DIVERSE ITEMS

Sometimes I receive one or two intriguing photos, and I put them aside until I figure out what to do with them. And sometimes I just gather up the diverse items, and put them into one posting. Here are several that fell (plop) into that category.

Wonder what’s under the fog.

That must be a beautifully wet part of the world

Going green - literally!

Speaking of green ...

Ah, refreshing!

Gee, what a great place for a sauna!

I thought you brought the saw!

I was expecting  ET to come sailing across the screen!

Humor -

In a  convent in Ireland, the 98-year-old Mother Superior lay dying. The nuns gathered around her bed trying to  make her last  journey comfortable. They tried giving her warm milk to drink but she refused it. One  of the nuns took the glass back to the kitchen. Then, remembering a bottle of Irish Whiskey that had been received as a gift the previous Christmas, she opened it and poured a  generous amount into the warm milk. Back at Mother Superior's bed, they held the glass to her  lips. The frail nun drank a little, then a  little more and before they knew it, she had  finished the whole glass down to the last drop. As her eyes brightened, the nuns thought it would be a good opportunity to have one last talk with their spiritual leader. "Mother, “the nuns asked earnestly, "Please give us some of your wisdom before you leave us." She raised herself up in bed on one elbow, looked at them and  said: "Don't  sell that  cow."

DARK HEDGES

Thank you, Lynn, for this link.

The Dark Hedges is a unique stretch of the Bregagh Road near Armoy, in Ireland, that looks like something from a Tim Burton movie. Over the past 300 years or so, the Beech trees guarding either side of the lane have reached up and across to each other, becoming heavily intertwined to create a natural arched tunnel where shadow and light plays through entwined branches.

Seems like a different mood depending on the time of day, the season, and the weather.

A different stretch of road, I think.

This beautiful avenue of beech trees was planted by the Stuart family in the eighteenth century. It was intended as a compelling landscape feature to impress visitors as they approached the entrance to their Georgian mansion, Gracehill House, which is now a golf club. Two centuries later, the trees remain a magnificent sight and have become one of the most photographed natural phenomena in Northern Ireland.

Looks like Autumn

A fire?  Or very late afternoon?

Legend tells that a supernatural ‘Grey Lady’ haunts the thin ribbon of road that winds beneath the ancient beech trees. She silently glides along the roadside and vanishes as she passes the last beech tree. Some say the specter is the ghost of a maid from the nearby house who died in mysterious circumstances centuries ago. Others believe that she is a lost spirit from an abandoned graveyard that is thought to lie hidden in the fields nearby. On Halloween night, the forgotten graves are said to open and the Grey Lady is joined on her walk by the tormented souls of those who were buried beside her.

Red Riding Hood on her way to Grandma's house.

Humor -
Rules of the air, completed (probably)
There are three simple rules for making a smooth landing. Unfortunately no one knows what they are.

You start with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before you empty the bag of luck.

Helicopters can't fly; they're just so ugly the earth repels them.

In the ongoing battle between objects made of aluminum going hundreds of miles per hour and the ground going zero miles per hour, the ground has yet to lose.

Good judgment comes from experience. Unfortunately, the experience usually comes from bad judgment.

It's always a good idea to keep the pointy end going forward as much as possible.

Keep looking around. There's always something you've missed.

Remember, gravity is not just a good idea. It's the law. And it's not subject to repeal.

The three most useless things to a pilot are the altitude above you, runway behind you, and a tenth of a second ago.

VARIETY

Here are a group of photos with various kinds of beauty --

Where the gnomes dine

Head above the clouds

This, I’m told, is a maelstrom, which is a very powerful whirlpool; a large, swirling body of water

Just gorgeous!

A different kind of beauty

That’s a long way down

I find this to be a very clever use of rocks and brick
Doesn't need watering.

I find waterfalls fascinating, and this one is especially lovely

Humor (at least we hope it is)

AIRPLANE SUGGESTIONS

Learn from the mistakes of others. You won't live long enough to make all of them yourself.

You know you've landed with the wheels up if it takes full power to taxi to the ramp.

The probability of survival is inversely proportional to the angle of arrival. Large angle of arrival, small probability of survival and vice versa.

Never let an aircraft take you somewhere your brain didn't get to five minutes earlier.

Stay out of clouds. The silver lining everyone keeps talking about might be another airplane going in the opposite direction. Reliable sources also report that mountains have been known to hide out in clouds.

Always try to keep the number of landings  equal to the number of take offs.

BUMPITTY BUMP!

This is especially for car lovers Russ and Sandy!

Bumper cars!  What do you do with old Bumper Cars?
 
The ones in Coney Island and Rockaway Park back in the 20’s thru to the 50's ran on electricity.  They had a pole on the back going to a metal electrical charged overhead plate. They were so much fun! Fortunately, not all of them hit the junk heap.  Have a look!

 

There are seven of these little monsters floating around California and they're all the creation of one man, Tom Wright, a builder in the outskirts of San Diego who figured the leftovers of the Long Beach Pike amusement park needed a more dignified end.  

Check out the license plates!  Yes, these little beasties are street legal. 

 

They run on either Kawasaki or Honda motorcycle engines and transform vintage bumper car bodies into a most awesome form of mini-car.  They were originally powered by two cylinder Harley Davidson Motorcycle engines but they rattled like heck because of the two cylinder vibration. Tom replaced them with four cylinder Honda or Kawasaki 750's.  

A couple have been measured as capable of 160 MPH, which is terrifyingly fast in machines with such a short wheelbase.

Go, man, Go!

Fun --

Adam was returning home late one night when Eve confronted him.  "You're seeing another woman, aren't you?" she accused.

"Don't be silly," he replied. "You're the only woman on Earth."

Late that night Adam woke up feeling a tickle on his chest.  "What on Earth are you doing?" he asked Eve.

"What do you think?" she said. "I'm counting your ribs.

GONE FISHING

I ‘caught’ the following photos from a video of an Osprey grocery shopping.

 It sees something down there.

 That’s a fish -- good for dinner

 Prepare to dive.  Notice the position of the feet.

Full dive.  Notice that the claws have opened up

 Now the feet have come forward, and the claws are wide open!

 Under water!  Did the osprey catch his dinner?

 Well, that’s not a bunch of carrots!

 Up, up, and away!  That’s not what is meant by ‘Flying Fish’.

Gaining altitude.  Notice the water dripping off that wet bird.
     What do you suppose a wet bird will do while carrying lunch?

 That’s right!  He shakes it off, as in the above pic and the next two pics.

It didn't lose the fish!

Humor --

~ Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

~ My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.

~ It used to be only death and taxes were inevitable.  Now, of course, there's shipping and handling,. too.

~ A true friend is someone who thinks you are a good egg, even though he knows you are slightly cracked.

~ I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.

UN-ORDINARY

Here are a few unusual photos that I found to be touching, or funny, or ... fill in your own feelings.

Hold that pose!

Look what I laid!

Nap time!

I think it went thataway

Who is taking whom for a walk?

Walk #2.  C'mon, you need your exercise.

Walk #3.  The text that came with this photo said that the elderly 

gentleman walked regularly in the park.  Then one day this

bird decided to join him, and now the two walk together regularly.

The picture of tenderness

The picture of togetherness

ONE LINERS

"He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." -William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)

"Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?" -Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)

"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." -Moses Hadas

"His ears made him look like a taxicab with both doors open." -Howard Hughes (about Clark Gable)

"He is not only dull himself, he is the cause of dullness in others."  -Samuel Johnson

"He had delusions of adequacy." -Walter Kerr

"There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure." -Jack E. Leonard