NF DAM Digital Art Meme

Play Time ...

Andrea

Good Fences

This may look like an ordinary fence, but it's not ...

It surrounds the section of Vogelei Park (Hoffman Estates, Illinois) that  is used by the Northern Illinois Raptor Center ...

to house and display their birds ...

Each little house (Mew) houses one raptor, except one that is divided to house to smaller raptors.  They are built to specifications issued by  US Fish and Wildlife.

The front of each house is a weathering yard where the birds can get fresh air and be more easily seen by the public.  

So you see, this is a very important fence because it protects our birds.  Some fences are just very special :)

Photo Art Friday

This weeks challenge is a Quirky Selfie ... and it can be anything you want (Bonnie's first mistake ... she opened the door to "anything")  As I thought about it, I realized, there are many mes.  So that is my theme today:

Many Mes

This is the retired me who foolishly thought that retirement meant rest and relaxation.  Today, almost 14 years into retirement, I am still struggling to fight my way through the "everythings" I have to do every day.  

I sometimes feel I am being swallowed up by my obligations (of my own making, of course) and can hardly get through it all.

This is the me that my family sees (even the pets).  No face, just a lens.  This is of course one of the mes I like the best, but can't say that is true of the people/pets on the other side of the lens.

This is the "Green" me ... nature lover, environmentalist and best of all Raptor Volunteer.  I love my fine feathered friends.

This is the me of the past ... Nursing was my second occupation.  After spending many years(before being a stay at home Mom) working for an International Consulting firm, doing much of the work while the men were paid most of the money, I went back to school to do what I really wanted to do ... be a nurse.  I don't know what took me so long to discover it, but I think it had to do with being ready to take on the enormous responsibility of the job ... people's lives.  (Do you remember those big, face consuming glasses ? :)

This is the me of the future ... if I believed in reincarnation (which I don't, but wish I could), I think I would want to come back as one of my fine feather friends.   Their life is hard, but they do a very important job helping keep the balance of nature.  Sadly man has screwed that up royally, but I could try to do my part.

It's a JOKE ... you are supposed to laugh!

(To the purists in the audience ... sorry for butchering the English grammar )

Mandarin Orange Monday

In the beginning there was an Owl ... (the tree is public domain)

In the end ... there was an owl :)

Happy MOM everyone!

Photo Art Friday

As always a fun prompt.  I keep wondering when I will run out of ideas ... but, I am not going to worry about it until it happens.  I do have enough pictures to play with for many years :)  Thanks Bonnie, I learned some new techniques by following your sample in the  Photo Art Resource Cache.  Everyone who can, should join ... it is well worth it!  

    Pdpa Dropped Petals, Butterfly on plant (filter, color pencil), Pdpa Leafy Landscape, Mask/brush, filter-photo.  

 Pdpa Dropped Petals, Owl picture (filter, pencil drawing, select, Image extract, Pdpa Old Weave texture, pint eyes and beak), Public domain    picture Great Horned Owls in branch, select, image extract, mask/brush.  

Pdpa Dropped Petals, Maroon Bells Mountains, soft light blend, mask/brush; Cowboy, select, extract, mask/brush;  aspen, select, extract, mask/brush;  Text with soft shadow.   This one fails the "abstract" test.  Don't know what it is doing in here, but hey ... I used the Pdpa Dropped Petals, that should count for something, right?  

Pdpa Dropped Petals, winter scene, soft light blend, mask brush, clone stamp;  Izzi with Frisbee , sloft light blend, sask/brush; snow overlay, mask/brush;  Text with soft shadow; Filter smudge stick   We are experiencing "Winter Wonderland" now as another expected 6 inches of snow is falling ... on top of whatever we already had.  If it looks like Izzi is loving the snow ... she is.   Actually, I do too, so we have a great time outside until we get cold ... then it is time for hot chocolate:)  Happy Winter ... (spring is not too far off:)   

Wordless Wednesday

 

 

"This way to Sanity ... Oh wait, it's Christmas.  Forget Sanity"  :)

Mandarin Orange Monday

An animal's eyes have the power to speak a great language. ~Martin Buber

FYI ... Of all an Owl's features, perhaps the most striking is its eyes. Large and forward facing, they may account for one to five percent of the Owl's body weight, depending on species. The forward facing aspect of the eyes that give an Owl its "wise" appearance, also give it a wide range of "binocular" vision (seeing an object with both eyes at the same time). This means the owl can see objects in 3 dimensions (height, width, and depth), and can judge distances in a similar way to humans.

More FYI ... Cats' nocturnal vision is far superior to that of humans. They can see clearly with only one-sixth of the illumination we need to see.  The muscles of the iris surrounding the pupils are constructed in a fashion that allows the eye to narrow to a vertical slit in bright light and to open fully in very dim light, to allow a maximum of illumination.  In addition, a reflective layer behind the cat's retina called the tapetum lucidum reflects incoming light and bounces it back off the cones, making more use of the existing light. The tapetum is probably responsible for the fact that when a small amount of light hits a cat's eyes at night, you see shiny green orbs.

Wordless Wednesday

http://www.create-with-joy.com/2012/07/wordless-wednesday-happiness.html

We named her Alberta Einstein because she looked so preppy in the stocking restraint we used to weigh her.  She is a red morph Eastern Screech Owl. 

Wordless Wednesday

New caption posted ...

I have a caption for this one ... but I would love to hear yours.  I'll print mine

later in the day, if you haven't  already given it to me :)


As promised, here is my caption ...

"You Gotz a Mouse?"

Curious Cat

Week Number 321

1) Share a spiritual or religious occurrence you've experienced. 

I have been studying how nature is woven into our lives.  Through the study of Indian culture I am learning to recognize my totems and their importance in developing my relationship with nature. It is something that I have been subconsciously aware of since I was a child and am now finding ways to bring it to a conscious level and learn from it.


2) Are there any book or movie genres that you were surprised to like?
The Twilight Series surprised me.  I don't like Vampire movies in general ... too gory.  But, I guess the romance in the Twilight Movies  distracted me enough to overlook the gore.  I also went to them with my Granddaughter so that might have helped make it more fun.

3) If you could only wear one color for the next month, what would you choose?

The color I like wearing the best is green.  It has always been green ... who knows why, except my mother always told me how good I looked in green.  When I was young I had auburn hair, so it was a good match.  Now that I am a touched up silver blond, everyone complements me when I wear pink or red, but, bottom line ... I still would wear green. :)


4) Show and Tell. What comes to mind first when you see this picture? Or, tell a story if it reminds you of one.

                                              Public Domain Photo

I see an Owl, watching, studying, doing what owls do.  Funny you would pick this picture, because Owls are one of my totems.  I have worked with them in rehab, education and admired them in the wild.  They have taught me much about what is important in nature and in the keeping of the balances of predator/prey relationships.  I love them ...