Erik Thor Sandberg
USA https://image.nostr.build/4284c0b18b67f446d8b2447f4321e6d0220199a308e310809d549bce2bf24647.jpg


The Moon , Earth and the milkyway in one incredible photo. https://image.nostr.build/8ca7679b50b5b24c23762c5f3176b1ec29be8210bba7aab14e9b44922ccca263.jpg


by Keiichi Koike https://image.nostr.build/1e11c5b163f52c3fc0b1d208fb067246905ce39c4df7c0aa4ed9a9676a9cdf4d.jpg


The crystal was found amongst the wreckage of the Alderney, an Elizabethan warship that sank near the Channel Islands in 1592. The stone was discovered less than 3 feet from a pair of navigation dividers, suggesting it may have been kept with the ship's other navigational tools, according to the research team headed by scientists at the University of Rennes in France. Ancient lore has suggested that the Vikings used special crystals to find their way under less-than-sunny skies. Though none of these so-called "sunstones" have ever been found at Viking archaeological sites, a crystal uncovered in a British shipwreck could help prove they did indeed exist. Because of the rhombohedral shape of calcite crystals, "they refract or polarize light in such a way to create a double image," Mike Harrison, coordinator of the Alderney Maritime Trust, told LiveScience. This means that if you were to look at someone's face through a clear chunk of Icelandic spar, you would see two faces. But if the crystal is held in just the right position, the double image becomes a single image and you know the crystal is pointing east-west, Harrison said.These refractive powers remain even in low light when it's foggy or cloudy or when twilight has come. In a previous study, the researchers proved they could use Icelandic spar to orient themselves within a few degrees of the sun, even after the sun had dipped below the horizon.
By.,celestialhealing.,com., https://image.nostr.build/df450c321087b42eea200cbaae2bec3173035186642d90dcde6b88751dc1deb6.jpg


Info for Newbies for tonights Aurora!

Northern lights will be happening in a big way tonight, if you ever wanted to see them in the UK then tonight is predicted to be the strongest show for years and your best opportunity for years, we have 5 enormous Solar Flares all sandwhiched together and predicted to be a direct hit on planet Earth.

Direct hits are rare in themselves but 2 M class Flares and 3 X class flares all together in one big massive hit is totally unheard of, its never happened before like this and could potentially cause a lot of electrical and technology issues tonight all over the globe. GPS and Satelites will no doubt take a hammering tonight, high radiation problems for plane flights and the ISS too.

NOAA are estimating kp8.33 (thats the top of the tree levels) so…

“YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS !”

Tips to seeing the Aurora in the UK:
—————————————-
Get out of the cities out into the dark countryside is best, look to the North if you have clear sky, it could be so strong it might even be overhead tonight. 👍

By eye look for soft pale whitish vertical streaks and red tones in the sky, do not expect to see bright vibrant colours like the camera photos you see online because the Aurora is pastel coloured to the human eye.👍

The easiest way to tell if any Aurora is there is to hold your phone camera up to the night sky and take a photo in night mode and take a long exposure photo and check for pinks and greens in the image👍 if you have pink or green streaks then its likely you have a photo of the Northern Lights🙏🔥👏

Always turn your car headlights off and always turn your phone’s camera flash off!!!! Otherwise it will 100% instantly piss off other nearby photographers as it ruins their long exposure photos!! If you dont then i’m sure they will be coming over to you angrily to tell you turn them off!! show some respect for other photographers around you who also want to photograph them🙏

Camera flashes will not make photos of Northern Lights better it will make it ten times worse and useless. A camera flash is not going to light up the Aurora when its 250 miles away in outer Earth orbit!! So turn it off!

if you want to light up a person infront of the Aurora then gently ‘light paint’ them with a white screen on a phone (such as a blank white page in your notepad app) by aiming the light screen towards the person with one phone while you take a photo with another phone or camera!! You only need a tiny amount of light when doing a long exposure photo , this way it will pick up the Aurora in the photo much better and will not bleach the Aurora out by the camera flash being way too bright, also it will not disturb other photographers as much and will cause no hassle🙏

Hope this helps😎👊👍

Have a great night, i hope you catch your dreams😍

Ps: i will not be answering questions today i will be out driving and doing my own photography, maybe others will answer your questions.

Photo: Penmon Point, Angelsey, Wales,  September 25th 2023, by Paul Mortz https://image.nostr.build/c96815b27fcc1874780a789f255fb5699c9dcf7209e6551423540998956dd0ef.jpg


Watch until the end. https://video.nostr.build/473ae497b3ed7bac5e9f6d0d526ee85fad408cb0d581abfac5411a401dd98aba.mp4


It’s not often you get to watch the sunset, the moon and the aurora all at the same time 🥰 Northern Minnesota (5/10 at 10:15) https://image.nostr.build/4a87ff60ac48f4a83f3bba8300489a4acd3fa5dcbf88b8400b28d3a18bdb56fd.jpg


Massive spider web on aloe vera plant
#nature #naturelovers https://image.nostr.build/3a49def4e96a74be3a23593fef66232ed54554f210d150a2ecce0f40a591cd05.jpg


Mr John Wheeldon, better known as John Gaunt. He lived in Sawmills, England but worked for the Midland Railway company, travelling the lines as a ratcatcher. He is the only person known to have successfully trained foxes to kill rats for economic use, and claimed that they were better than the terries because they could hold five rats in their mouths at once. A ratcatcher had to be quick, because unlike the terrier, foxes did not kill the rats outright. His two best foxes were killed accidentally by gamekeepers.

Such was his national fame he was described in a book as a ‘great sportsman and Englishman’. He died at the age of 73 in the home of a friend in Belper in November 1924 and was buried in Crich church yard. He was also a prize winning member of Ambergate Cottage Garden Society. https://image.nostr.build/dba5c07b55024d7294f76613f9feaee738f95f3a542e10e63699d9e68b3bf2cd.jpg


"Aprende  a lidiar con tus pensamientos, porque la mente, miente". https://image.nostr.build/bcf8cfa0c51469bfd6d6bdfd580563f0fbc70b9fc975899d3d286ecdbcf804de.jpg


NCREDIBLE: THE PYRAMID OF THE SUN IN TEOTIHUACAN, MEXICO ALIGNS WITH THE KEOPS PYRAMID IN EGYPT

DID YOU KNOW THIS FACT

The Pyramid of Keops in Egypt and the Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico are said to have the same base dimensions.

Besides this, it is interesting to know that the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan is just opposite the pyramid of Keops in Egypt.

And when the last ray of sunlight hits the top of the Sun Pyramid in Mexico, at exactly that moment, the first ray of sunlight begins to be seen... At the top of the Pyramid of Keops in Egypt.

Teotihuacan... Mexico https://image.nostr.build/1690a6bcc7aafcf0ac2d3ff1ea63bc06b67abce1560d848cb9150acc4a03fb4c.jpg


Petrified Forest National Park
Named for its large deposits of petrified wood, United States. https://image.nostr.build/e6f862e1754b73aed121db2ff4264bba1076fc61c728025a39ba15b13ab7eb9a.jpg


prototype 1950s “shark car” found in grandads barn https://image.nostr.build/b34c6a203042b51746e4a5d36dd9db49985368e8e27e71993fda858c7ed33c63.jpg


This is Metasequoia Avenue located in the Makino Plateau of Takashima city, Shiga Prefecture, Japan.

The place derives its name from the beautiful array of Metasequoia trees which literally enclose road space, forming a natural tunnel beneath their branches.

Nature can be breathtakingly beautiful when mindfully befriended and guided.

This image is not my copyright. https://image.nostr.build/bbf7598280b3b4917c9b69f8ebca19c56b01c3e72c68c2ae3cb65dee1315e0e5.jpg


♥ https://image.nostr.build/808b6b555d6224c4dcdfd312e3959ef661633fbfafad1e0352926f31a1855445.jpg


The iconic Shiprock peak last week.  And yes I had permission from the Navajo DOT for drone photography. ;) — in Shiprock, NM, United States. https://image.nostr.build/06254954bf345d8686d70cdc86c82b4b4109570d0bd148de687aa3d06cbb9471.jpg


Aurora camera settings and other advice.

F - wide open, or lowest number. 2.8 or lower if possible for best results.
ISO- 1600
Shutter speed - 10 secs to start, if it gets bright, change only the shutter speed to faster. Potentially to 1/30 of a second if it gets really bright. If you have a lens that only opens to f3.5 or F4, then you’ll want longer shutter speeds. Up to 30 seconds. Shoot, review the results, adjust, then shoot again.

Tripod, plus cable remote to keep your hand off the camera when shooting.

Turn off image stabilization it’s a button on your lens, if no button, you’re good. and take off the UV filter on the lens.

Autofocus on a distant light, then turn off the autofocus. If you move your camera, or change your zoom, then re acquire focus each time. Nothing worse than out of focus night photos.

If the Aurora is bright, your phones will do a good job capturing photos and videos. Have a way to keep your phone still. Little cheap phone tripods are available.

It’ll be super busy out in the country. Be careful, don’t trespass. There are lots of public backroads you can simply pull off on and be safe. (Use google maps to see what is down the road you are on) There may be opportunities to see the lights right from your backyards, even in the cities. Wake your kids up if it happens!!

Good luck! Be safe! https://image.nostr.build/824a611a648c52967d65d0bec46ff99d0bb7475ea05039d1b2fd68ed9566398a.jpg


the wind blows hard tonight
and it's a cold wind
and I think about
the boys on the row.
I hope some of them have a bottle of
red.
it's when you're on the row
that you notice that
everything
is owned
and that there are locks on
everything.
this is the way a democracy
works:
you get what you can,
try to keep that
and add to it
if possible.
this is the way a dictatorship
works too
only they either enslave or
destroy their
derelicts.
we just forgot ours.
in either case
it's a hard
cold
wind.

~ Charles Bukowski, “Trashcan Lives” https://image.nostr.build/43ec0b66dbb950ea447529049a355519419bc79669f9ee597eb68db1d496e7d2.jpg


Adrian Borda https://image.nostr.build/e64e80c1b7829385ed68228806a2598f8550dd3e86a857306caebe6b58fa0727.jpg


♣Xxxx https://image.nostr.build/5ff2e58657449657af7c8df23c56cfaa9997473eb6b50ce443aaf351bfddd900.jpg


Aston Martin Vantage 🖤🥹🔥 https://image.nostr.build/8cad5cda5b8e3fad2beca5493bfb53df23bf4170de2da866baa7796b774379b3.jpg


Incredible 3D pencil drawings that allow the artist to step INSIDE the picture https://image.nostr.build/75fc0db33664e312df28c7a15620ef7d634ec95c312b6ab0ae4b4152e11da062.jpg


This works! Put red Xmas balls on your tomato cages to deter birds. They come by and get confused and fly off. They don't come back because they have been fooled! This is my second year doing this. https://image.nostr.build/e21a104ec6b38d9cbe257d35b72286068ea34dd3b6742eee5fbd0aee53c902b3.jpg


Sturgis, SD no photoshop.  Some people are questioning if this is real.  It was and it’s what I saw.  It was an unbelievable site.  I used my I phone 13 and it was about 12:30 at night.  I’m older and wouldn’t even know how to change the picture.  The northern lights had an amazing show for me. https://image.nostr.build/66ffcc57676098b3038f0aba90d48fb36dbd003c3d2c02cf24c7bb54d7dcf540.jpg


If you are one of those people who has the ability to make it down to the bottom of the ocean, the ability to swim the dark waters without fear, the astonishing ability to move through life's worst crucibles and not die, then you also have the ability to bring something back to the surface that helps others in a way that they cannot achieve themselves. https://image.nostr.build/2b1b570d6e9b1a989c4d3dd6d667d099c51913ec1a611fec3bb770a0252f93d8.jpg


The whole internet collaborated and couldn’t find what this is. I’m not sure what this is, ninety percent of people don’t know too.. https://image.nostr.build/625b2871edae9485ac46055c36c6030d61701b588bc2cd3ef6a30ba56ad54ca7.jpg


Hedy Lamarr, 1932 https://image.nostr.build/1e49b90dd67878e959535a0ff06ee75ba6fb49915551b18eaae5e677bee7b12e.jpg


Jean-Léon Gérôme, The Grief of the Pasha (1882). https://image.nostr.build/35352c5f8007fb9187d029df5ec1d38057c6728259f5a1716fa227998f36f466.jpg


ME online looking for a good chicken recipe 😅🥲 https://image.nostr.build/2ba952072891521469486a2cdb629a8814cbe1a475074a7ced6d308a432e9063.jpg


Monster woke up 😂🤣 https://image.nostr.build/c08fc4219b3843954dc70135aa8a1906582c8b26d884ae76ed2932a8a2662c2c.jpg


Awesome https://image.nostr.build/05ec91db27974b255d54c12dcc4a22da758c2d84cea4c09d3f8155e3bb8f95fe.jpg


Picasso was only 15 years old when he painted this canvas…

The rest is history. https://image.nostr.build/b9c6e518d78521e1ab214ae51affd86d7b73b5afaf4aac242a7c571fa6222f7e.jpg


Love this one🖤

Please reshare🫶🏿 https://image.nostr.build/88feb92e5b02253331b4d53f4a990296a17ad2fc29c05a935319fa6e6a802dbb.jpg


Positive Force of Nature https://image.nostr.build/ae9c8e467e195e979d6aaf6dcdcc896cb30ca93b727c3cbb87b5ca11ef1fe48d.jpg


“La soledad nos vuelve terriblemente selectivos”.

- Ivan Sotelo... 🖋 https://image.nostr.build/9c77aa189c7e12a4fcd843e83801d6e1797b5939fc1f541bd11f66f86deb38b5.jpg


"The Red poppy" series
by Inge Schuster Artist ❣ https://image.nostr.build/6905d440c5397fd6cbc3eb7961ce8956fa5606f6a10d3385610b3fde120ad3dc.jpg


“In this world of calamity, dirty looks and grudges and jealousy. And police weh abuse dem authority. Media clowns weh nuh know bout variety. Single parents weh need some charity. Youths weh need some love and prosperity. Instead of broken dreams and tragedy. By any plan and any means and strategy. Say: we got to keep on walking, on the road to Zion, man.” #RoadToZion @damianmarley #ThursdayThoughts

📷 by Nabil https://image.nostr.build/a030f40a5bc0fc6613114f17f0e2045f2eebbad7d036935625f7a9c81dcaf853.jpg


"You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. In the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul."
Max Ehrmann

Artist: Inge Schuster https://image.nostr.build/f0a068858fbbf0db69ed6eb59171ecfa2929a5954c029b618c28c38d5ccdadea.jpg


🚴🏾🚴🏾 https://image.nostr.build/46c78bb759efef94e30361e764428df116328680087dfae5c7c5ac3f27e8b871.jpg


The story of the Leopard in the KONGO tradition

"Ngo" is a kikongo name meaning leopard and which gave birth to the name of KONGO kingdom (Leopard kingdom) which became in modern times CONGO. Central to the history of the country as in the life of the Congolese, the leopard represents far more than just an emblem and a national symbol.

The etymology of "Kongo" means "ally of the leopard", derived from "ko-ngo".
It even arises the myth of the leopard chief, the protector of the realm according to which in case of serious dangers, the populations would rush to him to find refuge. "Tuele ku Ngo" they said. (Translate "We are going to the Leopard" in Kikongo language). So it was the short phrase "ku Ngo" that gave birth to Congo.

Considered since the night of time as a cunning animal, its beautiful skin that always makes dreaming is sacred in the Bantu tradition. The leopard's touch dresses the head of the customary chiefs as a crown. This symbolism is firmly rooted in the subconscious of the bantus.

In Kasai, big chefs are called "mukalenga wa nkashama" which means "mother leopard" or "leopard belly". And at the Otetela family, the chief receives on the day of his inauguration several badges closely related to the sacred animal: two leopard skins, a leopard skin hat, a necklace made of leopard teeth and a spear, all to legitimize his authority.
The panthera pardus (leopard) skin hairstyle has always been in Bantoue society one of the most important and solemn material symbols of traditional power bequeathed by deceased ancestors. https://image.nostr.build/3f2fe942a9e835b9ee999f30a0ca0588dcca183ef7262380ef9245d0956776d4.jpg


“Socrates said, “The misuse of language induces evil in the soul.” He wasn’t talking about grammar. To misuse language is to use it the way politicians and advertisers do, for profit, without taking responsibility for what the words mean. Language used as a means to get power or make money goes wrong: it lies. Language used as an end in itself, to sing a poem or tell a story, goes right, goes towards the truth. A writer is a person who cares what words mean, what they say, how they say it. Writers know words are their way towards truth and freedom, and so they use them with care, with thought, with fear, with delight. By using words well they strengthen their souls. Story-tellers and poets spend their lives learning that skill and art of using words well. And their words make the souls of their readers stronger, brighter, deeper.”

 — Ursula K. Le Guin https://image.nostr.build/48e905312b069846e18ea7d7d4e0516f1a6c1ee7a1aa0cab548cb148af2e5b92.jpg


Street Art on Child Labor in front of Apple store (Madrid, Spain)  <3 Eduardo Relero also did this drawing for Amnesty Hannover of child labor in the extraction of Cobalt in Congo for the global manufacture of electric cars: https://streetartutopia.com/2021/10/07/street-art-on-child-labor-in-front-of-apple-store/ https://image.nostr.build/75c758c704d517570080f511d91666f1c7e9d731156fb7e38d33f90063a817e4.jpg


"..When you riding through the ruts, don't complicate your mind..."

Reggae Elijah

AI-generated, yes. There are now thousands of AI-generated images of Bob on every social media site. This one, however, I felt deserved recognition. https://image.nostr.build/407f372dcc66eeac0b832909317636205dec83ba985710525d3c48394b265e16.jpg


Alexandra Djokic, Born (1970) Serbian
“Underwater blue”
Acrylic on Linen, 152 x 110 cm https://image.nostr.build/5e5cce00fa9d673dde1d9db95ce4b48e11caaaaae8df761e44ed49d9bf0ae8e4.jpg


The elusive Jimmy Red corn is one of the most famous Red corn varieties in the United States. Legend has it that Jimmy Red corn was planted through moonshiners who resided on James Island in South Carolina during the Prohibition era. The variety was bred from Red corn once used by Native Americans and was traditionally grown in forests to conceal the crops from authorities. Moonshiners favored Jimmy Red corn for its distinct coloring, high sugar content, and unique, rich flavoring. On James Island, the moonshine produced from the Red corn was locally known as Jimmy Red hooch and was sold off people's back porches, concealed in bags of food purchased from the homeowner as a deflection. Jimmy Red corn remained a mysterious variety heavily guarded throughout the 20th century until the last moonshiner who cultivated the species passed away in the early 2000s. The heirloom variety almost went extinct with its owner's passing, but seed saver Ted Chewning managed to track the Red corn down and save two ears. Chewning spent several seasons growing and saving seeds for Jimmy Red corn, slowly increasing the variety's availability. During this time, Chewning had to hand pollinate each corn stalk and cover the flowers to prevent unknown pollen from disrupting the species' bloodline. Chewning also gave farmers, food historians, and local chefs some seeds, further expanding the variety's presence in the southern United States. One chef in Charleston, South Carolina, Sean Brock, convinced Chewning to give him some seeds and began growing Jimmy Red corn for use in his two restaurants. Brock's Red corn-infused dishes were a success, and he became so enamored with the variety he tattooed the corn onto his arm. Thanks to the efforts of these individuals in the early 21st century, Jimmy Red corn is offered to growers and home gardeners throughout the United States. The variety is still used to produce whiskey, and distillers claim the kernels can create rich, honeyed, floral notes or generate a fruity, banana, and butterscotch taste. https://image.nostr.build/29f419cff76ea5e1cc8c7bb29fd284b010cbb326015daff24c51ed736bd15b55.jpg


I can't explain why I love it so much, but I just do

Artist: Martin Tomsky https://image.nostr.build/3319ee03349e9815e868fc422f8197c6ee181c89d5246a150dac8d22e5adf128.jpg


I need 3000 people to say (yummy) so I can add their names to the Active Member list for get all my recipes.
“Marry Me Chicken”😋
Ingredients:
6 Chicken Thighs
Use ALL seasonings to your liking
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Cajun seasoning
Pepper
Paprika
Italian herbs
Olive oil
Sauce
2 tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp fresh minced Garlic
1/2cup Chicken broth
1/3 cup Heavy whipping cream
Sun dried Tomatoes
1 Tbsp White cooking wine
1/2 cup Fresh Shredded Parmesan or Italian cheese
Salt
Pepper
Italian herbs
Season & pansear Chicken thighs on both sides w/olive oil in skillet. Transfer to separate Pan. In same skillet start your sauce. Add butter & garlic, cook for about 3 mins. Add chicken broth, sun dried tomatoes and whipping cream. Add seasoning and allow to simmer. Add your cheese while constantly stirring. Pour sauce over chicken and bake in oven for 30-35min on 400 degrees. Serve over Mashed Potatoes https://image.nostr.build/27e3aa1de3b0e306375850bf40dd385802154af4198914e378923e8fd607fb0e.jpg


“The person who is in tune with the Universe becomes like a radio receiver, through which the voice of the Universe is transmitted.”

— Hazrat Inayat Khan

[ Art • “Metamorphosis...” by @natehill & @maxwellinked ] https://image.nostr.build/8f759e2af1885fdfd03a49216ab10428975b49314e244e7211b0a33bfa96d9ad.jpg


Deevelopment


Remedios Varo, "El gato helecho (The Fern Cat)", detail, oil/masonite, 1957. Museum of Modern Art, Mexico City. https://image.nostr.build/eca37bd152a6f171dd9b6875d1b8185f921d06eb48910d383e96f3b18c491f9d.jpg


The amazing story of Tovrea Castle in Phoenix Arizona and the shattered dreams of the man who built it.

In 1903 Frederick and Lizzie Warner homesteaded 160 acres of land and built their home on a beautiful hilltop in the desert southeast of Phoenix along VanBuren Avenue and 52nd street. Along with their son they eventually held title to 320 acres and in 1928 Lizzie sold 277 acres of that homestead to Alessio Carraro.

Alessio Carraro, an Italian immigrant and San Francisco businessman came to Phoenix with his family in 1927. Carraro had hoped to develop a prestigious hotel and resort when he purchased 277 acres of prime desert land from the Warner family east of Phoenix in 1928. He saw great potential in the property, which offered beautiful mountain views and fronted the main route from Phoenix to what was once the popular Papago Saguaro National Monument.

Carraro's plan for the land was to build a grand hotel and use it as the center piece of a first-class residential development that would be called "Carraro Heights." The hotel, he dreamed, would provide him a steady flow of potential home buyers.

The hotel, which took the shape of a three-tier castle, was built without any specific plans. Carraro made it up as he went along. Two granite knolls were leveled with dynamite and a third was blasted open to form the bed for the basement. Much of the granite was crushed and made into concrete blocks for the foundation. The building was framed with wood and covered with stucco sheathing.

Inside, Carraro went for many recycled materials. The maple flooring throughout the hotel came from a house in Phoenix that was being torn down. The kitchen cabinets were made from mahogany and oak salvaged from the Phoenix National Bank, which was being remodeled. And, a vault from the bank was turned into a basement wine cellar.

Outside, Carraro had developed a spacious desert garden, filled with more than 300 different varieties of desert plants.

The hotel was just about finished as the 1930 Christmas season approached. Carraro celebrated by installing 1,000 red, green, yellow and blue lights on the split-rail fence that surrounded the property and topping the arched gateway with a 10-foot electric tree. The display won The Arizona Republic Newspaper’s holiday decorations contest and the newspaper called the entry a "brilliantly lighted castle in the desert." It was the first time the building was publicly referred to as a castle, a label that would last to this day.

Alessio Carraro's dream of a resort hotel and a subdivision of fine homes was shattered a few months later. For some time, Carraro had tried unsuccessfully to buy the 40 acres adjacent to his land that would serve as an important buffer between his property and a stockyard and the meat packing plant of Edward Tovrea. Edward Tovrea and his wife Della secretly wanted to buy Carraro’s castle and use it for their home. When the acreage finally was sold, it went not to Carraro, but to the owner of the nearby packing company, Edward Tovrea.

Tovrea promptly put up sheep and goats pens on the 40 acres right next to Carraro’s castle. That was the end for Carraro’s dream. He realized that no one would want to stay in a hotel, buy land and build a nice home next to a flock of sheep. All attempts to negotiate with Edward Tovrea and his wife Della were futile. In June of 1931, Carraro accepted an offer from a real estate agent for his castle, the hotel and much of the property. Unknown to him, the buyer was none other than Della Tovrea.

The Tovrea’s quickly turned the castle hotel into their home and moved in before the end of the year. The following year however, Edward Tovrea suddenly died. Della later married William Stuart, the publisher of the Prescott Courier, and they lived in the home until his death in 1960.

Della stayed on living in the castle alone. She always had a terrible fear of someone breaking in and locking her in the big safe that Carraro had gotten from the Phoenix National Bank. Della had workmen remove the doors from that safe so she could never be locked inside.

One dark and cold winter night in 1969 two men did break into the castle and surprised Della in her kitchen. Della struggled and was beaten and one of the men fired a shot at her which thankfully missed. The bullet hole can still be seen today in the kitchen. Della in a panic ran outside in the frigid cold and rainy night to ring the caretakers bell. Then she hid for hours outside in the elements. Della caught pneumonia that night and died a few weeks later on January 19th, 1969.

Relatives of Edward Tovrea moved into the castle following Della’s death and lived there for many years.

Today, the interior of the castle is virtually as Carraro constructed it. It appears to have been marred only by areas of deterioration from water damage, vandalism and, in some cases, the removal of small items such as door handles. The exterior, too, is generally intact, but suffered from years of neglect. Most of the window sashes have been replaced with single pane reflective glass and two additional layers of stucco surfacing have been applied to the original walls.

In 1994 the city of Phoenix drew up development plans for the castle to include a fully restored first floor that would illustrate how each room would have been used as a hotel and how it actually was used as a home. Historical artifacts were obtained as they were located. And, today there are tours and exhibits of the castle for visitors.

For nearly 90 years now, the grand Tovrea Castle has stood out among Phoenix  historical and architectural wonders. Thousands have admired it from afar, awed by the imposing picture it forms atop a small desert hill in the heart of an urban setting. Few were ever beyond its fenced surroundings and permitted inside its granite walls. Today, visitors can enjoy the castle in all its splendor.

The city of Phoenix, which acquired the landmark and some of its adjacent property in 1993, came up with an exciting plan to open the three-tiered castle and the sprawling Carraro Cactus Gardens that surround it to the public.

Work to restore two of the historic garden sections at the Tovrea Castle were completed in August 2000. The city restoration has transformed one of the sections back to the Carraro era with its dense cactus plantings and varied species. The other garden area has been restored back to the Tovrea area featuring a reflecting pool, patio and formal garden.

The garden restoration work was completed in 2000. Exterior restoration of the Castle itself was completed in 2001. The ambitious plans, developed by the city's Historic Preservation Office and Parks, Recreation and Library Department, included three key elements -- the purchase of as much of the 43-acre compound as possible, the restoration of the castle and the redevelopment of the gardens.

Alessio Carraro, an Italian immigrant saw great potential for development and tourism in 1928 when he visited the area east of Phoenix in search of a business venture. His dream was shattered by a flock of sheep and the Tovrea- Stuart family left all of us a historic landmark for everyone to enjoy today. https://image.nostr.build/118fe91d6e995c98f0398beb1ecfcaf3adb3934f098600a081af3622a14a5d58.jpg


If you see these on your plants, please don't kill them. They are butterfly eggs.🦋 https://image.nostr.build/ebc872e9de172c4aad70cd95aafccadeada568743c976b118581dcdf17e96980.jpg


“Leaving is not enough. You must stay gone. Train your heart like a dog. Change the locks even on the house he's never visited. You lucky, lucky girl. You have an apartment just your size. A bathtub full of tea. A heart the size of Arizona, but not nearly so arid. Don't wish away your cracked past, your crooked toes, your problems are papier mache puppets you made or bought because the vendor at the market was so compelling you just had to have them. You had to have him. And you did. And now you pull down the bridge between your houses, you make him call before he visits, you take a lover for granted, you take a lover who looks at you like maybe you are magic. Make the first bottle you consume in this place a relic. Place it on whatever altar you fashion with a knife and five cranberries. Don't lose too much weight. Stupid girls are always trying to disappear as revenge. And you are not stupid. You loved a man with more hands than a parade of beggars, and here you stand. Heart like a four-poster bed. Heart like a canvas. Heart leaking something so strong they can smell it in the street.”
- Frida Kahlo to Marty McConnell https://image.nostr.build/d7bb887394bdc8a041fa8a93e11db98e49799416e499f39404efede901700304.jpg


THis is the problem of the world you don't want to learn you think you know better. 🥲😅


Striking Image of a Giant Horse Conch! 🐚❤
The Giant Horse Conch, one of the world's largest gastropod mollusks, boasts a shell length of over 2 feet (60 cm) in adulthood, providing effective protection against predators.
Carnivorous by nature, they primarily feed on bivalves such as clams and oysters, using their foot and radula to pry them open and acids/enzymes to bore through shells.
With a lifespan exceeding 20 years, these slow-moving creatures maintain a home range of less than half a square mile as adults.
As a top predator, the Giant Horse Conch plays a vital role in regulating bivalve populations and, post-mortem, offers shelter to smaller animals within its large shell. https://image.nostr.build/b9c051fb08640e74bb11accf13926b85f256ca777001a8d44dd3c7a7f98052b9.jpg


RULES OF LIVING WITH PEOPLE

1. When you meet young people - INSPIRE THEM.

2. When you meet children - EDUCATE THEM.

3. When you meet old people - HELP THEM.

4. When you meet wise people - STUDY THEM.

5. When you meet leaders - HONOUR THEM.

6. When you meet foolish people - AVOID THEM.

7. When you meet humble people - TREASURE THEM.

8. When you meet arrogant people - IGNORE THEM.

9. When you meet gracious people - EMULATE THEM.

10. When you meet aspirational people - ELEVATE THEM.

11. When you meet strong people - SUPPORT THEM.

12. When you meet godly people - BLESS THEM.

13. When you meet elderly people - RESPECT THEM.

14. When you meet weak people - STRENGTHEN THEM.

15. When you meet hardworking people - ENCOURAGE THEM.

16. When you meet kind people - ESTEEM THEM.

17. When you meet Honest people -
 PROMOTE THEM.

18. When you meet virtuous people - REWARD THEM.

19. When you meety evil people - EVADE THEM.

20. And in all situation “ Watch, Pray and wish everyone well.

1. Dr. Ben Carson said,  "I struggled academically throughout elementary school yet became the best neurosurgeon in the world in 1987."

LESSON:
 Struggling is a sign that you are on a verge of success. Don't quit yet.

2. Bill Gates said,  "I didn't even complete my university education but became the world's richest man."

LESSON:
 School does not make you rich. School is only supposed to polish what will make you rich, not make you rich.

3. Christiano Ronaldo said, "I told my father that we would be very rich but he couldn't believe me. I made it a reality."

LESSON:
Your words rule your life. If you mean what you have said, each word will come to pass. You get what you say.

4. Hear Lionel Messi!

 "I used to serve tea at a shop to support my football training and still became one of the world's best footballers.
 LESSON:

 Believe in your dream. Don't let your pain tell you how your future will look like.

5. Steve Jobs penned, "I used to sleep on the floor in my friends' rooms, returning coke bottles for food, money, and getting weekly free meals at a local temple, I later on founded Apple Company."

 LESSON:
 That you are small today doesn't mean you will be small tomorrow. Keep trusting God.

6. Former British PM, Tony Blair said & I quote, "My teachers used to call me a failure, but I became a Prime Minister."

 LESSON:
 Don't let someone else's opinions of you become your reality.

7. Bishop David Oyedepo said, "I started Living Faith Church from a lawn tennis court with three members only & preached prosperity. Many of my friends criticised me, but today we have the largest church auditorium in the world & two world-class universities."

 *LESSON:* Believe in yourself even if no one does & never think of quitting.

8. *Nelson Mandela said,* "I was in prison for 27 years & still became president."

 *LESSON:* You can be anything you want to be no matter where you have been or what you have been through.

 *9.REECE* "I drove a taxi to finance my university education but today I'm a billionaire."

 *LESSON:* Don't let your past decide the kind of future you need to have.

10. *Harland Sanders, Founder of KFC said,* "I was on the verge of suicide when an Idea of opening a restaurant hit me after I retired as a cook in the Navy."

*LESSON:* Nothing is ever too late. "Too late" is a language of failures. Your future can begin at any age. Don't ever let AGE limit you.

11. *Aliko Dangote said,* "I worked for my uncle since I was a small boy, people looked down on me. I later on took a loan from my uncle to open a tiny shop. I worked hard to make ends meet. Now I am the richest Man in Africa.

 *LESSON:* Failures or limitations of the past have no control over the greatness in you. To him that believes, all things are possible.

12. *Barack Hussein Obama said,* I am a son of a black immigrant from Kenya, I graduated from Harvard and later on became a Senator in Chicago. I was also the President of the most powerful nation on Earth.

 *LESSON:* Never design your life like a garden where anyone can walk in and out. Design it like the sky where everyone aspires to reach!

13. *Arnold Swarzzenegger said,* I traveled to America in search of financial independence when I was 15yrs old. I became the world's strongest man 7 times and Mr Universe. I then got my Economics degree, then I became one of Hollywood's best actors before I was voted twice as governor of California."

*LESSON:* Don't wait for everybody to believe in your ability and dreams.

Beloved endeavour to be good to people you meet everyday, fear God and live peacefully with anyone you meet in life

Iretomihwa https://image.nostr.build/5f4d90e70ca9dd828e7942a35f5a116e86414ad56f552151cb0e65f72107375e.jpg


This is not my recipe! But I thought it would be good to share it with y’all! It sounds delicious and interesting! So here it is!
Photo is not mine either! 😁👍🏻✅
(Picture and recipe are from Michelle Bamberg)

Watermelon Honey! 1 ingredient! Easy recipe ♥ 🍉🍯

Ingredients:

- 1 large watermelon

Instructions:

1. Cut the watermelon into chunks, removing the seeds and rind.
2. Place the watermelon chunks in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
3. Pour the pureed watermelon into a large pot or saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat.
4. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low and let the watermelon simmer for about 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally, until it has thickened to a jam-like consistency.
5. Keep an eye on the jam and stir more frequently as it thickens to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
6. Once the watermelon jam has thickened, remove it from the heat and let it cool completely.
7. Transfer the cooled jam into sterilized jars or containers and store them in the refrigerator.
8. Enjoy your homemade sugar-free watermelon jam on toast, pancakes, yogurt, or as a topping for desserts! 🍉 https://image.nostr.build/9aab13c0d027e335f4e234db6f0f627e2344135858a810bd0e6284af99f1d0d7.jpg


“No flowers grow without rain,no humans glow without pain.” https://image.nostr.build/f5268b6e813efcd47a1ee7333722f8e34f9babc3578e8805896582867c53ff3f.jpg


“Wild women are an unexplainable spark of life. They ooze freedom and seek awareness, they belong to nobody but themselves yet give a piece of who they are to everyone they meet.
If you have met one, hold on to her, she'll allow you into her chaos but she'll also show you her magic.”
Nikki Rowe

Mr. Fox at Munkholmen Island, 1900. https://image.nostr.build/843750025dd2542b827b802bbf97ef4cbadecfc13d8327685fd998ee6afecaa3.jpg


“I am not strange. I am just not normal.”
Salvador Dalí https://image.nostr.build/44355e13d163717e835c0b4c44e087a8bf6eb9ee2bd77569c24becfdd00179a5.jpg